Customer Reviews

Sharp CV-P10MX 9,500-BTU Portable Air Conditioner, White

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just purchased this Sharp CV-P10MX from Bed Bath and Beyond for [...]- 20% coupon + 8.25% tax - 5% bonus CASHBACK rebate for using my Discover card. Total net purchase price for me was about [...]. That's the best deal I could find and I didn't have to wait for shipping. I got the A/C unit today.

The unit is big. Look at the measurements carefully before purchasing. You need enough space right next to your window for this unit. Even though this is a portable unit with casters to move it around, the exhaust hose setup is more or less semi-permanent. Once installed it's not meant to be taken off very easily. So keep that in mind. Once you've installed it, you essentially can't use your window again to bring in fresh air--not without taking down the exhaust hose installation.

Don't get me wrong. I LIKE this portable unit quite a bit. I do solidly recommend purchasing this unit if you need a portable AC. For what it does, it does it well. The cooling performance is SOLID! Don't listen to other users with similar NON-Sharp units complaining about it not working or not bringing the temp down enough. They either have faulty units or didn't install the exhaust hose properly. These kind of AC units WORK and they work quite well for what they are designed to do. BUT there are shortcomings with these designs. For one, we have blinds AND curtains installed on our windows. With this portable AC installed on this set of windows, our blinds and curtains become essentially useless. Please keep that in mind. Also, it's a real pain to install the exhaust hosing contraption properly into your window frame and to make sure the insulation is properly insulated. It's not impossible but a real pain.

Another bad design about this particular SHARP unit is that there's no display on the AC unit itself. ONLY the remote has all the info/stats. So you can't tell what's going on with the unit just by looking at it. For example, you can't tell the current temp--or at least what the AC unit thinks is the current temp. You can only set the desired temp. on the remote unit. Additionally, you can't tell what setting the fan is currently running at just by looking at the unit. You have to go check your remote, and even then, you don't really know what the real fan speed is currently running at, only that you've set your remote to a certain setting. If you don't point the remote directly at the unit, it may show that you're running at high speed but really you're running at low or medium speed. It's a bad design pure and simple. The AC unit itself should have a display with all pertinent info AND it should have buttons to allow you to change the settings of the AC unit. As it stands, you can ONLY turn the unit on and off on the unit itself. Everything else is controlled by the remote. Make damn sure you don't lose your remote or else it essentially becomes useless to customization.

Another bad design is that the louvers ONLY automatically adjust UP and DOWN. For side to side adjustment, you have to MANUALLY adjust it by going to the unit itself and using your hands to adjust it. What this means is that you get auto action of up and down but not side to side. If your room is very small, it may suffice for just this up/down action, but if you have a bigger room, you're going to get frustrated with the lack of automatic side to side movement of the louvers. Again, bad design.

One of the biggest reason for getting the SHARP units is how quiet they are suppose to be in the lowest setting--supposedly 36 db--however that is just the sound of the fan operating by itself--meaning when the compressor isn't working to produce the actual COLD air. When the AC unit has kicked in with the compressor, the sound, even at the lowest setting, is not very quiet. It's definitely not something you can fall asleep to unless you get adjusted to the sound. Having said that, the Sharp will be the quietest of all the portable AC units out there. I've done ample research before purchasing this unit and this is by far the most quiet unit on the market today. So if you want the quietest machine, this is the unit to purchase but don't be fooled into thinking that it's truly quiet. It's NOT. It'll take some getting use to before one can go to sleep without ear plugs with this unit on. (I've been using ear plugs since my college dorm days to fall asleep so it doesn't bother me one bit but it will bother others initially I'm certain.)

All in all, I solidly like this unit and I believe it's one of the best out there. I am quite satisfied with this purchase. It will absolutely cool your room. If it doesn't, you've either installed it incorrectly or you have a faulty unit. If installed properly, it WILL work very well. But there are shortcomings--described above--to these portable AC units, by nature of their design, not isolated to SHARP units only. Realize these shortcomings before purchasing these kind of portable AC machines and you won't be very disappointed once you get it home and installed.

I know when the next heat wave comes this way, I'll be sitting happily in my bedroom surfing the net with a very "cool" smile and appreciating my Sharp CV-P10MX very much. :)

(I would give this machine 5 stars if they improved upon the user design. Otherwise very happy with the cooling performance of this Sharp CV-P10MX!)

