Kitchen & Housewares : Vornado 530B 3 Speed Compact Air Circulator, Black

Rating: - Excellent fan at a good cost.
I've had this fan for over a week now and it's been great. Not only is it more powerful than other fans -- it is extremely strong when in its highest setting. In addition, it's quiet, easy to position and keep in position. I can't comment on the motor life as of yet, but judging by the initial performance, I think this fan should last for quite some time. A great fan at a reasonable price!

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Rating: - Nice Breeze
This little fan works great in my office can run on low and medium speed. Did not purchase for a larger space but could work in bedroom, small living room or family room.

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Rating: - Nice product.
It is a good circulator. However, 3 speed seems useless to me. The faster speeds come with much much more noise! I only use it at the slowest setting, and that is enough.

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Rating: - Superb little fan
I own two other Vornados- a "mid-sized" model (6xx), and large (7xx). The small continues in the Vornado tradition of excellence, and I'm very pleased with it. It moves air like no other fan of it's size, and appears to be very well made. It's perfect for a small room.

Vornados are not particularly comfortable to have pointed directly at you due to the speed and concentration of the air stream... it's more like an air gun. You are supposed to point them across the room, and they project a beam of air to the opposite end, creating a mild breeze throughout the entire room.

However, this small fan does have a "low" speed setting that is tolerable for direct use, and is very quiet on low. The noise it makes is pleasant... it's worth noting that fan collectors prize each fan's distinctive sound above almost anything else, and Vornado's HQ is home to a museum of vintage fans. They clearly design their fans to create an attractive sound.

However, I will say that the high speed setting is somewhat loud, and a bit more intrusive than the sound of the larger models. The fan blades are spinning quite a bit faster in order to achieve such a massive air movement for such a small unit. However, I don't run mine on highvery often- it works best in a small room on medium or low. It's perfect for our young daughter's bedroom.

About price: in addition to the quality of the construction and design, it's worth mentioning that Vornado actually manufactures in the US... you can be sure these things aren't being built by children in a sweat shop. This certainly makes the more expensive, but I certainly feel better about buying them.

-R

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Rating: - Best fan in its class
No offense, but the previous review is a bit shortsighted. I had a similar, skeptical initial reaction when I saw a Vornado. At first glance, it looked very similar to other low-cost, plastic department store fans. Upon closer inspection, there is no comparison.

The 530B, due to its unique blade and housing design, and superior motor (see their site for details), blows WAY more air for its size than any other fan. Take a close look at how shallow the average fan blade is. Then look at Vornado's deep, sculpted blades. It blows as much or more air on the low, quiet setting than competing fans do on their high setting. It's pretty amazing, actually.

The 530B blows enough air for my bedroom, whereas competing fans this size I have to aim directly at me. As advertised, the fan is well used as a room circulator, in that you feel the gentle breeze throughout the room, rather than sticking it on a table and pointing at you.

People often gripe about "paying for the name" when it comes to consumer products. This is usually an unfair assertion with most products. You are not paying for the name, like you are in designer jeans, where only the name counts. Instead, you are paying for the superior quality and design of the manufacturer whose name is stamped on the housing. Simple market princples here -- if there was nothing to back up the name, the name wouldn't be valuable. They sell at the higher price because you get what you pay for.