****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Very quiet fan on the lowest settings. Price may be more than some are willing to spend. I deducted one star for three reasons. First, although well-built in my opinion and easy to assemble, I should think the Rowenta table fan should be around fifty or sixty bucks and this floor fan around eighty or ninety-ish. However, after having read the reviews and having had personal experience with the usual cheap floor fans on discount, I decided to spend more and hope for better results.Quiet is very important to me, so much so when I built my computer, I used ultra-quiet components and sound-insulated the case. I hate loud fans. For example, I have an older model Vornado circulator fan (280SS, which isn't made any more...a real shame), bought back when they still had the (almost) infinitely variable speed dial; it's a good fan, has lasted forever, and I like how much air it can move, but I don't like how noisy it is. In this respect, the Rowenta is clearly the most quiet I've owned, particularly on the lowest two speed settings. On the highest or on Turbo-mode, yes, it's going to be loud, but that's to be expected.The second reason I deducted a star is because the assembly instructions were very difficult to locate. I finally found them wedged between the two halves of the wire fan-cage, which was in a semi-opaque plastic bag which made the instructions even less obvious to find. The assembly instructions should be the first thing you see when you open the box.A remaining reason for the one star deduction was their not bothering to include a couple of AAA batteries for the remote. C'mon, a fan like this at a premium price ought to come with the batteries.Pros:- Well-packaged and arrived undamaged -- product box inside another sturdy brown cardboard box (probably would've sufficed for shipping, but Amazon went ahead and put this inside yet another box, along with a couple other items I'd ordered).- Really heavy and sturdy pancake-shaped base, unlikely for the fan to tip over unless you plow into it.- Good construction quality in general, although the fan blades seem flimsy...but I'm sure that's part of what helps make it more quiet than other fans. Other than that though, nothing about the fan looks cheap.- I like the goose-neck design, so that you can see the controls from any angle, even standing at the fan. Too many fans I've owned either put them on the front (meaning you'll have to crouch or bend over to see them) or else on top, in which case you can't see them unless you're looking down right at the fan.- Remote control (alas, the remote doesn't turn the swivel on/off, which would've been really nice).- Significantly less expensive than a Dyson (which, to be honest, I actually found rather loud the last time I checked them out).Cons:- Expensive. A bit more expensive, in my opinion, than the fan is worth, but I needed a quiet, decent quality pedestal fan and there weren't any others which I felt met my needs and required quality standards.- Probably doesn't move as much air as other fans, due to the attempts to make it more quiet.- For obvious reasons, I wouldn't recommend this or any other pedestal fan for homes with small children or large unruly pets, although in terms of being 'tippy', this fan is far less so than most.- Some might not like the beep the fan makes when changing settings, and there's a blue LED which could bother some (but this latter could be taken care of with some electrical tape easily enough, or even just some colored plastic).Observations & hints:- Ultra-quiet on the lowest setting (just the air movement and a little bit of a hum), pretty quiet on the 2nd (louder whoosh, and the sound I refer to as 'plane prop' just barely evident). Significantly louder at high and turbo, but not quite as noisy as most fans I've heard; still I doubt I'll be using those settings often, except maybe for a minute or two if I need an urgent cool-down after working outside.- To maximize the quietness, don't put the fan too near objects or walls which can interfere with the airflow (thus making it uneven because turbulence = noise). Also, it's not going to seem super quiet if you're right up next to it. Halfway across a room though, on low, I can barely hear it; the refrigerator is actually significantly louder.- The fan base does not have wheels, meaning it's not really intended to be portable. It sits flat on the floor on three rubber feet, under the heavy circular base. If on a hardwood or fancy stone floor, I'd recommend putting a rug or something like that under it to avoid marks or scratching due to the fan vibration.- The instructions say not to engage/disengage the swivel motion while the fan is on. Makes sense. Also makes sense never to try to move the fan or adjust the fan positioning while it is running. That's just asking for trouble. My suggestion is if planning to move the fan to another room would be to (1) unplug the fan, (2) loosen the knob attaching the fan head and assembly to the base and remove it entirely, (3) carry the base and fan head ass'y to the other room separately, and (4) reassemble in place, then plug it in.- The knob that holds the fan blade assembly to the motor shaft is reverse threaded (meaning lefty-tighty, righty-loosey, opposite the normal directions). Just something to keep in mind when assembling or disassembling the unit.Summary: If you want a good quality and nice-looking pedestal fan, one which is really rather quiet compared to its competitors, the Rowenta VU5551 is a good choice. On the other hand, if quiet isn't important to you and you want to save some money, some of the less expensive fans may suit better, but the 'you get what you pay for' maxim comes into play.
