DeLonghi PAC700T Pinguino Portable Air Conditioner

• Easily portable air conditioner with built-in dehumidifier; 10,000, 11,000, and 12,000 BTUs
• No-drip technology with double condensor; energy-efficient adjustable thermostat
• Window/door bracket for easy installation and exhausting of hot air
• 24-hour programmable timer with clock function; quiet operation
• Measures 30-2/5 by 22-1/3 by 17-1/8 inches; 1-year warranty

Pinguino PAC 03U Failure:
Last September 2005 my Mother and brother spent a considerable amount of money purchasing the alleged state-of-the-art current DeLonghi Pinguino PAC 03U portable 7500 BTU air conditioner as a gift for us during a S. CA heat wave. Ironically, we only needed it one day before the weather cooled off during which the unit cooled nicely and worked fine. We carefully emptied it and stored the air conditioner upright until July 2006. We just reconnected it during the current heat wave here in Altadena, CA. We turned in on at night when the outside temperature was 89 degrees. The unit put out tepid air no matter how we started and ran the unit or where we set the fan and thermostat. We followed all "troubleshooting" instructions and find ourselves left with a large white plastic doorstop. It is sweltering today (over 109 degrees out) and we have no air conditioning. The tech support line isn't open on weekends, of course, and is only open Eastern time on weekdays. My family spent a lot of hard earned dollars on the Pinguino and it has lost coolant or failed for some other reason after one use and benign storage! Worse, a search can't even find our model number (Pinguino PAC 03U). It's like it never existed. We are not happy customers and hope to get some sort of compensation from Pingunio, IF we can reach someone about this model. Good luck in staying cool if you've bought one of these things.

Like it... careful with shipping:
Ordered a DeLonghi unit and like it. After reading some reviews it seems that some units might get damaged in shipping if poorly pacakged/shipped, causing water to leak - so I bought from a company with a good shipping and return policy. Unit seems to cool very well and I don't have to deal with emptying water which is a huge plus compared to different brand unit I tried.

Run away - terrible warranty policy!:
DeLonghi portable AC is a rip-off of unsuspecting consumers. Mine broke in a month and a half! And here is the best part. To get it fixed under warranty, I would have to ship it on my own expense to a service center in New Jersey, which, giving the weight and fragility of this thing, would cost me a small fortune. Basically, for all practical purposes, this is an expensive product with no warranty. I was lucky the seller took it back for a full refund. It works quite well when it does, though.

Good looking and works for me.:
well shipped without problems, then when I started the unit, I heard some unexpected noise. It turns out one of the part was touching plastic cover so I had to do a little operation to fix it. But since then, it works fine very silent. It has 12,000 BTU. I don't know the relativity, but it cools down my living and dining area (about 400 to 500 SF). It won't make the space cold but, again it cools down.

Makes a huge difference:
I have had my Pinguino for a couple of years now and it was a great buy. At the time I did a fair bit of research in looking for a portable air conditioner for a house I was renting. In the end I bought a Pinguino and I'm really happy I did. Yesterday was the 4th hot day in a row. It was 39 degree Celsius outside, 32 in most of the house. However, the room with the Pinguino didn't get above 27.