A good DESK fan only, quiet, pay for the Vornado name

I love Vornado house fans so when I was looking for a office desk fan, I gave a lot of clout to the Vornado name. Although a pretty good fan, it really doesn't live up to the Vornado name; but you pay for it.

I LOVE VORNADO

We have two Vornado fans because we love them so much. The are quiet, well designed, well built, fans. They utilize a smarter technology in design over the age old "daisy blade" style fans. I equate Vornado to regular fan as jet plane to propeller plane.

The fans are not cheap, but you pay for what you get. They are well built, sturdy, and encased in a manner that naturally is hard for little fingers to get in. They blow lots of air and have very quiet operation.

MY NEEDS

I needed a desk fan for after lunch workouts. Even though I take a shower, the blood is still pumping and especially in the summer months the body is still burning energy at a higher rate: read, I am HOT when I get back to my desk. I really don't want to be sweating, but I can't occupy my hands with a manila folder and do useful work.

So I found the Zippi on Amazon and with the Vornado name gave it a lot of clout. The reviews were soso, but the real Vornado mini fan was not in stock… and I was anxious.

THE ZIPPI

The fan is an egg shaped body about the size of an apple. It is attached to a metal wire stand and can be adjusted up or down. This hinge is purely a friction hinge so I'm worried that one day it won't stand upright because it's loose, but so far so good.

The switch is flush part of the end of the egg and has two speed settings. The three fan blades consist of nylon (like windjacket material) with a weight inside at the end. This allows the blades to droop soft when the fan is off. And since they are soft, no fan cage is necessary. Contact with the soft blades when on is soft and not a danger; although prolonged interference will damage the fan. The power cord (no batteries) is located in the rear.

IS IT A VORNADO?

Well, it works. You pretty much have to be within 24 inches, directly in front of the fan to feel the breeze coming from it. Outside of this range, forget it. But for a desk fan, that's really all it needs to do. It operates very quietly; none of my cube neighbors can hear it.

Some people have mentioned reliability of the unit, but so far, I've used it all summer (for about 15 minutes every few days) and it's going fine.

Is it a Vornado? Hmmm… not in the sense that most are aware of. It's sort of a bastard child of Vornado that quite a bit different from most of their fans.

THE VIRDICT

For the $20 I spent, it's not bad. It does its job. It's compact and quiet. If $20 is your budget for a DESK fan, this is good. But I really wish the $34 mini Vornado was available. I would have paid $14 more for the superior "regular" Vornado design.