I won't repeat the comments in the other reviews, which are generally accurate. If you want a portable air conditioner, well, you must make some compromises. I first used portable air conditioners professionally about twenty years ago, so I was aware that they had ducting requirements. If those are a problem for you, look for another solution.

As background, our 16-year-old central air conditioner had a relay fail, and my wife was ill, so I needed to provide some heat relief fast. We live in a condominium and a window unit - the cheapest solution - was not allowed. I installed this in a couple of hours at night and it has been a blessed relief.

I found that there are a couple of installation tips which may make your life easier. Every situation is different, these worked for me, but you should assess whether these will be useful in your particular circumstances.

1. Duct tape is your friend. Don't scoff - the purpose of duct tape is to seal air conditioning ducts, and guess what, that's what we are doing here. Rather than drill into your window frame to mount the duct opening and cover, duct tape will hold it and seal. Since ours is a temporary installation, this is fine. You may find it useful to fasten the window duct apparatus with duct tape for a week or two, until you decide exactly where you want the product permanently, then go through the drilling later when you are sure of the location.

2. Our window was an aluminum-framed horizontal slider. The instructions call for a security mount by screwing an L-shaped bracket to the sash and window frame. This is a BAD IDEA, since this makes it impossible to use the window for a fire exit. A 1x2 cut to the right length will secure the window, and can be removed easily in an emergency. Use our friend Mr. Duct Tape to secure the duct cover to the sliding window. Leave a utility knife handy to cut the duct tape just in case. In any event, for a high-crime area, consider the security impact of a partially-open window.

3. The plastic window opening cover/duct outlet comprises five pieces: two flat plates, a sliding connector to hold them together, a snap-in duct mount/insect guard, and an internal sliding piece to cover the duct opening when the duct mount is removed. For horizontal sliding windows, lose the internal sliding piece, which is always sliding down during the installation. This will make sense when you actually see the unit.

4. As designed, the snap-in duct mount was too long to fit inside our existing screen. I didn't want to remove the screen, which helped to conceal the duct, so I didn't use that, instead relying on our friend Mr. Duct Tape once more.

5. For horizontal sliding windows, this unit will work best with vertical blinds.

6. Make certain nothing leans on or obstructs the hose between the air conditioner itself and the window. Items leaning on the hose may destroy all your painstaking duct tape handiwork.

The unit draws in air from the room being cooled. Some of this is chilled and returned to the room, and some is used in the heat exchanger portion of the air conditioner and exhausted outside. You will need to draw air into the room being cooled. This was not an issue for us.

We are pleased with the unit, and found it more than ample for a roughly 250 square foot room. Highly recommended, just be aware that the exhaust installation is a bit fiddly. Don't forget the duct tape!

Living in a condo and presently not having the funds to install central, a portable was my only option and with 100 degree heat daily this summer I finally broke and bought one.

Like the last reviewer, I also researched thoroughly before purchasing. However, I disagree with many of the reviewer's complaints.

1) The exhaust hose is a breeze to install and probably took me no more than a couple of minutes. I even had to cut mine down to size and it was not an issue.

2) I have honeycomb blinds on the window and the unit does not interfere in the least, so I am not sure why his are "rendered useless" by the a.c. unit.

3) Perhaps he is a very light sleeper, because I have mine running right this very minute on the highest mode and it is still "library quiet" in my opinion. My window fan makes at least 10x more noise than this machine.

4) Nearly all operational displays are on the remote, but the unit also comes with a remote holder on the back for easy storage. If you put it in it's place, you won't lose it. I love the sleekness of this product and am happy that it does not have a bunch of number and digital displays on the front. They designed this unit to blend in as seamlessly as possible with the indoor environment, and I appreciate that.

I paid full price for my unit and would do it again in a heartbeat. I have the 10,000 BTU unit and am using it to cool off a fairly large area which includes a kitchen, living room, and dinette area...probably some 450 to 500 square feet. It cools like a champ! This a.c. was worth every penny and I am a very satisfied customer.

