This unit is the original travel/portable humidifier. I shopped around and looked at the several imitators, but decided to go with the Air-O-Swiss name/reputation that I know and love.
This unit is tiny, and comes with a power adapter with both US and European plugs and a soft cloth carry bag.
I use it at McMurdo Station, Antarctica where the average humidity is in the single digits. It puts out less water than my full-size Air-O-Swiss unit at home, but a remarkable amount for a unit this size.
The blue light that others have complained about is fairly bright as most blue LEDs are but it's no brighter than most night-lights, and hasn't bothered my sleep. The blue light switches to a red light when the water runs out... kind of a nice heads-up feature if you don't have the output set high enough to see the "steam" coming from the spout.
Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to make this purchase again, and I'd replace this unit with the same if needed (unless or until Air-O-Swiss comes out with their own new replacement/upgrade). There are a couple other copies that are less expensive, but I haven't tried them I went with the quality/service that I trusted at the cost of the higher price tag.
PROs: operates very quietly and very compact great for travel and personal use by bedside at home. Bottle neck adapter has two (2) size fittings for use with standard plastic bottle. Adapter is very tight inside bottle's neck so water does not leak out. When turned upside down, metal ball stopper is water tight. Fold out 'feet' to mitigate tipping though it may not be sufficient to prevent tipping with larger bottles eg: one liter bottles. Has variable humidity adjustment which works reasonably well too.
CONs: bottle neck adapter fits into inside of bottle mouth it is not a 'screw on' adapter. A positive about this is that it'll work with standard sized bottles (supports two sizes) however removal and insertion of adapter into bottle neck is VERY tight. Some plastic bottles are very thin walled. Press fitting the adapter can be problematic as bottle's wall may collapse from applied pressure during insertion. Therefore thicker walled plastic is recommended esp. if/when larger bottle is being used. Seniors with limited hand mobility may also find it difficult to manipulate due to tight fit. NOTE: though unit comes with stabilizing pullout feet, filled bottle is simply inserted into receptor there is nothing to 'clamp' adapter and bottle to hold it in place ergo care should be taken as bottle can be knocked off unit easily. The water tight adapter will prevent the water escaping from the bottle however weight from falling bottle can/might cause damage to surrounding objects.
WARNing: Due to relative ease with which unit might tip, use of glass bottle is not recommended. Use in child's room may also not be recommended.
SUM: at price point and intended use, pros out weigh cons and therefore worthwhile purchase. Had adapter come with rubber 'O' rings for easier insertion and if adapter could have been clamped in more securely, it would have deserved 5 stars. CONs however only earns it 4 stars IMHO.
Buy Air-O-Swiss AOS 7146 Travel Ultrasonic Humidifier - Cool Mist Now
After my government issued ID and money, this amazing gadget is the third key thing I would take on a trip to a dry place. After three miserable trips to Phoenix where my eyes were dry and red and I felt tired and miserable, I brought this portable humidifier for the fourth trip (in as many months). What a difference it makes to sleep with the thing lacing the air with balmy droplets of water. I wish I had had it on other trips to other arid places (including, incidentally, Beijing), but also the many arid places in the Middle East, such as Riyadh. I also plan on taking it to any place cold enough to require forced air heating in winter. I really like shoes, but will leave a pair behind to accommodate this humidifier in my usual complement of carry-on baggage. It's that good!
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This review is for the Air-O-Swiss Portable Travel Humdifier (7146).
I bought this unit to help when I travel as I often have troubles with overly dry air. The unit comes with a nice felt carry bag, the nebulizer, the power supply, cleaning brush, and bottle adapter, all of which easily fit in the bag.
I have tried this unit out a few times, and it works well, but, you have to remember that it is a very small unit, and will not turn a large room into a steamy sauna. It is however enough to make a regular sized (300-400 sq foot) hotel room or office comfortable and "take the edge off." It will do about 500 mls in roughly 4-5 hours of time on full output.
It is very quiet, with more noise being made by the occasionaly "burp" of air into the bottle (kind of like a mini water dispenser) than anything else. The mist output is very fine, and evaporates rapidly into the air without leaving a soggy mess beneath it, (though I still wouldn't place it on any important papers).
Assembly is easy, plug the wall wart in to your power source, and then into the back of the unit and flip the legs out on the bottom. Get a small 500ml (17-20oz) water bottle, fill it with water, firmly push/twist the adapter into the open top, and then gently invert onto the unit, flip open the mist output, and turn it on. The output control knob is on the same side as the power cord, which is opposite the mist output.
There's no latches or anything to hold the bottle in place so make sure the unit is on something flat and stable. The adapter has a steel ball valve in it to keep the water from rushing out uncontrolled, but still allow it to "burp" as the unit needs more water.
The only thing I did not like about the unit was that while on it has a *very* bright blue LED on it that lights up the mist output to show you it's working. Unfortunately it lights up the room as well. If you're sensitive to such things, it may make it difficult to sleep as it is really bright, however some black electrical tape or a sharpie could easily fix that issue. The LED will turn red when the unit is out of water, and of course the output will cease.
Pros: Small, relatively lightweight, quiet, very fine mist output.
Cons: Bright LED lighting.
Edit: May 2011
Just came back from a long weekend in Las Vegas where it was very windy and dry. I had set up the unit to run while I was out of the hotel room, and when I came back I could easily notice the humidity in the room when walked in a few hours later. Again, not a steamy sauna, but definitely a noticeable difference from the dry desert air and the air-conditioned casino air. It's currently in my office at work in SD where we are having a very dry and windy few days, and the small hygrometer I have in my office shows about a 10% increase (from ~35% to ~45%) from when I turned it on a couple of hours ago.
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I bought this for travel about a year ago, but find that I use it at home as well despite having 3 full-size humidifers I could use instead.
I have two full size air-o-swiss ultrasonic humidifiers and a vicks ultrasonic at home. However, this unit is so easy to use and takes up such a tiny bit of space that I have been using it at home as well as traveling. My other big units are just collecting dust in the garage now.
Part of the beauty of this unit is how easy it is to fill you just use one of your empty water bottles. No big heavy container to lug to the sink and hope you don't spill on the way back. In addition, it is super easy to keep clean because it is so tiny. you just need to brush the small chamber where the ultrasonic membrane is located and it comes with a little cleaning brush. The large humidifiers have so many nooks and crannies that they're a real pain to keep clean. Even those with the ionic silver that supposedly retards microbe growth still get gross inside.
I highly recommend this as both a night time at home and travel humidifier. If you live somewhere dry and need a humidifier 24/7,then perhaps it's not the right one for you. But for intermittant use it is perfect!
NOTE: I first tried the similar unit by sunpentown and it had very poor performance so I returned it for this one. Perhaps I just had a bad unit, but based on that experience I cannot recommend the sunpentown unit despite the similar look and size to this one.Sunpentown SU-1051W Travel-Size Personal Humidifier, White
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Since I didn't see it listed either in the specs or the reviews, I'll just note that (according to the box it comes in), this is the replacement cartridge for Venta-Sonic models:
