This fan is great. It's really small, so it can be placed in a window frame or almost any where you need air to be moved from, and doesn't obstruct like a larger, yet less-powerful fan would.

It's really powerful. It really does shoot a tight beam of air, and in turn circulates air around an entire room. This is especially helpful, in say, small, un-air conditioned dorm rooms at colleges too cheap to install AC. This fan is also very good at moving cool air from one room to another. My room at home, also, ironically, does not have AC. The family room down the hall does. So I just place this baby in the hall aimed into my room, and the lovely cold air is pulled in from the family room and shot into mine, and my room is now AC'd, somewhat.

The variable speed control is very nice, letting you control exactly how much air you want moved. The lowest speed is almost silent, but is meant more for just personal cooling, while the fastest speed is rather noisy (but nothing unbearable, it's not bad at all), it IS moving quite a large volume of air, and good for whole-room air circulation/cooling.

I would give this gem a 5, but the frame is just a bit mal-aligned. It can get bent just slightly which causes the blades to smack against the plastic frame, and while this is easily correctable, it is annoying.

FAN-tastic Buy! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : This fan is mighty powerful and the best thing about it is the fact that it's very quiet. Of all the fans I've tried this size, this is the quietest. Especially on low....you'll hardly hear it running. Great for moving a little extra air conditioning into another room. Well made. Durable. Sturdy. For the few extra dollars for a fan this size, it's adds up to a great value.

Agreed: Vornado 550B is a good product (Rating: 4.00)
Review : Good continuous-action speed control (not 1-2-3 speed like most small fans).

Very quiet at low speeds; relatively loud at maximum speed. At maximum speed, however, you may find that this fan blows too much air for your needs.

We purchased this fan after my wife complained about the noise created by a small Honeywell-branded fan purchased at A Large Home Improvement Warehouse. This Vornado fan costs four times what the warehouse version did. It's worth it, because it's much quieter than the warehouse fan, while moving more air.

The Little Black Fan That Could! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I call my new Vornado 'The Little Black Fan That Could'. It's saved my life! Or at least my productivity. I plunk it down near a window and it blows fresh, cool air inside whenever it gets hot up here. My little black fan chugs on and on and on, all day and night long if I want it to with nary a complaint, which might make it even better than a boyfriend ;) It packs a mean punch, a lot more than my big, loud, cumbersome oscillating fan. I also really love the variable slide-speed thingy, which lets me decide exactly how much cool air I want. And if I move into another room, the Vornado comes with me without any lugging a big fan around.

If you are having problems with heat or air circulation, get this fan. I mean it. It looks expensive, but it's the best fan you'll ever own.