Ok, since there are some here who don't understand how an air conditioner works... I decided to clear up some misunderstandings. First of all, heat is energy and you can't just make it cease to exist. All an air conditioner does is to collect it and send it outside. A central air unit does this with the compressor outside. If you go out there and feel of the air blowing out of it while running, you will notice the heat coming out. That's the heat from the inside of your house.

All simple air conditioners work this way. The heat must be disposed of. The portable air conditioners are a nice thing but that's what the hose to the window is for. And of course it's going to get hot. Now here's the trick... insulate that hose and you will minimize how much heat gets returned back into your hours. Get some padding if you can and try to fluff it up around that hose. The unit will work the best if you minimize the hose length (get the unit close as possible to the window) and insulate it somehow. I used some of that thermal barrier styroform board stuff from Home Depot and built a little shroud around the hose. It doesn't look real pretty but it keeps the heat from returning into the room as much as without it. Good luck.

Where I live, the temp only breaks 95 a few times a year. Because of this, it is hard to justify the cost of central air. The better option seemed to be a portable AC. Use it when you need it, stow it when you don't.

This review is not about some of the points discussed in earlier reviews. Yes it is heavy, very heavy, and yes the window attachment is cheap but I am not going to re-hash those issues.

For this review I wanted to focus on the unit for bedroom use. My main observation was that, for sleeping, this unit (probably all units) has a lot to be desired. I positioned it right next to my bed thinking that it would quietly maintain a nice cool temp. My first disappointment was how slowly it cooled. I put it on max cool then left the room for about 2 hours. While it was cooler when I returned, it wasn't cold.

After settling in to bed, I was presented with my second disappointment. My "library quite" air conditioner was LOUD. Not just the compressor but the bubbling/gurgling of the liquid inside the compressor. Worst of all, when the room reaches temp and the compressor shuts off there is a loud WHUMP sound. Not unlike the sound of someone dropping a box of bricks. It kept waking me up all night and I ultimately had to turn the unit off.

In conclusion, this is a solidly built machine with great fit and finish. Once it got up to speed it did do a relatively good job cooling and I like the remote and overall design. However, if you are expecting this to be a whisper quiet cooling machine that will sooth you into restful slumber...think again. You will be disappointed.

As for me, I will probably return this unit. The main reason I bought it was for a cool restful sleep and this is something it does not provide.

THis

UPDATE SUMMER 3, July 2011
We are still happy with this unit. It continues to work admirably and has had not glitches or needs for repair. It has been a good value for us. A few things I wish were better may be addressed in newer models. I do wish the fan were stronger so that it could double as a room fan. As it is, you really need a dedicated room fan. The exhaust works well. As the unit has aged, we do empty the water more frequently than when it was new but it is not burdensome.

UPDATE, SUMMER 2, July 2010
We continue to enjoy this air conditioner. We have become more sophisticated at using it also which we believe reduces our energy consumption. We typically use the unit to reduce the temperature of our bedroom. In the past we turned on the air conditioning a couple of hours before bed and off in the morning. Now, rather than turn the unit on air conditioning a couple of hours before bed we turn the vent on and express the hot air from the room. We turn the unit on just before going to bed. This seems to work well.

We also discovered that there has to be a clear line of sight between the unit and the remote to have the thermostat work well. This was never an issue last year but discovered it this year when we rearranged our furniture.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 8 July 2009

We love this unit. Our house has a loft that is 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the main floor. As we live in the high mountain desert this can be quite hot! We either lived with the heat by using 4 fans and a lot of patience or by freezing out the main floor. Our family dubbed the lower floor as Antarctica and our upstairs as the Sahara. After a decade and a lot of worry about energy usage, we decided to try a portable air conditioner. After searching for one that was modestly priced, we purchased a different portable air conditioner. It sounded like a jet engine. Based on reviews, after two days, we decided to exchange it for the Sharp. The difference in the volume is beyond belief. I have a hearing disorder so quiet operation is very important. While we spent nearly twice the amount of money on this unit compared to the previous one, it is more than worth it!

I have listed the pros and cons I experienced below. Generally, the cons are more quirks but a few things may require adaptation. Overall, they are things I am more than willing to live with in exchange for the quietness and the cool.

