I finally understand the Vornado is not meant to be used like a regular fan. It's just meant to circulate the air in the room. If you position it correctly, there's no need for an oscillating function. A remote would be convenient, but I rarely have reason to mess with my Vornado except to lower its setting when needed. My daughter and I really like to keep it running when we're in the room, even on the lowest setting, because it just makes the air feel less stale and stuffy. This size of this Vornado was more than adequate for my tiny 13' x 12' (8' ceiling) living room, plus a tiny office (8' x 9') that opens up from it. It helped circulate the cool air from my really old window a/c unit. (We live in a 100 yr old house with tiny rooms, 1 small window per room, 1 outlet per room. Insulation is horrible. Layout is odd. Landlord doesn't care to fix or upgrade anything. It gets HOT & STUFFY.) When I first turned on the Vornado, I was disappointed. I traded my daughter for an 18" oscillating fan she was using in her room. The oscillating fan worked great except for some annoying features that I never knew could be avoided. It was loud, it shot bursts of cool air in intervals (in between the 2-second bursts I sat in hot misery for 8 seconds... no real temperature regulation), and it blew papers off my desk every time it turned past my open office door. Plus, our dogs kept moving around, trying to find a comfy spot in front of or away from the fan. Then my daughter started telling me how she preferred the Vornado to the fan. So... I took it back! I decided to give it another chance. I searched the internet to find out why it was so pricey and what made it so great. I learned I had to find just the right position for it. (This is also explained in the directions that came with the Vornado, but I overlooked those, thinking this was supposed to be some kind of miracle fan. It took me a few tries to find the right positioning for my room. (Helpful tip: Once you find what you think is a good position for your Vornado, sit down, relax, and wait. You'll know when you've got it right.) It was weird, but after a couple of minutes, I started to feel cooler. I wasn't sitting directly in front of the Vornado or my a/c unit, but I started to feel air ever so slightly passing me. Within 10 minutes, I could sit just about anywhere in my living room and feel comfortable. There were some "dead spots," but for the most part the entire room felt "fresh." Even my office, which was not in direct line with the Vornado or a/c unit, didn't as stuffy and stale. When it's really hot and I have to work from my office, I position the Vornado near my a/c unit and aim it directly into my office. The air stream is strong enough to enter my office. And it's great. The room cools down without papers flying everywhere. I can work in peace, without intervals of sweating and then wanting to wear a flannel. My daughter ended up asking for the Vornado back, which I refused. I found a smaller one on sale at a store nearby. It pretty much looks like this medium room one, just smaller. She uses it for her 10' x 8' room and still prefers it over a fan. We both agree our oscillating and high velocity fans are sometimes necessary when the weather hits over 110° outdoors. But we don't miss the loud whirring of the fan blades along with the noisy a/c unit. We dislike sitting there, waiting for a burst of cool air to be blasted at us in intervals. We hate having our long hair and lightweight items fly around, my contact lenses drying out, not being able to sweep our floors without having to shut everything down first, etc. We both prefer using the Vornado whenever possible. You can have this Vornado aimed directly at you on high speed and although your hair will gently blow back, it won't whip around your face in a tangled mess. I recommend getting this medium size Vornado if you want to reduce cooling/heating costs by circulating air within a room (this can definitely handle a room larger than my living room), if you have issues with stuffy rooms, have temperature regulation issues, and so forth. Please do some research on the difference between a Vornado and a fan to see which one best suits your needs.