It glows the ends almost everytime it starts....good for the tube. This tube was on electronic instant start and wear and tear was starting to show after some months of intermittent use due to frequent switching so I changed it back to preheat. BTW the gas in the starter glowbottle is Argon so it's faster than Philips S10 which is Neon filled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj00g8vFPkA

Here is my video of a Philips glow starter, starting a T5 of 8W in my mother home, which have a transparent blue plasic case and have both neon and another gas, probably xenon, and the starter takes long time to first close.
In the copying room of the storage of Carmel hospital, above the table, there is a preheat fixture with a 36W T8 lamp, and an Osram glow starter, that have an argon gas. however the glow isn't visible and the starter takes about 5 secs average to first close.
I don't know why argon glow starters are faster then neon glow starters.

I think it's because Argon emits more heat in the discharge than Neon. The S10 for 8w tube is slow but the S2 is better since it is meant for series and single use is 110v.

I think it's because Argon emits more heat in the discharge than Neon. The S10 for 8w tube is slow but the S2 is better since it is meant for series and single use is 110v.

The main difference between S2 and S10 is the trigger voltage as result to the corresponding lamp arc voltages:
S2 is necessary for 120V OCV or series operation at 230V. It work only for lamps with arc voltage below ~70V
S10 is necessary for lamps with higher arc voltages, where the S2 would falsely trigger, but need OCV at least 280Vpeak. This impose the autotransformer ballast on 120V mains or single operation at 230V.

So for short lamps (<70V) in single configuration both starters work well...

And the timing is partly consequence of different voltages, but by big extend independent parameter.