Also available is the junior version, which is smaller and less expensive.

Another reliable budget choice is the Winix 5500-2 — this inexpensive filter is designed for odor removal.

Most air purifiers are designed to remove particles like dust, pollen, and pet dander from your home. However, the technology that makes for a good allergy machine is not similar to what you’ll need to remove odor.

Odors are gas molecules smaller than 0.3 microns, and many are as small as 0.001 microns. This means that particle filters (HEPA filters) will not trap the gas molecules because they are too small.

So basically, almost all the air filters on the market will remove little or no odor from the air.

These are the products that eliminate odors:

• An air filter that contains a lot of activated carbon, which is very good at adsorbing odors
• An air filter with zeolite, which is a natural mineral that is very good at adsorbing things
• For very problematic odors, you can use an ozone generator — ozone is active oxygen that breaks up odors quickly — but ozone is dangerous to inhale — so this generator should only be used in vacant homes when necessary

Other filtration methods work more gradually:

• You can put bowls or satchels of activated carbon, zeolite, or binchotan in a room — these raw materials will slowly absorb odors over time
• You can grow indoor plants in a room — they will clean the air gradually — see the book How To Grow Fresh Air for more information

But, if you want to remove odors quickly, these are my filter recommendations:

The Most Effective Odor Filter: Healthmate HM-400

I recommend the Healthmate HM-400 as the most effective filter for removing indoor odors. This filter uses 15 pounds of activated carbon and zeolite to remove odors and gases. It also includes another HEPA filter certified to remove 99.97% of all particles in the air over 0.3 microns.

Many filters remove particles from the air but are ineffective at odor removal. The Healthmate HM-400 is designed to remove odors, chemicals, and gases from the air. It incorporates 15 pounds of activated carbon and zeolite into the filter media. The sheer size of this material allows this filter to remove odors from the air quickly.

The Healthmate is also one of the cheapest to run in the long term because the replaceable filter is designed to last five years (most air filters require annual filter media replacement).

These filters are made in Buffalo, New York, and come with a 5-year mechanical warranty.

I’ve tested the Healthmate HM-400 in my home using a TES Air Quality monitor. This monitor measures VOCs or “Volatile Organic Compounds”. Put simply — VOCs are all the odor-producing chemicals suspended in the air. In my few informal tests, I found that the Healthmate could remove all traces of smoke odors from a room in about 45 minutes. I will be conducting further tests in the coming months.

The Best Budget Air Filter For Odors

If you need a budget air filter, consider these reliable filters that you can find for under $300:

• Winix 5500-2 Air Purifier: this filter contains carbon granules for odor removal and also produces ions for odor reduction — Winix is a reliable filter brand that has been in business since 1973 — the filter costs about $180
• Winix NK105: A WiFi-enabled filter from Winix that also contains a carbon-filter element — costs about $220

Best For Removing Embedded Odors

If you need to remove stubborn odors such as deeply embedded cigarette odors, I recommend using an Ozone Generator. These generators produce ozone gas which permeates everything in a room and effectively eliminates any odors present.

These devices sell for about $70. Important note — an ozone generator should not be used as a general air filter. Ozone will damage your lungs. They should only be used for odor “emergencies” and when a house is vacant.

Link: Ozone Generator

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Best Design: The Z-Bar Mini LED Desk Lamp

The slender Z-Bar High Power LED Desk Lamp features high-tech power-saving LED bulbs in a minimalist frame. With its angular black aluminum housing and unique pivot, it belongs on a Berlin engineer’s desk or in the lobby of an upscale New York architect.

The ingenious design extends beyond aesthetics; this is a seriously bright light that uses very little energy. The Z-Bar’s six daylight white LEDs generate about 240 lumens of light and only expends 9 watts of energy.

If 9 watts is still too much energy usage for your taste, activate the built-in 4-step dimming function to produce a softer light for even less wattage. This feature works incredibly well when you are unwinding prior to bedtime. Lower the light before you fall asleep to adjust your brain to get ready for bed.

The thin circular base is weighted to keep the light from tipping over, and adjustable joints can be placed in almost any position without tightening or loosening knobs or screws, simply move the light to where you need it and the lamp will hold to form.

