I read several reviews before purchasing this sound machine. Some people said it was not loud enough, but I find it plenty loud on the low setting. It makes a nice sound like a fan that drowns out other noises without making me cold like a fan. Directions say to put it across the room from you and that seems to work well. It took me a few days to get used to it and now it seems way too quiet without it, plus I hear all the outside noises and my whining cat who wants to be fed constantly. It drowns him out nicely.

I've worked a 7PM-7AM night shift for 5 years, so I sleep a portion of the daytime hours. In addition to the world's daytime activities: birds, road noise, and household activities; I also have a two and a half year-old son who's going be making some noise (whether intentionally or not). I bought one of these about a 9 months ago after receiving money as a birthday gift. I had held off on it due to the higher price and since I thought it couldn't be all that different than the box fan that I had been using. Anyway, the Marpac noisemaker creates a good, masking, white-noise that covers most of the sounds around me enough that they don't keep me up or wake me up. You're still able to hear things if you're awake and concentrate. It doesn't move the amount of air that a box fan does either, which can be a plus or minus. . . I don't really want to be circulating the air, I want a white noise maker. Also, I'm assuming the smaller fan of the noise maker has a smaller motor than the box fan and will be using less electricity. It's a bit adjustable in terms of the tone by turning the sides and the top; volume is basically dependent upon the high or low fan speed setting. I ended up buying another Marpac for use in my son's room while he sleeps as well to get rid of the box fan there and also to better mask noise so he can sleep more soundly if we're up talking or watching television. I recommend the product and have found it helpful. I feel that I'm able to sleep more soundly during the day with and, in hindsight, would have liked to have purchase it years ago.

This is the 3rd Sleep Mate I have owned in the last 35 years! The white noise helps me to relax and get to sleep. Heaven forbid the electric goes off in the event of a power failure! I wake up instantly when the Sleep Mate goes off. We have been on 3 or 4 cruises, and I even packed it along to use in the ship stateroom. Our friends thought I was nuts! But it works for me Well worth the investment if you have sleeping problems. It really is addictive. :-)

I love this machine. I wish I bought it 5 yrs ago when my daughter was born. I have it in her room and she goes to sleep faster with it on. Also at night when we check on her I don't have to worry about any sounds waking her up since the machine covers it with wonderful white noise. when we travel I plan on taking this along also. It's small enough but packs a good punch. The different levels make it very useful too.

Works great. Basically a compact fan in a box. Perfect level noise for a child's room. Keeps the noise from coming in, but isn't overwhelmin. No draft to speak of. And small enough to take along for travel. Calms my little one right down.

I got this because my sister had one. It was a bit more expensive than other options but it works extremely well. It is just "white noise," no music, chirps, or other options. I use it when I sleep to mask the noise of the dog next door and my spouse's snoring. My sister used it for white noise when her children were napping. I would highly recommend this. I often use the "low" setting, and that is enough -- the less expensive version has only one setting and I have read it is only the higher setting (louder, not a different pitch). It is impressive how much better I sleep. Should have purchased one long ago.

Since I do cat rescue and have 15 in my house, lots of things go bump in the night! I have had several sound conditioners over the years, and this is the simplest one I've ever had. I wasn't into all the extra sounds some of them offer, so this is a good value and does the job of helping me stay asleep through most of the cat-cophony!

I bought it for a friend who suffers from tinnitius. She told me that it definitely helps her sleep through the night.