The recommended pick from the Wirecutter is the Coway AP-1512HH Mighty (as of this post, the recommendation was last updated January 15, 2021) [0]. The CADR is available on Coway's product page in what I assume to be imperial units given the units of the other specifications: "233 (Smoke), 246 (Dust), 240 (Pollen)" (under "Specification") [1]. This CADR score puts it just between the BlueAir Blue Pure 211 and GermGua…
Was wondering if I’d see this model mentioned. I’ve bought four of these, given one away. One in living room, bedroom, one is boxed for an office I’m setting up. Couple notes on this: It is the iPod of air conditioners in its UX and look. The lights on the top are too bright and can’t be dimmed, we cover them in the bedroom with a taped piece of heavyweight paper. The filters do need to be either clean or replaced on…
Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
471–480 of 602 posts
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#472Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think Dyson is the best example that shows marketing really works. I've yet to find a single Dyson product of quality. Their vacuums are downright terrible.
Dyson proves we care about beautiful things. Aesthetics matter.
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#473I still cannot get over this product. They whole selling point of a dyson fan is the 'air multiplier' tech, which creates a low pressure zone that propels air through the ring. According to dyson, this tech can move 15x more air than the fan in the base of the unit. Why in the world would you build an air filter around a system that does not directly interact with 93% of the air it moves? https://www.jameco.com/Jamec…
The fan also sucks compared to something like a Vornado. "Buffeting" of air is not a practical issue when using a fan - you want a fan that can create a lot of air flow. The Dyson fan comes across form first then making up reasons to explain the form retroactively. It feels like an interesting look is the goal rather than something that's actually better. Am I wrong about this? Do people that have the fan like it? Is…
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#474I've spent many hours navigating the air purifier market and it is one of the most opaque and customer-unfriendly ones I have ever seen. Beyond the advice given in the article, it's also important to check what the filter exactly is. Some filters are washable, but it often means that they are not as thorough as HEPA filters, which is a big deal if your goal is to avoid the dreaded PM2.5 that are as far as I can tell…
Besides the PM2.5 aspect (which, as far as I can tell, can be solved by pushing a large volume of air through a HEPA filter), there's also the quality and type of the carbon filter, which is what traps a number of other things such as VOCs and most scents. You also need to know the type of thing you're filtering - smoke, for example, you really need a carbon filter for, and if you really want to filter a decent quantity of smoke, you'll need to drastically oversize the filter (e.x. Get a large industrial filter for a small area.) In case anyone's curious what I got, I didn't need to filter smoke, so I got one of the larger Levoit filters and used it in a small room, and I'm happy so far.
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#475Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plenty of people raise their kids this way. When I see parents laugh when their kids fall down instead of panic, I smile. And the best part? The kids smile too, because they're actually looking to their parents for how to react. I'd rather raise daredevils than anxious wrecks. My best friend has a kid who's always climbing on stuff, falling down, getting hurt. That kid is going to grow up to be awesome.
Plenty of people need to rethink their parenting then. I laugh when my kid falls down. I scream when I saw my kid trying to stick a key into an electrical outlet, and I screamed when I saw my kid trying to put a finger into a vornado fan. Modern fans aren't the same as the box fans we grew up with. And adult would likely walk away with an emergency room bill and a bunch of stiches. A small child would likely lose a f…
I told him that I thought I could do it without the glove. He told me to give it a try and I did. What I did was promptly fall on my ass and that's how I learned the power of electricity.
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#476Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wirecutter has a review of one of the Medifyair models. They don't recommend it because it's too big, and overkill for their test apartment in New York City. It had the highest CADR in their testing. For a modest house in the Bay Area during fire season, we needed a high MERV furnace filter and also two filters similar to their recommended models, so I moved up to the Medifyair. It arrived after the last fires, but i…
I am not sure if wirecutter reviews can be trusted anymore. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25993512 I like consumer reports. You pay money for subscription and they provide you a non biased review.
I know the "you can never trust anyone who has affiliation links" argument, but if we follow that to its logical conclusion, Wirecutter should be strongly biased toward picks that give them the most money for referrals, and that's not really backed up by their choices. They pick cheaper choices pretty frequently, and it's possible to find picks where there's no apparent affiliate link at all, e.g., their pick for best "high-performance" subwoofer. One can posit, as was done in the thread you linked, that there might be deals directly with manufacturers that we don't know about, but "we can't be sure they're being underhanded without us knowing" doesn't actually get us anywhere useful -- the same could obviously be said about anyone, including CR.
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#477Earlier quoted context omitted.
He also did tests and found that for drying hair it was no better than a regular one for a fraction of the price.
That's kind of like saying an expensive designer shirt has the same insulation utility value as a cheaper generic one without the high class logo. Yes, this is obviously true. In the actual consumer marketplace, luxury is more about exclusive high priced varieties that look different than it is about superior functionality. People seem to be eternally shocked by this like we're living in some real life version of gro…
He has some interesting discoveries like how they make plastic feel like metal but overall the vibe I got from it is the product does not match the price.
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#478I've spent many hours navigating the air purifier market and it is one of the most opaque and customer-unfriendly ones I have ever seen. Beyond the advice given in the article, it's also important to check what the filter exactly is. Some filters are washable, but it often means that they are not as thorough as HEPA filters, which is a big deal if your goal is to avoid the dreaded PM2.5 that are as far as I can tell…
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#479I still cannot get over this product. They whole selling point of a dyson fan is the 'air multiplier' tech, which creates a low pressure zone that propels air through the ring. According to dyson, this tech can move 15x more air than the fan in the base of the unit. Why in the world would you build an air filter around a system that does not directly interact with 93% of the air it moves? https://www.jameco.com/Jamec…
Everything Dyson is overpriced dreck, except for the handheld. 5% more function for 200% more $. Cheap vacuums are way better than they were. I bought a $60 upright at target for my office 5 years ago, it sucks (in the good sense) and is reliable. It does not have a ton of attachments, but it was $60.
For people with allergies this is a big selling point.
Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test
#480Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am not sure if wirecutter reviews can be trusted anymore. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25993512 I like consumer reports. You pay money for subscription and they provide you a non biased review.
That's one example of a Wirecutter recommendation that goes against the prevailing wisdom. There are probably others, too -- but that doesn't necessarily mean all their reviews are somehow bad or tainted. You can find recommendations from Consumer Reports that run against the prevailing wisdom, too; I know I'm not alone in having thought in the past that there were some categories of products they were great with and…
In the review business it's better to be playing the long-term game if you're building a real audience. In Wirecutter's case their long term advantage is to make good reviews without regard to the affiliate payment.
There are already thousands of other websites that are just disguised ads. Wirecutter's differentiating features is that they don't do that.
They still have some reviews I think are pretty mediocre or products they chose that I think are bad, but generally I think they're worth looking at.