Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Our gorgeous glass porch had become disgusting because it's also my husband's cigar bar. When we had it built, I insisted that it BETTER not get like that so we bought a pricey "air scrubber." This particular purifier requires expensive smoke-specific filters if that's what you're hoping to clean up. Well---it ain't workin' out. The room stinks, he stinks, I stink, our dogs stink. Sometimes I walk out there and have to wave my hands around to even find the perpetrator! The vaulted windows have to be professionally washed--my dream-room had become a nightmare. At first, I did some research on ozone generators but apparently, ozone is dangerous to plants. So, here I am huffing second-hand smoke and my husband is worried about ozone. With some more research, though, I learned that ozone and negative ions are not the same thing. Since Amazon has so many customers, I live and die now by reviews---if something has "Be the first to review this product," no way. The search option of "show me only four and five star reviews, I can quickly weed out the losers and junk. Price-wise, this one was in the running--and had almost all 5 star reviews. There were even some at the same price point that had no replacement filters available--WTH? This one spoke to me---I had it in less than two days. I saw it on the porch and had it set up in about two minutes. I set it up in front of the ptac unit that heats and cools the room. The heat was not on; the manual says it should not be near a heat source. The unit is light enough that it can be picked up (had a pick-up indent) and easily moved, unlike our massive scrubber on wheels. I turned it on---the fan is a little noisy to start out with, but it quickly finds its grove and is very quiet, even on high. I laid down on the couch out there to observe--and was asleep in minutes. I brought it into the bedroom overnight---again, it makes less noise than the furnace. I am still not sure how to turn the lights off and not knock the fan down---Sleep mode turns off the lights but the fan speed went down. LOVE the ion generator. My only complaint about that is that in the daylight, you cannot see if you're generating ions or not. The control lights show bright blue in the dark but do not show in daylight. The stogy smoker here decided to give it the acid test this morning. He sat where he always does and blew smoke in the Pro Breeze's direction. He said the smoke collected itself in its regular cloud form, got within about 6 feet of the Pro Breeze and didn't so much dissipate but plummet downward and disappear. He said it was pretty entertaining. Not that I bought this thing for its entertainment value, but even he has to admit there was a major problem that the Pro Breeze has solved---or so far, anyway. Some other purifier reviews include reports of their units going along fine, then refusing to turn on. I will INDEED let you all know if that happens. But, I am currently delighted that this little purifier (that cost less than a new set of filters for the "big gun" in the room) is doing its job while entertaining my husband. The big scrubber has a remote that is used often because running on high, the thing is so loud, you cannot hear each other talk. When I first went looking for a smaller unit to run out there, I avoided "true HEPA" because I did not want to be tied to buying more filters than we already have to buy. The single filter in this is rated to run 5000 hours before a replacement is needed. The manual suggests vacuuming it once a month. And, when we need one, they are readily available right here. I don't know of any smell more pervasive than cigar or cigarette smoke--if this thing can clear that from a closed room, it can do just about anything.