Outlet Reviews

Amazon is taking the return, which is the good news. The bad news is that in spite of the bad reviews some have given here, I was optimistic in believing that usually only the motivated and disatisfied write most reviews.

For what it's worth, my recommendation is that you shop for a different unit. The quality control at DeLonghi doesn't seem all that great. Every computer I've ever purchased has been factory refurbished, and most stereo equipment too. In short, I'm not someone shy of chancing it w/ refurbished/reconditioned electronics. Unfortunately, this is the first time I've been disappointed.

Thanks to Amazon for having such a great return policy (by the way, the unit comes w/ a big sticker that says "Factory Reconditioned: no returns". So, perhaps DeLonghi unloads these things and legitimate distributors get played for suckers.)

I ordered this reconditioned heater in early December, received it about two weeks later, and was disappointed to discover that the "-" button (which lowers the temperature) didn't work. This is a defect that any minimal amount of quality control would have detected. Based on my experience, and the reviews on this site, I'm assuming that the refurbishment process yields units with lots of remaining defects. The good news is that Amazon shipped me another unit (which works fine) and accepted the return of my defective one without any additional charges.

The functional unit is a decent heater, has a nice timer function, and generally works ok. My biggest complaint is the digital readout, which is small and does not have a particularly user friendly interface. The readout is not backlit, so it is impossible to see if you are in a dark room or if there is no direct light shining on it. So rolling out of bed in the middle of the night to make an adjustment can require turning on an overhead light and moving the unit to make the readout visible.

Other than that, the product works as advertised. So long as the unit isn't broken.

I'm generally happy with the reconditioned Dragon. My factory-reconditioned unit was clean and well packed, but the LCD did have a big scratch on it -- so don't expect it to be new-item clean.

This thing puts out an enormous amount of heat, even at the lower settings. It definitely gets hot to the touch, so if you have kids or pets be careful. One major thing to keep in mind with all radiator heaters is that they take time to work; I usually turn mine on and come back to the big room it's in an hour later. But if you want quick heat, you might be better off with a fan heater.

This unit does have a digital timer, but as other reviewers have noted it only turns on for a maximum of 4 hours at a time on that setting.

One last note -- it heats a room much more efficiently if you put it under a drafty window or in front of a fan. Otherwise, the heat just goes up and doesn't circulate nearly as effectively.