California Air Tools 2010A 1.0 HP Ultra Quiet and Oil-Free Air Compressor, 2 Gallon Aluminum Tank, 60 dBA Noise Level, Silver

This is one of those buy to last tools verses getting the cheapest thing you can find for one shot use. That said its good value for the money.This compressor works well indoors (nice and quiet) for airbrushing, blowing off parts, driving pneumatic tools, maintaining tire pressure for cars and bicycles,... All around a great air compressor for home use – compact and convenient to carry though a bit heavy– that can easily handle commercial jobs (see painting caveat below.) You'll want to add a moisture trap for airbrushing. But this isn't the compressor for your LPHV paint gun (think spray painting fences or cars.) This compressor can easily handle the Low Pressure required, but it can't manage the continuous High Volume needed. I suppose if you're patient and attentive you could manage painting a fence a few boards at a time as you deplete and re-pressurize the tank on this compressor. But really...

Love this compressor! The compressor is super quiet, even though it has two motors. With the two motor design, it recharges the pressure much faster than my old loud compressor. Great product and good price.

I've contained a lust for California Air Tool compressors, for years. However, they seemed too pricey. Plus, I already had a couple compressors that functioned perfectly fine, but they're loud as all-get-out. Now that the CAT compressors are within my budget and I've gotten a bit older, maybe wiser (think about "1970's rock concerts"), I treated myself to what I consider an indispensable piece of equipment.The 1 HP 2 gallon with Aluminum tank is pretty easy to carry. While running, you can, literally, have a normal-voice level conversation while standing 4 feet away. It's compact enough to stash under one of my workshop shelves and doesn't suppress or disrupt any sense of calm while I'm obsessing over some perceived-essential wood shop task (should I hang my coping saw on peg board, keep it in a drawer or throw it on the work bench). It doesn't trip a 15-Amp breaker. My 15-gauge Makita finish nailer will set a 2 1/2" nail through 1" thick Hickory stair treads into Pine stair stringers, all day long. My 16, 18 and 23-gauge nailers and/or staplers aren't a challenge for this guy. It'll give me enough air blast to dust off my saws before storage and pump up my 80 PSI truck tires.My Gal was impressed by the quietness when I turned it on for the first time. As usual, she was expecting my pre-unboxing accolades to be hyperbole and excuses for buying a tool. Honestly, she said, "Wow", with zero sarcasm, in her normal that's-really-cool-but-it-doesn't-cook-dinner voice. She'll have to listen to my 25-year-old, cast-Iron pump, 20 gallon compressor I use in our garage, until it's, hopefully soon, replaced with a California Air Tools big-un. I might run that noisy, old, oil-dripper a lot, just before a new garage-size CAT unit gets delivered.Also, assembly, was excessively simple. It took about a minute, but I tortured myself for a few seconds, pondering the optimal position for the air intake tube. I decided on pointing it downward, towards the outboard side, thinking that would provide a clean path for cooler-air intake. My Gal, offered no objection. Like, I woulda listened, anyway. I coulda heard her though, if she had. This thing is very quiet.P.S. I don't expect it to keep up with my bump-fire framing nailer or an air ratchet. I haven't tried, either. That's not why I bought it.

Off the top of my head I can think of 9 other air compressors I've used over the years. With the exception of large two stage compressors, and most recently the Senco PC1010N (a direct competitor of this compressor), they were all noisy and not particularly impressive.I really wanted to like the Senco. It's light, attractive, quiet, compact, and very handy due to it's small size. However I found it annoying because it ran ALL THE TIME. slight leak at a fitting? It's running. Shoot a few brad nails? It's running. I mean it's quiet, but it's not unnoticeable. I was also concerned about wearing the thing out prematurely because it ran so much. In fairness, with a 1 gal tank I knew it was going to run fairly often. But as it turns out it was just running too much.When I stumbled across the California air tools compressor I had never heard of this brand. But I couldn't help but notice they were solving some fundamental shortcomings with their designs. The two gallon compressor not only holds more air, it also has two cylinders to fill the tank, and the cylinders are quite wide. This translates to far less runtime to fill twice as much tank, and it's even quieter than I imagined. It's the kind of quiet that puts a grin on my face. I didn't know air compressors could be such a pleasure to use.I've seen some nitpicky reviews about this product. And it makes me think that the folks writing those reviews don't have much experience with air compressors. I just started using this compressor so I have no idea about the longevity of the product. But, given the build quality, I have no doubt this compressor will be with me for a long time.