Like many others, I was attracted to this fan by its design and seemingly sturdy construction. We had one in a hotel room, and my boyfriend loved it so much that I splurged and got him one for Valentine's Day. Though it's noisier than other fans, we prefer that because we mainly use it at night, to block out urban/street noise.

The problem is that in less than three years it stopped working---which is absolutely ridiculous given the $115+ I paid, coupled with the fact that fan technology is not exactly cutting edge. Even more frustrating, the fan's five-year "warranty" is worthless. Vornado requires you to package and ship back the fan, along with a $15 check for return shipping. I doubt they repair returned fans; instead they mine them for parts. Either way, it's absurd to expect an outlay of $35-40 (not to mention the time involved) from owners of a defective product, especially since a new one costs only about twice that. Many people have complimented the looks of the fan, but at this point I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's very difficult to understand why an ugly $20 plastic fan will last forever, while one that costs five to six times more breaks down after a few years of moderate use.

This fan is extremely solid looking, and powerful, as well as attractive, but behaves strangely. The base and the fan seem to be assembled with some sort of floating mechanism that makes the fan seem like it just wobbles around sometimes. You can tell the second you take it out of the box. In spite of the wobbly assembly, the thing really pushes air around really well, and my air conditioning no longer seems 'stale'. I'm sure there are other fans that are more powerful, solid, inexpensive and definitely lightweight, but none are as cool looking as this one.

(Later on, after a customer inquiry to Vornados web site)
As it turns out, the fan is not supposed to be wobbly, but instead should be very sturdy. The rep told me to pack it up and send it back to the factory. That's pretty inconvenient, because this thing is going to cost me about 20 bucks to ship, let along the packaging that is going to have to be carefully engineered. Dont buy this. The situation now stinks, and by the time I get the new one, I will have paid way more than it is worth. As a matter of fact, I am sending it back to Amazon, and they can pay for the shipping label. Thanks, Amazon, for a great message board for me to vent on.

Sure it's pretty, but it's also pretty useless. Like Hobbs (another reviewer) noted, the knob to hold the fan at a particular angle DOESN'T hold. So it blows air where IT wants, not where I want. Obviously, this is a problematic product. I should have known better, given how many "factory reconditioned" ones I have seen available. Gee, wonder why the factory has so many available to recondition. Dumb me for buying it. Do yourself a favor and find a real vintage fan at a thrift store.

Pros: moves a lot of air, cool retro look is appealing, nice low frequency sound for those that like the white noise of a fan while they sleep, modestly priced for a product with a lot of steel content.

Cons: cheap plastic switch that feels destined to break before long, a little difficult to clean but this isn't much different from every other fan I've owned. One of the two I own has something loose in the motor housing that results in a metal to metal bell tone when it's oscillating. Probably something I can fix but at only about three months old, something I shouldn't have to deal with.

Bottom line: a good fan with a great look but a little pricey relative to comparable plastic fans (so is everything with high steel content lately). Long term reliability is a question mark. If all you want is a fan to move some air, this isn't the fan for you.

This fan approaches air-conditioning in its cooling capacity in my eyes, and I'm known as the one who's always turning the temperature towards "Arctic" on our thermostat! It's sound lulls me to sleep with memories of sleeping under an enormous GE oscillating floor fan made of steel back in the 1960's before air-conditioning was everywhere. And on top of it all, it's beautiful. I own two and am thinking of buying a third for yet another room in my house. I wouldn't live in Georgia without it.

I agree with another reviewer in that the fan is very nicely designed [something I place a lot of importance in] however, practically everything about this fan is aggravating. From having to disassemble it to clean the blades to the fact that on the low speed it rattles to the fact that the side knob to hold angle doesn't actually hold. This product *looks* like it's rock solid but it's a flimsy item.

