SHARP Air Purifier with Plasmacluster Ion Technology and Triple Filtration, including True HEPA Filter. Covers up to 2,198 sq. ft. for Large Rooms, for Dust, Smoke, and Pollen. FPA80UW

I've had this air purifier for about a month, and I like it! For now I'll give you my initial impressions, and I'll come back if I have anything to add later.Some reviewers have mentioned plastic smells. When I first opened the included filters and installed them into the unit, I did notice a very slight odor. However, once I turned the machine on and started using it, there was no smell whatsoever. The air that comes out of this air purifier has no odor that I can detect. I tend to be sensitive to chemical smells, but I'll admit that some people may be able to sense odors that I cannot. The best we can do here is describe our own experiences.One of the first things you will notice about this model is that it is always processing a significant amount of air, even if it is making no noticeable noise. It's quite impressive. The clean air blows out of the top of the device, so it contributes to air circulation without blowing in your face.I've had two air purifiers before this one. The first was one of the round Honeywell HEPA models. I bought that one in the late 90s, when HEPA air purifiers were a novelty. The Honeywell was very loud, and I never really felt that it was doing much to keep our air clean. Eventually I think I gave that one away. Back in 2011 I bought a Sanyo ABC-VW24 Air Washer Air Purification System with Electrolyzed Water Technology. That was a very nice device, and I'm still using it. The electrolyzed mist feature doesn't work as well as it used to, but the machine pops into action when smells appear, and it noticeably improves the air quality in our home. Sanyo was acquired by Panasonic, which still makes a line of air purifiers but apparently doesn't sell them in the United States.The Sharp FPA80UW is bigger than my Sanyo, and it seems to be at least as effective. It doesn't respond to smells as noticeably as the Sanyo but it doesn't have to, since as I said it is *always* processing a significant amount of air--and silently! If you put your ear right next to the unit you can hear some air flow and a very slight sound of small particles of activated carbon rustling in the filter, but this thing is amazingly quiet.I think it makes sense to get this model over the FPA60UW, unless you are only going to use it in a small room. The two use the same filters, but the FPA80UW can process more air in less time, which means it will make a bigger difference in your air quality.The thing to remember about air purifiers is that they can't eliminate odors whose source remains present. So no air purifier will get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke if there's a smoker in your home, or the smell of mildew if you have a moisture problem. If you have a damp basement, probably the best thing you can do for the quality of the air in your home is to install a dehumidifier in your basement. Once you have eliminated odor sources, I would strongly recommend this air purifier to help keep your home's air clean.Finally, when I was shopping for an air purifier I found the following resource to be very helpful: air-purifier-power dot com.

It's an excellent air purifier & very quiet. I have it in a large bedroom and it works very well. I have terrible allergies, but now don't wake up sneezing in in the middle of the night or all congested. And, another plus is I barely have to dust! It runs 24/7 even with the bedroom door open and it's very effective for that whole part of the apartment. Where I live is not only near major intersection & freeway, but there are many blooming trees and gardens year round. This is the first time in the 3 years that I've been living in Sherman Oaks that my allergies are under control. I've tried many other brands of air purifiers, but this one is the best.At first I thought it might not be working because it was so quiet, but when I brought in a basket of dirty laundry to sort suddenly I heard swoosh & the light turned red in reaction to the dirty clothes as it went into attack mode. Same thing if I've happened to open my window and a smoker walks by. There is something about the Plasmacluster technology that makes the atmosphere very relaxing (I have a Sharp portable AC with the same technology in another room). I am sold on this technology.It's a very nice design and looks great. It's light enough to move easily. If you don't like the display lights you can hold down the touch panel button on the left and the lights go out.The delivery from Amazon.com came much faster than anticipated (I think I got it in less than 2 days) and it was well packaged. Highly recommend this product.

