I got one, used it 5 times and a fan does a better job.

You have to put ice in the tray which melts quickly and the air is not even that cold.

People seem to be talking about two different products - the evaporative water-cooled fans that can be purchased in Tesco or Big C, and the portable aircon units complete with a compressor that circulates gas to achieve cooling. There may be a bit of confusion because some (but not all) of the latter also have a water tank. I have a Toshiba 1200 btu model (that does take water) which I use on very hot days in my office in the UK - though I don't need it often. This works okay in that climate, although venting is untidy. We have a second (non water) 1300btu portable unit in the house that we can move around as desired, subject to a suitable window for venting. This one does help with cooling on humid nights, but is a hassle to set up and not quite as effective as the split units in the bedrooms and TV room in our Thai house. So I would say the genuine portable aircon units (as opposed to fans) can work okay, but aren't as good as fixed units, mainly because of venting. I have also seen larger portable units hired in from an outside contractor for large work meetings that function well. Remember too that many older a/c units in the US are 'all in one' products installed in a window or through the wall, and they can work as well as a split unit.

Edited July 11, 201214 yr by citizen33