The Z-Bar is the winner of I.D. Magazine “best of category” award. It is available on Amazon for around $300.

Best Overall: Lumiy Lightblade 1500S

If you find your desk lamp’s brightness underwhelming, buy a Lightblade and let there be light. This is the LED desk lamp for those who want only the brightest crispest replica of perfect natural light. With 1100 lux of brightness and a high CRI, the Lightblade can transform even the dreariest space into a warm and bright zone of productivity.

The Lightblade’s radiant lighting comes from its cool and warm white LED’s for a color rendering index of over 90 CRI. A light’s CRI determines its ability to accurately display an object’s full color. The higher the CRI, the more faithfully the color is displayed as if it would be in natural light. The Lightblade’s high CRI makes it a perfect choice for artists and other professionals who require brilliant vibrant colors.

The lamp has other desirable features, including an omnidirectional pivoting head for better control of the lighting. It also has touch sensors that control brightness and monitor energy expenditure.

The Lumiy Lightblade 1500S is available on Amazon for about $100.

Best Value: TaoTronics Smart LED Desk Lamp

The TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp is perfect for those who want bright light at an affordable price. 30 dollars gets you  410 lumens of power and up to 11 levels of brightness, perfect for any setting. The best feature of this lamp is its versatility. It includes 5 color modes, which function as temperatures that you can adjust depending on your need. The soft uniform light is ideal for reading and doesn’t flicker like other value options, while the natural light is perfect before bed. It also has an incredible lifespan. According to the manufacturer, this lamp is rated to last for 50,000 hours and uses 75% less energy than incandescent lights with similar brightness.

The Smart LED desk lamp also looks elegant.  An adjustable gooseneck gives further control over light positioning and brightness, while the blend of silver metal looks modern and can fit in any room. 

The TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp is available on Amazon for about $30.

Most Customizable: The Softech DL-90 Multi-Function LED Desk Lamp

Softech‘s latest LED desk lamp offers an astounding amount of customization for total brightness control. You decide the lighting mode you want and the DL-90 will conform to your request. The lamp has 27 high-power daylight LEDs with a 90+ CRI that comes extraordinarily close to natural light.

The lamp has four distinct lighting modes and 40 brightness levels in total for total precision. The first two modes are for desk work: a reading mode with mid-range colors (4300K-5300K) that are easy on the eyes, and a study mode which has a high range color temperature (6000K-7000K). The lamp can also be switched to a relaxation mode and a sleep mode — these have softer, warm color temperatures.

This lamp uses 10 watts or less of power to provide light equivalent to a 100-watt incandescent bulb. It lasts about 40,000 hours or 20 years of normal use. An automatic turn-off feature extends lamp life even further.

The Softech DL-90 lamp is available from Amazon for about $70.

Most Versatile: BYB E-430

Clamp-on desk lamps are a great option for those working who need high-quality illumination but are working with limited desk space. The award-winning design of BYB’s E-430 dimmable LED desk lamp delivers energy-efficient lighting from a slender device latched onto the side of your desk. It has a swivel lock socket that tilts in any direction, whether it’s on the desk or not. The adjustable arm is matched by a flexible head and includes built-in dimming strips.

It delivers 4 lighting modes and 6 levels of brightness, ranging from study mode to bedtime mode. We also like that the lamp is rated for 50,000 hours and comes with a 5-year warranty.

The BYB E-430 is available on Amazon for around $110.

Best Smart Design: TaoTronics TT-DL27 Desklamp

Take advantage of four distinct lighting modes with this versatile smart LED desk lamp from TaoTronics. You can set the lamp to sleep mode, study mode, reading mode, or relax mode, each delivering a customized LED distribution designed to satisfy your needs. And if study mode is likely to become sleep mode, you can just activate the 1-hour off timer on the lamp to make sure it shuts off as you drift to sleep.

I also enjoyed that you can swivel, rotate, and bend the head and neck of the lamp to fit your lighting needs. Just tilt the head to activate a wide 62cm2 area of light, enough to illuminate your entire desk area. The metal arm and sturdy base are hallmarks of great construction, making sure the light doesn’t fail on you.