I FIRST SAW THIS ON THE INTERNET AND WANTED TO BUY IT. THEN, I SAW THE NEW CASABLANCA MODERNE. VORNADO SILVER SWAN IS BETTER. YOU CAN SELECT FROM THREE DIFFERNT FAN SPEEDS DEPENDING ON HOW HOT YOUR ROOM IS. I WOULD CHOOSE THE LOWEST SPEED IN CASE I WAS DOWNSTAIRS USING THE COMPUTER AND IT GOT HOT. IT OSCILLATES SO WHEN I'M PAINTING, I CAN PUSH A BUTTON ON BACK OF IT AND I WOULD HAVE IT CONTINUESLY TURNING FROM SIDE TO SIDE ON IT'S OWN WITHOUT ME HAVING TO ADJUST IT. I REALY LIKE THIS FAN!!!

Last summer was very hot in Finland! There was over 30 plus Celsius. I was as sweat as I am in Finnish bastu and I had to drink all the time Coke or something fresh juice. I was almost dying in my house but luckily I found my saviour called Vornado. Without Vornado I would burned alive. Vornado gave me a cool feeling and I was not sweating anymore. It was so comfortable to sit my room which was before the Vornado like a Inferno. You can choose three different speed levels depending on how hot your room is. I usually choose the speed level two. Vornado is worth of having!

I have owned this fan for about a year and recently have noticed that when I turn it to low speed it takes more time to get fan up to speed.Blades and cap are aluminum which is heavier than plastic blades on most fans.Electric motor in this fan has a component called a starter capacitor which provides a jolt of power to start fan in motion.It takes more power to start a fan from dead stop than to keep it going so I understand that a starter capacitor allows for a smaller/cheaper motor and also conserves electricity because a big beefy motor uses more "gas" which is wasteful.I believe that the starter capacitor has gotten tired and needs replacement which I will do someday.Heatpump compressors require a starter capacitor to get going too and require replacement as well and this is something I have experience with also.Now I turn fan to high speed which provides the needed jolt then I turn it down to low.Sound of fan first reminded me of Cessnas I flew in but at low speed sound is macho.Design of blade is old fashioned before science and technology squeezed every drop of blood from a design,so sound is old fashioned to go with look,stop complaining at least your car does not have a handcrank and manual choke.Wire of grill is thick which lowers air flow,I would have preferred fewer wires but lawsuits today require baby finger separation.In our throwaway today win lottery tomorrow society it is nice to have a few of the blessings and problems of the past but on smaller scale than "Frontier House".I would buy one in a hurry before it is gone because product has limited demand like those Patriot Bonds.

I purchased the Vornado Silver Swan Deco Oscillating Fan based largely on its appearance and sturdy construction. It seems few manufacturers these days actually take the time to design appliances that are functional AND handsomely designed. This fan is very well-made and beautiful, much like the fans of the 1930's-1950's. That said, there are a couple of flaws with this fan. Another reviewer here said it right with regard to taking-off the front grill to clean the blades--re-assembling it is a pain. Most bargain fans these days are designed to come apart for cleaning and go back together easily, and I can't help but wonder why this one wasn't. Another shortcoming is the "noise" that this fan makes. A write-up I read described it as "whisper quiet"; it isn't. Don't get me wrong, this fan isn't noisy per se. But my other cheap-o plastic fan is MUCH quieter. Overall, I'm glad I purchased this fan, though. It isn't perfect but, for me, was worth the purchase price for the design alone.

This is a great, stylish fan that moves A LOT of air. I searched high and low for a classic style fan that actually did the business, and this fan fits the bill. I think it comes in silver and black, but go for the silver.

I thought the art deco styling on this fan looked great. Since I have a Vornado circulator and love it, I felt very confident buying the Black Swan oscillating fan. It has a serious design flaw. The base is solidly constructed and two solid constructed grates for the front and the back are held together with a black plastic hoop that holds the grates together with a single slide in screw at 6 o'clock.Taking off this for cleaning and trying to reassemble it quickly is very difficult.It is a good air-mover but somewhat noisier than I expected.Overall, I was disappointed.