Holmes Smoke Grabber Ashtray and Odor Eliminator (HAP75-UC2)

My Value-to-Price Ratio: 2.5This product delivers on its promises, and really, that's no surprise. It's from Holmes, the industry leader in home and personal ventilation products. (We love their double window fan!) It comes with an activated charcoal filter and replacements are both cheap and readily available. An extra filter is also provided with the initial purchase. The suction is sufficient to take in the smoke from even multiple cigarettes as long as the cigarettes are resting on (or very near) the tray. The tray itself is dishwasher top-rack safe, and the material resists damage from contact with the lit end of the smoking material when "butting out" the cigarette or ... whatever.There is a very, very small amount of ambient noise, but you don't notice it once you are more than a few inches away from the device, and it's so slight that your ear quickly accustoms to it and filters it out. This ashtray does have a boxy, 5" square footprint, so it loses a bit in the design category, but other than that, it's a top-notch product in this category and at the low end of the price range.How do I calculate Value-to-Price Ratio? I'm glad you asked. First, value: I peruse both product listings for multiple products of the same type to determine the range of features a product of this type would or should have. Then I scrutinize user reviews to see which of those features seemed to be most important to most users. I then give a "Features" grade on a scale of 5 to 1 (Product meets all/most/some/few but hits the important ones/few or none of the user requirements.) I then give a 1 to 5 grade in two other categories: Design, and Safety. As I said, this product is a bit industrial in appearance and has a significant footprint that makes it more conspicuous than many users might prefer, so it lost a point for design. On safety, I do some research to see if there are any product warnings out on the web regarding the product or if any user reviews cite safety problems. Does the seller make the safety requirements clear? Was the product designed to anticipate and compensate for any potential usage risks?For value, I rank the product by price amidst its competitors that offer the same level of features or nearly so. Here again, I consult user reviews to see whether anyone felt "cheated" and why, or why someone was particularly satisfied with the purchase. However, price is the determining factor. I rank the product against at least five of its competitors (if available) and determine where its price falls in the range of highest (5) to lowest (1).So a product with a high value score, say 5, that falls at the lowest end of the price ranking will be 5 over 1, for a ratio of 5. The closer the ratio is to a value of 5, the better the value-to-price relationship for the consumer. The consumer got a great product at a fabulously low price! If a great product sells at the highest price, it gets a VPR of 1. Why? You got what you paid for, which is to be expected. The product does not deserve to be advantaged for delivering on its promises if it cost you the maximum price amongst its competitors to obtain the promised features.Is VPR ever zero? Yes. If the Amazon user rating nomograph, which appears at the top of every review page, shows a bicurdic distribution, an inverted normal curve, I suspect out of hand that something is wrong. An inverted curve means that most users either rated it 5 (or 4), or 1 (maybe 2). Few or none was in the middle (3). In statistical analysis, an inverted normal curve is a warning sign: Either the tester did something wrong, or bad data crept into the results. Sadly, the bad data issue is usually a signal that the data has been manipulated, either consciously or through unconscious factors. A seller who sees a product tanking in the reviews may start encouraging his near and dear to post positive reviews; a rankled customer might encourage friends and family to bolster his viewpoint by submitting negative reviews. Both of these things sound unlikely and a bit bizarre, but sadly, they happen every day. In these cases, I either decline to review, or I review frankly, and the VPR is automatically zero. You may choose to read that as "undefined".By no means does the VPR answer the question, "Is this a good product for me?" For that answer, the overall review score shown with the product listing, and the comments of individual reviewers, are the best way, and perhaps the only real way, to make that determination.

Initially this ash tray worked well. I'd say the first two months. However, during that time I've noticed that it requires new batteries quite frequently (every 2-3 weeks). I believe the filter lasted about 2 months but it's not sufficient for my mother as she smokes everyday at least 4hours continuously per day. Also, the grooves molded into the base of the ashtray intended to hold cigarettes or cigars is not well made. My mom cigarettes have fell out of the grooves and burned multiple surfaces in our home. I was hoping this would be a good solution but I wouldn't recommend this product for someone who smokes frequently.

I researched the best AND most economical smokeless ashtrays (FOR CIGARETTES-this one is not meant for cigars) on line and this was a winner. It arrived in a timely manner and was undamaged. I've been using it for over 2 months and am very satisfied.Some of the Amazon reviews have reported malfunctions ("Arrived broken," "Stopped working after a few days") that I think are really just problems caused by not using it correctly. It's a little bit sensitive (which kinda sucks) but if you are patient and take a little time, you can learn how to operate it without problems, for instance: If it works when you get it and then seems to stop working, make sure the removable tray is inserted correctly. When it's not, the circuit that turns the fan on will not complete upon opening the lid.NOISE: Mild whir from fan is noticeable but is not so loud as to make watching TV etc. difficult. It will SEEM louder at times when the ashtray is on a surface that vibrates OR if the removable tray is not fit in properly.BATTERY LIFE: Remember to close the lid as soon as your done using it, and that will prolong batter life (My cheap batteries probably lasted 6-10 weeks.)EFFICACY:SMOKE: It works very well to control the smoke of a cigarette that is sitting in this ashtray. It cannot do anything for exhaled smoke and cigarette smoke coming of the tip while you're holding the cigarette. What has worked for me for this part is a fan on one side of the room that blows towards my open back door, forcing a cross breeze. The ashtray alone is not enough to keep all smokey smell from my studio apartment, but they cross breeze method I just described does not work with out the smokeless ashtray.SMELL: The filter works well on the smoke, but if you have too many buts in the tray it will start blowing nasty butt smell into the room. I never let there be more than about 3 butts sitting in the tray at a time to prevent this.CAPACITY: It has 7 slots to hold cigs, so more than one person can use it at once. I can hold probably 10 to 12 butts (but that will make it blow stinky butt smell around, so I don't reccomend it).