I've had this unit for just a day, so this is a preliminary review based on a minimal amount of time with the unit. For a little background, I have this unit in my bedroom, which is 700 square feet with very high ceilings. I also run an IQAir Health Pro Plus in the bedroom. My main purpose for buying the Sharp was to assist the IQAir during bad air days because the size of my bedroom is pushing the upper limits of what the IQAir can handle.I use a Dylos DC1100 Pro laser particle scanner to test the effectiveness of my air purifiers. My house is currently running about 400,000 particles per cubicle foot, which is relatively dirty air for my neighborhood. It's a pretty smoggy day out in Southern California today. Running the IQAir I was only able to reduce the particle load to about 160,000. So I set up the Sharp and ran it on high for six hours today. When I came back to test it, my Dylos was showing a reading of 10,000 particles, which is almost a 95% improvement in air quality - not bad!For my next test, I move the unit down to my office - 150 square feet, so much smaller than the bedroom. The particle count when I first begin the test is 300,000. After ten minutes running the Sharp, the count drops to 25,000. After twenty minutes I'm at 13,600. After forty minutes, it drops to 12,500. It seems to be stuck there. Excellent air quality, according to the Dylos monitor, is 7,500 or below. So 12,500 places it squarely in the "very good' category.I also tried testing the air coming out of the Sharp by placing the Dylos up right next to the unit. I routinely do this with my IQAir to confirm it's still blowing clean air. The IQAir always shows it is blowing zero particles - completely clean air. With the Sharp, the Dylos tells me the unit is blowing air with between 1,000-1,200 particles between .5PM and 2.5PM in size, but zero particles larger than 2.5PM. So while this air is pretty darn clean coming out of the unit, it is evident that some of the air is bypassing the filters and leaking out of the unit. Taking a closer look at the filters gives me an idea why this may be. Both the HEPA filter and the prefilter are very loose fitting. In fact, the prefilter just flops around in the unit while it's turned off, but then when the unit is on the filter get sucked into place and stays pretty still. I'm guessing there is some leaks around the edges since the filter is not sealed into the unit. I may experiment with some tape to try and tighten up the seal and reduce the bypassing.The filters come wrapped in plastic from the factory. To remove the plastic you have to remove the cover panel and take out the filters. To remove the panel, you lift it up from the base and pull it out. Doing this was the first indication to me of why this unit cost almost a fourth of the price of the IQAir. The cover is flimsy, held on by some plastic clips on the bottom which look like they could easily snap off. And the entire unit is made of very thin plastic. When I pick it up to carry it from room to room, I hear the filter rattling around, and the unit just doesn't feel like it's solidly put together. I'm guessing this is why Sharp only gives it a one year warranty.Another noticeable difference between the two units is the filters themselves. The Sharp prefilter looks like a wafer thin piece of foam with some tiny carbon pellets in it. If it had shipped separate from the unit, I would guess that it could easily get damaged in shipping if the box was not particularly well packaged. The HEPA filter looks a bit more sturdy, but it's barely an inch thick and not nearly as well constructed as the IQAir HEPA. To be fair though, the replacement cost of the IQAir filter set is $369.00, substantially higher than the cost of this entire unit.So my initial impressions of this unit are that it is very powerful - blowing over 300 CFM on high and about 14 decibels quieter than the IQAir on its highest setting. It's obvious that the unit can clear particles from the air very quickly, even in a larger sized room. The HEPA filter is rated to capture particles down to .3 microns. IQAir's HyperHepa filter captures particles down to .003, or 100 times smaller than standard HEPA. From the research I've done, there are actually quite a few particles below .3 microns which can be very dangerous to your health if you suffer from asthma.As a standalone unit, this certainly does the job of reducing the particle count in the air, and it does it a very respectable noise level for its output. And as a back up unit to assist the IQAir, it has a tremendous impact as an assistant. My biggest concern is the somewhat flimsy feel of the unit, along with the short one year warranty. At some point I will need to order a replacement filter set for this, and the filters cost about $60 for the HEPA and $30 for the prefilter. These are certainly reasonable prices as long as the unit itself holds up. But something tells me I'll be looking for a replacement for this unit in two or three years, while the IQAir will still be going strong 10-15 years from now. So if money were no object and I wanted the best filtration possible, I'd probably buy a second IQAir unit. If you are considering just one unit, and you can't cost justify the IQAir, the Sharp is a very worthwhile investment. If you want something in the under $300 range, I'd say this unit is probably the best one out there that I could find, and I'm sure it will play a very useful role in my household.UPDATE 2/8/2015This morning I placed scotch tape around the entire edge of the prefilter to create a tight seal with the unit. Taking another round of measurements with the particle counter, I now show a reading of anywhere from zero particles (both .5PM an 2.5PM) to about 200 .5PM, still 0 2.5PM. It seems to be averaging about 100 particles in the .5PM size. So a few cents worth of tape has reduce the particles coming out of the unit by 90%. Not a bad investment. I probably should have taped the HEPA filter first, but now that the prefilter is tightly sealed, I will just leave it as is and continue to monitor output. I like this unit a lot more now that I see virtually particle free air blowing out of the unit!