we love our hugger ceiling fans in the bedrooms and the vornado works well!
pve

The propello fan looks seriously dangerous without some kind of protective screen. Or is it invisible?

I'm sorry. These fans are lovely, but I much prefer my $25 Walmart fan that I can tuck into the closet.

@sassydo: The blades on the Propello are soft rubber. I've stuck my hand into one (intentionally!), and there was no harm done. It stops with the slightest bit of resistance, but even if it didn't, the "blades" are too soft to hurt anyone.

Sassydo - the Propello fan has soft rubber blades that aren't supposed to be able to cut anything.

Seems a little ridiculous to pay these prices for a fan. But maybe that's just me.

One fan not mentioned is the Caframo model 707. A small fan with soft blades that has no screen; it's highly efficient, has two speed (neither of which are overly strong), is very quiet and very reasonably priced. They are very well constructed. I own two and have been quite happy with them for many years.

I just bought a Lasko 4000 Air Stik Ultra-Slim Oscillating Fan. It's a tiny really quiet (for a fan) fan that does an excellent job of moving air in front of my face.

Also it only costs $20 and not five bajillion dollars.

I cant imagine shelling out these kinds of prices ($500 ????) for a fan. I got a $25 'vintage style' one at walmart & it works fine

Come on guys. Recession, remember. How about some useful info. I won't go to WalMart, but I do want to pay a reasonable price and if you can find all that AND something made in the USA, you get the prize!

I have to disagree with the reccesionista comments. Yes, these are expensive, but i have the vornado above and its ran PERFECT for three years, and I've bought 5 other fans (cheaper) fans in the same span of time that ALL died. I'm actually haunting ebay right now for the true vintage version of the same one, and bemoaning the cost of new. Yeah, I don't want to spend that much but i do know first hand that its actually worth the scratch.

The minka looks like my hunter douglas that just died, and i'm wary of spending (less) and having it just break.

They Dyson fans aren't that great. When I felt it I thought that the "buffeting" that is supposedly supposed to be a negative is actually quite nice in 100 degree heat.

And the Dyson is still noisy as heck. Is there a table fan out there that is as quiet as a ceiling fan?

I bought a fan that looks almost exactly like the Vornado at CVS last year for $40. While I'm not a design nerd, I was always under the impression that much of mid-century design was about using mass production to make good design affordable for the general public.

Dyson needs to get over themselves. I experienced their fan at Best Buy. So, so as a fan, but I would say it is interesting looking. $300 for that piece of plastic is severely inflated. It's worth $75 tops; and that's only because the design is innovative - right now.
Anyone interested in being cool for having a $300 Dyson fan will think it's passe in one year. I think Dyson will have missed the boat. Also, bad timing in this economy.

They don't make them like they used to. I have the vintage Vornado, and after cleaning the motor, it runs perfectly. But the blade was replaced at some point, and I've had to look around for a new one. This one is out of alignment, making the fan noisy and jumpy. But I wouldn't sell it for the world!

I don't quite understand the drive to buy a $100 fan. If you have the kind of semi-expendable money where you can afford a fan like that, why not just turn on your air conditioning? Or is that an unearth-friendly attitude? Maybe my dismay comes from living in the south where everyone has air conditioners. It still boggles my mind when I learn that people who live in 500K homes in Seattle don't have air conditioners. So in that case, yes, I could definitely see a person with that kind of money spending $200 on a floor/table fan.

Ceiling fans! Now that is money well spent no matter where you live. It would be wonderful if Dyson incorporated his genius-ness for fans in cars, air conditioners and industrial applications. I certainly appreciate his passions in bettering household equipment though.

The $50 Walmart fan is the one I have in my bedroom. (MUST have a fan to go to sleep at night. It's a leftover from growing up in Florida with no AC.)

I got mine in college - it's at least 7 years old - and the only issue I've ever had with it was solved with a little silicon lubricant about 3 months ago.

