Quadra Ionic is great for pet owners and people with allergies.
Written: Aug 17 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
| Effectiveness: |
|
|
|
Pros: Quiet, easy to use, ease to clean and good design.
Cons: Expensive.
The Bottom Line: Buy it and try it. There's a 60 day money back guarantee. It's quiet, easy to use and clean and uses little electricity. Works a charm on pet dander.
|
|
|
| slippahs's Full Review: Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Quadra SI637 Air Purifi... |
What's the big deal with these Quadra's?
A few weeks ago, I decided to purchase an Ionic Breeze Quadra and a Compact Ionic Breeze (for 50% off at the Sharper Image). Both have been running in different rooms for a long time now -- the Regular Ionic Breeze in the master bedroom and Compact Ionic in the guestroom. At first, the only difference was the smell, but when we pulled out the filter of both Ionic Breezes at the end of two weeks, we were surprised at what we found. The filters were covered black! It was amazing at what we had crawling around in the air -- even more amazing that our Ionic Breezes could get it out of the air.
Features
- The removable filter is cleanable, and is unlike the filters of other air purifiers. You don't have to replace them ever, which is great. However, I did see the Sharper Image selling replacement filters, which must mean that these filters have a tendency to break when they get old. Those filters go for about $40. When the cleaning light indicator comes on, all you need to do is remove the filter and wipe it down with a wet rag. The drag about this whole process is that you need to let the filter dry for a total of 24 hours before putting it back into the unit. Apparently, any speck of water on the filter will cause the Ionic Breeze to malfunction. It seems risky and tedious, but I guess it's worth the amount of junk it takes out of the air.
- It's quiet. What's amazing about this unit is that you cannot hear it. It's a charm when I sleep at night. However, there have been times when it has acted up and has caused some noise. If this happens, the video claims that all you need to do is remove the filter and clean it, but all I had to do was remove the filter, turn the unit off and on again, and it went back to it's quiet state. I guess it's able to run quietly with the absence of a fan. There are apparently ionically charged particles that move the air through the unit.
- It uses little electricity. That's what's so great about this unit. It only uses something like less than 20 watts of electricity. I can plug it into the wall without fear of the unit overheating.
- It's easy to use. All you have to do is plug the unit in, push a button, and it's ready to go. There was no installation out of the box, and it worked well after its first day. Included in the package is an informational video that's supposed to run for 10 minutes, but ended up running for 5 (the other 5 is in Spanish). In other words, The Sharper Image really does a great deal of walking you through the motions of cleaning the Ionic Breeze and maintaining it.
- It's easy to clean. All you have to do is remove the filter, wash it down with a wet rag, and let it sit. Like I said, it's a pain to let the filter sit for 24 hours.
- It has a great design. I don't know about you, but I'm really picky about what ends up going into my home. The design of this unit is great. It's very compact and fits right into the corner of my rooms. There are three different colors, though, so one can pick what he or she wants to fit the decor of the room.
- A fresh pleasant smell is emitted from the unit. It helps to clean the air, and also helps to make it smell nice. We own a dog, and our rooms have never smelt cleaner after we got this unit. In addition, this unit has helped to take away some of the allergens that come from our dog. I can get up in the morning without having to blow my nose twenty times, like I usually do.
- Apparently, it's able to take the smoke right out of the air. For anyone that smokes, this product is for you. Although we don't smoke, this unit apparently is able to clean a smoke filled room. The only problem with using this machine in that fashion is the cleaning. If you smoke or burn candles, this unit works great, but you'll need to clean it within an hour after smoking.
A Big Con
If you don't like expensive things, this Ionic Breeze Quadra is not for you. We paid over $300 for this unit. The only problem with this unit that we found was the steep price, but we find that it's worth the cost. Apparently the Sharper Image has a sale going on (current as of August 17, 2002), where one can purchase an ionic breeze at its regular price and purchase a second one at 1/2 off. The Sharper Image also threw in a bathroom air purifier, which is like the Ionic Breeze but made for bathrooms of smaller rooms. It makes a high pitched sound, is all I can say (apparently, if the room is extremely humid, this sound is emitted from the bathroom ionic breeze).
Customer Service
We bought our Ionic Breeze at The Sharper Image store in Ala Moana (Honolulu, Hawai'i). They were great at showing us how to use this product and how it works. They had about 5 ionic breezes going in the store and one could tell that the air was really clean. My advice for you is to go into the store and look at it for yourself. Don't buy it online! If you do, you won't get a chance to see how it really works (and the shipping charges can get pricey).
So what? Is it worth it?
We think it's worth the price we paid. It has helped to keep the allergens down in our rooms and has amazed us at what it has taken out of the air. If you want germ protection, however, buy the GP Ionic Breeze, which apparently takes germs out of the air as well. You'll have to shove out an extra $100, but I guess it's worth the price, if it really does work.
So buy it or not?
Well, it does come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so I'd say go for it. It also now comes with a three year warranty, so it if it breaks, it's fixable. The bottom line is that we didn't have any problems with the two Ionic Breezes in our house.
Wait. Should I buy the Compact one or the Regular one?
In a way, if the room you want to use the unit in is small, get the Compact Ionic Breeze. If the room is big and you get the compact Ionic Breeze, you'll end up cleaning it more and it probably wouldn't be as effective as it should be. The Compact Ionic Breeze supposedly cleans 2/3 of the space as the regular one and is 2/3s the price.
Who should buy this product...
Those have allergens in the house. Those with pets. Those will a lot of dust in the house.
Who should not buy this product...
Those who don't want to shell out the bucks.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $349.95
Noise Level: Almost noiseless
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
slippahs
|
|
Location: Honolulu, Hawai'i
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Here in sunny Honolulu, Hawai'i, I type for the good of all :-)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.