Pros
-Quiet
-Did I mention quiet? The compressor and the high fan mode are louder than the 38 db they advertise but the overall sound is still modest. To me, it sounds like an aquarium pump.
-Sturdy look and feel to the unit. The plastic seems strong and the parts fit together well. It does not look cheaply built.
-The unit is slick looking.
-The mega chill function is nice to quickly start to cool your room off.
-The vent includes both horizontal and vertical adjustments. There are two vertical adjustments that can be directed so that they blow air to the left and the right of the unit. The adjustments are similar to how car vents work. Several other brands only have a horizontal adjustment.
-We compared the temperature on the remote to three other thermometers located around the room. One thermometer was sitting beside the remote. After three hours of operation, the temperatures were very consistent. One thermometer read 1-2 degrees lower but that one was more in line with the vents even though it was about 12 feet away.
-Cools better for the same BTU than the "freight train" model we had.
-Parts were well machines making the assembly easy.

Cons/Quirks
-The remote works across quite a long distance, but has a modestly narrow range. We had to position the unit at an odd angle to be able to work the remote without having to get up and point it at the machine.
-As other reviewers have noted the controls are on the remote, not the machine. However, I did discover that you can turn the unit on at the machine and it will default to the automatic mode with a temperature of 68 degrees.
-The button marked power does not indicate that the power is on. The LED beside the power button, which is labeled operation, turns on when the machine is operating.
-The vent control could be a bit better. The highest position could benefit from being about 15 degrees higher so that the air was directed a bit more towards the ceiling.
-The delay setting only operates on a 12 hour clock. I could not figure out how to set an automatic on for the afternoon and off for the morning like I could on the "jet engine" unit.
-As others have noted, the rain protector portion of the exhaust hose requires that you remove or alter the screen in your window. Since we live in a pretty dry area we decided not to install this portion and leave our window screen in place. This might not work for those in a wetter climate.
-The fit in the window frame could be better. While the included foam window insulation was nice it was not enough. We added more and also ended up using clear packing tape to secure the exhaust.
-The exhaust unit has multiple pieces that can be fit together to accommodate different window sizes. As we have a vertical slider, we had to use quite a lot of packing tape to secure the parts together. This was true with the other unit we installed but the plastic on the Sharp seemed "slicker" and thus was more prone to slipping apart.

FOLLOW-UP COMMENT, SUMMER 2, July 2010
We continue to enjoy this air conditioner. We have become more sophisticated at using it also which we believe reduces our energy consumption. We typically use the unit to reduce the temperature of our bedroom. In the past we turned on the air conditioning a couple of hours before bed and off in the morning. Now, rather than turn the unit on air conditioning a couple of hours before bed we turn the vent on and express the hot air from the room. We turn the unit on just before going to bed. This seems to work well.

We also discovered that there has to be a clear line of sight between the unit and the remote to have the thermostat work well. This was never an issue last year but discovered it this year when we rearranged our furniture.

-
Good points on design:

Very considerate design. Fairly easy to install (the window part is rather challenging, although not terribly frustrating). The remote control is very intuitive with clear markings annotating the meaning of the symbols, so any user can use it any time without having to first look for the manual to figure out the meaning of the symbols.

This is important. At the time of installation, because you have the manual at hand, everything seems rather clear. But in actual use, that's usually not the case. The real user usually does not have a manual in his hand nor does he have any knowledge of the manual. For example, one of the things I hated most about hotels and guest places is the LCD-based air conditioning control panels which usually operate based on symbols (not texts). You are never sure what the symbols mean, although you can guess. Messing with an unfamiliar control menu is confusing enough, but not knowing for sure the meaning of the symbols magnifies frustration and confusion by many folds. Sometimes even the hotel staff have no clue.

Sharp's remote control has all the major annotations printed right there on the remote. Thank you.

About noise:

I appreciate the information given by the other reviewers, especially the noise issue. Had it not been one of the reviews which discussed the noise level, I could have returned this thing because I thought it was just too loud and something must be wrong with it as it was supposed to be "library quiet". Yes, in the fan and ventilation mode, the fan is pretty quiet, especially on the low fan speed setting. But in the cooling mode, once the compressor kicks in, it is loud. It is absolutely not "library quiet", so the description is misleading if not an outright lie. I cannot understand why others call this quiet. I suspect those reviewers are either talking about the fan or ventilation mode, or living in a noisy environment, or just plain not bothered by any noise at all.

