Hi there
Some years ago the strip uv lamps were feeble to the extent that the combined lamps had the edge over them just for that. This is no longer the case with the strip uv's such as the Arcadia T5 12% desert strip blasting out high levels of uvb and they continue to do so for a very long time. Some keepers don't seem aware of this and continue to use combined lamps on the basis that it's the only way to get decent uvb levels.
Over an area of 4x2 the 160 watt Megaray is likely covering the greatest portion of it with a high level of heat and uvb and if it's raised up then the uv might not be enough and an even larger portion of the table is being warmed up but to a lesser extent. What we need is a gradient of temperature and a lower wattage combined lamp might be OK if you're keen to stick with a combined one. I tried the 100 watt Arcadia combined a while ago and thought the heat output was feeble but my room wasn't very warm to begin with.
If you decide to use separate sources you can continue to use the lamp holder and shade with a halogen lamp. But yes there would be expense buying a strip lamp set-up with a power supply. Combined lamps work best for some keepers in some set-ups but in my opinion the separates approach is more flexible and offers more options.
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