The TaoTronics LED Desklamp is available for around $35.

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PowerEx MH-C808M “Ultimate Professional” Charger

The MH-C808M charger by Maha can charge any combination of 1 to 8 batteries. You can mix and charge AA, AAA, C and D sized cells at the same time on individual charging circuits. Each battery size also has its own fixed contact charging points (i.e. not a spring). An LCD display shows charging and conditioning status of each rechargeable battery.

Maha’s chargers can restore batteries to their optimal performance level by repeatedly charging and discharging them. It also has intelligent charging technology and overcharge protection. It comes with an international AC adapter, and short-circuit protection.

The PowerEx MH-C808M is available from Amazon for around $90.

PowerEx MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger

The PowerEx MH-C9000 charger is now our pick for an inexpensive battery charger. This charger has four independent slots for AA or AAA NiMH or NiCd batteries. It can provide charging current from 200 to 1000mA for 4 cells, or up to 1800mA for two cells. Just like the Maha Ultimate Professional charger, each battery is independently charged. It also features battery analysis and refresh functions.

Under testing, this charger has proven itself to be superior to the LaCrosse charger (our previous recommendation) — see the Amazon reviews for the MH-C9000 for more information.

The PowerEx MH-C9000 is available at Amazon for about $50

LaCrosse Technology BC-1000 Alpha Battery Charger

The LaCrosse Alpha BC-1000 Charger has sophisticated monitoring circuitry that controls the charging process, and it is also capable of “reconditioning” batteries by running a series of discharge-recharge cycles.

The charger shows battery voltage and charge status on its digital display. It has four separate charge channels so you can charge one, two three or four batteries at a time – even on individual charge programs. This allows you to test one battery while charging the others. It comes with four AA and four AAA batteries, four battery adapters (which convert AA sized battery to C and D sizes) and a carry case. Note, however, if you want to charge C or D size batteries, you’ll want to get the Ansmann chargers below.

Available from Amazon:

• LaCrosse BC-700 Charger – $36
• LaCrosse BC-1000 Alpha Charger – $60 (same as the BC-700 but includes four AA  & AAA cells, plus the four C + D-cell converters)

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• The best projector for businesses with large, bright conference rooms is the BenQ MH741 Projector. It is incredibly bright at 4000 lumens and has true HD image quality.
• The best projector for small businesses is the Epson PowerLite 580. It is an ultra-short-throw projector that can cast a 93″ image from as little as a foot away, perfect for cozy offices.
• The best portable projector for business travelers is the iCODIS CB-300. It is handheld with an internal battery, and is equipped with a host of connectivity options to streamline presentations.

The Details

Whether you want to dazzle investors with a multi-media pitch or get the new hires up to speed on the intricacies of HR policy, a projector is a key tool for businesses of every size and industry.

No two businesses are the same, so every company needs to keep a few factors in mind when choosing a projector. Here are a few things to keep in mind when deciding which projector is right for you.

Businesses want bright projectors, and the brightness of a projector is determined by the number of lumens. Home theatres can get away with low lumen counts because they are in rooms with low ambient lighting. Offices have glass windows and don’t want to turn out the lights and draw the blinds every time a projector turns on. That means businesses should stay away from the legion of LED projectors that have appeared on the market in recent years. While cheaper than 3LCD and DLP options, most LED projectors don’t hit the 2500 lumen minimum most offices require. Of course, if your office is dungeon-like and you are fine with presenting sans illumination, you can sacrifice a few lumens.

The next thing to keep in mind is picture quality, which is determined by the resolution, or number of pixels on the screen. High resolution gives a higher picture quality and sharper image. This doesn’t matter much if your projector isn’t going to be casting anything more glamorous than excel spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations, but it makes a huge difference for any graphic design elements or videos. This mean you want WUXGA resolution which is 1920 x 1200 pixels. This is a true widescreen ratio and similar to aspect ratio on most new computer monitors, and best if you want crisp lively images.

One last thing to keep in mind is ease of use. Choose a projector with automatic alignment options if untrained employees will be using it on a regular basis. Also, see what kind of connectivity options the projector has so you know how you will get your presentation on to the screen.