But I do believe the Sharp is probably still among the quietest potable air-conditioners, like what some other reviewers said. The truth of the matter is that a compressor makes a lot of noise, and it's hard to conceal that noise. Central A/C has the compressor unit placed outdoors to make it quiet for people living indoors. With portable air-conditioners, however, the convenience you get also comes at a cost: the entire air conditioner including its compressor is right there near by you, to be heard. So this is where you should place your expectation.

Compared to the noise of the other air-conditioners I've seen, I started to realize that I really can't complain about the noise of the Sharp. I was just upset by its misleading advertisement which raised my expectation to an unreasonable level. So I figured I would have to live with it. And I did. It sure beat the hot summer.

More about the remote control:

But, as pointed out by other reviewers, it is problematic to have every control on the remote and nothing on the AC itself. The problem is that once you lose the remote, this air conditioner will become dysfunctional. Seriously. This is potentially a disaster. Anything that stops functioning without a remote control is a bad design in my opinion. The remote control should always be just an added convenience, instead of an indispensable component.

When I was told by the local appliance store that my 18" windows were too narrow for a through-the-window air conditioner, I thought of cursing the carpenter who talked me into putting these windows in...the salesman also told me that these AC units are loud and don't last as long as window units...my employees in the office where I needed AC were complaining about the heat and humidity during the summer. I saw this Sharp unit at Costco and the "Library Quiet" description, so grabbed it.

The directions state that the vent can not be installed in windows narrower than 22", but after calling Sharp customer service and a 10 minute conversation with their helpful customer service rep, I discovered this is not true if you don't intend to install the vent hose permanently (I take mine out at the end of the day.)

While I did screw the retainer into place over the supplied foam inside of the window frame (not within the travel of the sash, but further inside the room, with just enough clearance for the window sash to move up and down its full travel and close) I found that taking the "rain guards" out of the vent frame is an easy procedure at the end of the day, as well as replacing it in the morning, when the weather requires AC. That allows the window sash to close after the "rain guards" and hose are removed.

For this reason, I had no problem hooking up the vent hose in the morning, and taking it off in the evening. Since this is used in an office, I need the unit functioning only during working hours. No need for duct tape, though I do need some a little additional weatherstripping near the window along the top of the exhaust vent frame.

For those who mention the heat exhausted from the hose...yes, the hose runs warm, but that heat is exhausted from the room! No complaint from me on that issue.

My employees are delighted with the quiet operation and the comfort level in the 600 sq' room during 90+ degree F, humid days here in the NYC area. All-in-all, this was an excellent buy, if a bit expensive for an A/C.

Well I bought this unit at the same time as another 10,000 BTU portable AC unit by Royal Sovereign. The Sharp was about 20% more expensive but it more than makes up for the additional outlay.

This unit is very nicely designed, it's sleek and clean looking and quite small and light. The best bit of the design is the way the the back steps down so that the outlet hose comes out pointing upwards instead of backwards - this is great because it means that the unit can go right back against the wall to optimise space yet the hose is still concealed by the front of the unit. The other thing which makes this unit a much better buy than the R-S unit I bought is the noise of the Sharp is very acceptable (it's about half that of the R-S unit when both are running at their full cooling potential).

I've had the unit for a couple of weeks and haven't needed to drain it at all yet - unlike my R-S unit which I have drained at least 5 times.

I'm very pleased with this and would certainly recommend it to anybody who is looking for a portable AC unit - please bear in mind though that portable AC units do be less efficient than window units and do take up a fair amount of floor space! However if you are looking for a portable unit I'd certainly go with this one. If you have a large room you should consider going for the more powerful version but for a medium sized room this one is pucker : )

We have this in our bedroom and used it all last summer. No AC in our house and it gets very hot in Portland Oregon in the summer. This Sharp is very quiet and a soothing hum rather than some air conditioners. We had a smaller one before but it was a jet engine in the room. The remote on this is great and we really use the timer. We turn it on an hour before we go to bed and then run it for about 4 hours so it turns off for those early morning hours where things can wake you up easily. It is perfect for us and I agree with the people that say it is easy to install and also to drain to put away for the winter. No draining of the water is needed at any other time just for long term storage. BB&B has great prices but saw this at Costco recently for even less.