That said, the Vornado and the Charly Lifts Off look pretty sweet.

I also saw the Dyson fan at Best Buy, today actually, it's very cool, but also totally not worth the price. Someone looking at them next to us said something like "They cost that much and they're still noisy!"

does anyone know of a good looking table fan that has a shut off timer? I ended up returning a nice looking retro fan because in the end I didn't want to leave a fan on all night.

If I'm paying $100 for a fan its going to be one of the big drum fans they sell at Home Depot that can move 16,000 CFM.

I like my super quiet plastic Vornado fan. Vintage--ie, pounds of metal--is not all that fun in a small apartment. I just traded my lightweight, but useless, vacuum for a vintage Kirby. It looks cool (like Kirby in "Brave Little Toaster") and sweeps up a dream, but takes up space and is heavy. I wish it were chintzier... but OTOH, it wouldn't have lasted this long for me to buy it used. :P

The propelo looks neat. I like anything that's easy to clean. (The vornado can be cleaned if you pop it apart.)

I just bought a vintage fan on ebay last week for about $25 dollars. I expect this fan to last me a while... Things mass marketed today will rarely last 10 years...let alone 60 . I was totally prepared to buy a $100-ish desk fan, but I couldn't find on that had really great reviews as far as quality. I don't want to spend $400 on a freaking fan to get something that isn't packed with plastic bits and made in China...so vintage it was...

Thank you every one. I have to have the air moving when I sleep. Problem is my fan of 4 years (CVS) $10. is very noisy now. All of your input have help me NOT buy those high priced ones. Will check out CVS again. I try and stay away from WM. But thanks all.

Beautiful fans. I love the wooden one and the telescoping floor fan. Some people like spending money on clothes, some people like spending money on beautifully designed interior products like these fans. And they're functional. Nothing wrong with that.

If you just want a quiet, inconspicuous workhorse, try the Honeywell air circulator. I got mine for about 17 bucks from Target, and it made the stagnant, swampy air at my office seem entirely livable. Also, Target has a line of cute, small steel fans in the Room Essentials line that work for looks and cooling and come in an array of colors.

This summer I picked out a great all metal Hunter brand fan at our local Target store that looks just like the Vintage Style Vornado pictured above but for much less money. So far it's worked like a charm. I got fed up with the all plastic fans that end up making odd and annoying noises or breaking.

Oops--the fan I got from Target looked like the Minka-Aire Oscillating Retro Table Fan Nickel fan, not the Vintage Style Vornado--maybe for a little more in cost, but no shipping fees.

I'm with Hayden - I love falling asleep to the sound of a fan. My 10-year old fan finally died, so I pulled out an old desktop fan I had, called Cool Breeze (CT-1216). It barely makes a sound on setting 1 and 2. Had to put it on setting 3 for sound to sleep to and it does provide a nice cool breeze (duh :)

I have A/C too but only use it when absolutely necessary. Just don't care for it...not even in my car.

I agree with 580sqft & DahliaCactus - the clear winner is Vornado. While I love the vintage style of the one featured above- you can go with almost any of the other Vornado fans and get great performance, and a decade of reliable functionality. The cheapie brands are all designed to last a year or so and then get trashed. The throwaway consumer culture is not a good prospect for the future. I'd rather spend a few more dollars and get something that works better and lasts longer.

We bought a 30 inch industrial pedestal fan several years ago to circulate the heat from our wood burning stove, but we use it just as much in the summer heat to circulate the cool air! It's a work horse & works like a charm and it's easy to clean--a bonus in our dusty old home.

Dyson AM01 Table Fan is the first among the other fans I had noticed because of its new design. Thus, without any further ado I made a few research about this item and I find lots of negative feedbacks on it which I think is justifiable. It's noisier than much less expensive fans, and on top of that the noise is a high pitched whine. It also doesn't generate that much air flow compared to less expensive fans. The housing is all plastic. And spending a $300 or more is too much and it's not worth it. popcorn maker