The Best Projector For A Bright Conference Room

Floor-to-ceiling glass windows are the big thing in contemporary architecture. Natural light is a great way to keep employees motivated and productive throughout the day, but it makes projecting an image a difficult task. Bright conference rooms call for bright projectors, and the BenQ MH741 1080p DLP 3D Projector has a bulb as bright as the sun.

BenQ MH741 gives you 4000 ANSI Lumens of brightness, which is over 1500 lumens more than the recommended minimum for presentations in conferences rooms or other areas where there will be ambient light. This means no matter how bright the room is, your presentation will shine in full 1080p true HD with crisp whites and satisfying colors. No need to dim the lights and make your clients or board members feel like they are back in high school math class.

4000 Lumen brightness is accompanied by a contrast ratio of 10000:1 and true widescreen native aspect resolution of 16:9, although there are five aspect ratios available, so you can choose whatever works best for you. While images are quite 4k of some dazzling home theater projectors, the native resolution of 1920 x 1200 is WUXGA 1080p full HD quality. True HD is possible on screens up to 200,” which is large enough for virtually every conference room.

This projector also gives the presenter some breathing room. It comes equipped with 2D Keystone correction, which allows for horizontal and vertical adjustments up to 30 degrees. This makes alignment easier and lets he presenter stand in front of the screen without worrying about blocking the image. Corner Fit also gives flexibility and convenience in the alignment process by allowing the presenter to independently adjust each corner of an image.

The BenQ MH741 comes equipped with a few other features businesses might find useful. It has MHL Connectivity, which allows proposals and ideas to instantly be brought on to the projector from Android smart devices. It also has a 10W built in speaker, “blanking” mode which freezes the projected image while you browse through files, and writing templates for off-the-cuff notes onscreen.

The Best Projector For A Small Office

If your office is lacking the grandeur of a Fortune 500 boardroom, go with the Epson PowerLite 580 XGA 3LCD. It is a very bright ultra-short throw projector, which means it can sit just a few inches away from the screen, which is perfect for smaller office rooms and tight spaces. Presenters will especially like the fact they don’t have to worry about getting in the way of the light stream when standing in front of the screen.

The 580 XGA 3LCD bulb is a very bright 3,200 lumens, which means you can leave the lights on for most presentations. It has an HD XGA 1024 x 768 resolution built around 3 LCD chips, so that will eliminate the “rainbow effect”  some projectors suffer. This is a lower native resolution than Ultra-HD competitors like BenQ, but it is more than enough to maintain color brightness and keep your graphic design team happy.

It has a few other goodies most businesses will enjoy as well. A 16-watt mono speaker means that you won’t need to clutter the room with additional audio equipment. It also has a slew of connectivity options, including HDMI, USB, and wireless connectivity, so impromptu info can easily find its way onscreen.

The Powerlite 580 is a bright, technologically adept, useful projector that can cast a 93″ image from as little as a foot away.

The Best Projector For The Business Traveler

Going on an out of town sales call, but not sure if there will be a projector available? Bring along your own pocket projector to give a presentation on your own terms. Recent advances in LED technology have led to a proliferation of portable projectors at affordable prices. At first they were just a novelty item, but more recent models like the iCODIS CB-300 have enough brightness and battery life to make them worthwhile.

Released earlier this year, this DLP projector packs 1800 lumens and comes with a slew of connectivity features. While 1800 lumens isn’t quite bright enough to cast a clear image in a sunny conference room, it gives a brilliant display in rooms with moderate or low ambient lighting.

The CB-300 is a 720p projector that can play 1080p files and with a native resolution of 16:9 widescreen ratio. It casts an image the size of a large TV, or about 75.” This will cover a white office wall with a large screen with clear and precise images. It is enough for bare-bones excel presentations, and even good enough to show off graphic design work.

Casting your presentation through the CB-300 is easy. It has a Micro HDMI port, 2 USB ports, and a mini USB port. It has a 6000 mAh internal battery that can last for 2 hours, and a 12V plug for an external power source if you require longer performance. It even acts like a tablet, using Android OS 4.4 to run apps.

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