Customer Reviews
Pioneer living in the ghetto? This is a must-have. 
2008-08-27
After growing up on a farm my ears were trained to the quiet life, I moved to the big city. Upon living here I discovered that my neighbors like to drink a lot, play dominoes, fight, call each other horrible names, and not use quiet inside voices while addressing their friends as "Dawg and G" and play this redundant music called Crunk or Crap or whatever. SO, after several visits with my shrink I realized I didn't need to pay her to complain about how loud my neighbors were, but just buy the little white noise machine she had outside her office door. The sleep I lost was soon made up, I no longer scowl at my neighbors for being loud asshats, and I sleep soundly albeit the occasional gunshot or fireworks in the middle of the night. My husband and I are even more relaxed because of it.
disappointed 
2008-07-21
first of all, I already own one of these for my daughter and love it. So when I had my son I knew I'd need another one. So I ordered it.. unfortunately it seems broken and I already toss away the paperwork and the box. When I turn it on it doesn't seem to have enough power and is not very loud. By morning it's hardly working. I plugged it into several different outlets, it's definetly the unit itself. I'd love to get another one, but for $60 + I just can't afford it.
Sorry to give a bad review, I'm sure it's just a fautly unit.
Very effective 2008-07-05
I got this machine for my husband, generally nothing ever gets in the way of my ability to fall asleep at night. He was somewhat reluctant to become reliant on an apparatus to help him fall asleep, but he uses it every night and likes it. I like that it is small, with a simple switch.
He travels a good deal and this will be a great item to take when he is sleeping in hotel rooms. A little bit of home in his suitcase. We like it.
Really helps 2008-06-21
This really helps the outside noise. I sleep much better. My bedroom is upstairs and all the noise from the neighbors is like a megaphone to our room. Its as if they were right in our bedroom. This sound screen blocks out all of that. Even the dogs barking. I want to get a second one for my son's room who never sleeps to see if it helps him too.
Best $50 we've ever spent... 2008-04-27
After a few weeks of problems with noisy neighbors, this little guy is a life-saver. We now sleep through the night. The sound is a gentle whirring sound, like a fan without all the circulation of the air. Two loudness levels and the ability to adjust the frequency of the sound make it almost perfect. The only problem is that we've gotten so used to the noise that we have to take it with us where ever we go if we're staying over night. Good news is that it is small and packs easily. Genius idea. 100% recommended.
Can't live with out it. 2008-03-27
We have an older sleepmate that we have been using for years. It started to make some noise like the fan was speeding up and then slowing down so I figured it was time to get a new one. The dual speed is great for that time when you want it a little more quiet or if you need more sound to block out the background noise you have the option for the second speed.
My Old sleepmate
I took my older sleepmate apart. Cleaned it up. Put a drop of oil on the spindle of the motor and she is just like brand new. Our daughter now uses it and recently slept over at a friends house and wished she had brought it with her! She is sleepmate lover too.
What Roommate? 2008-03-24
This little device works great! It's not really that loud, but when my boyfriend and I fall asleep with it on, we sleep soundly all night and never hear our roommate anymore. He has a different schedule than us and our room is at the top of the steps and with our wood floors he was always waking us up after midnight (sometimes with guests). I can't tell you how much I love this thing! I highly recommend this to anyone with a roommate!
an excellent purchase 
2008-02-18
provides the needed white noise to help me sleep with my inner ear problems...only thing I dislike is the toggle switch to turn on and off. Most of the time I can't just turn the unit off...the switch moves right up or down to the next speed on. It's a minor thing but annoying. Otherwise, a good value for the money. I'm glad I bought it.
Fan abusers rejoice 2008-02-08
I have always needed some sort of noise to sleep due to a fairly mild case of tinnitus, so for the last several years I've had a fan running during the night. Living in Ohio, this didn't really make sense for over half of the year when it is 20 degrees outside. This little machine makes a very nice type of white noise (which is adjustable in tone and volume) and doesn't sap near the power as a fan, nor does it unnecessarily cool the room down just for the sake of noise. I've only used it for a few nights so far, but have gotten good sleep and hardly noticed the switch from the fan to this. It seems to be very well built and doesn't take up much space. The only thing I would like to see would be a battery option so it would run through the occasional power outage or during trips. Otherwise a very great product!
The perfect white noise machine 2007-12-30
This sound screen is exactly what I was looking for. I have trouble sleeping at night and in order to block out those night sounds I have been using a Honeywell HEPA filter on high all night long for the last 3-4 years. The problem is the HEPA filter is moving a lot of air and draws roughly 250 Watts of electricity, which is a lot to be running 12+ hours a day, ever day of the year. Also its not very feasible for me to take it with me traveling, which makes it hard to sleep on the road. Electronic white noise equivilents all sound very electronic to me and I can usually hear the point of repetition, which bothers me and keeps me awake.
So I asked for and received the Marpac 980A for christmas - it is the perfect solution. It draws a lot less electricity, which was something I was looking for. It creates the same sort of sound the air filter or a fan creates - the dial allows you to adjust how loud it is and the type of noise - one way is a mostly rushing air noise, the other is more of a pleasant mechanical hum. It also has two settings on the on/off switch, low and high.
The sound screen is a lot softer volume wise than something like my air filter, when I first turned it on my husband remarked 'Is that as loud as it gets?', however, while my air filter sits on the other side of the room, far away, I put the marpac next to me on my nightstand and it actually seems about the same volume at that proximity. It's small size (about 4.5" diameter) means I can take it with me when travelling. I also liked that it has foam padding on the bottom so it will not scratch nice furniture it is set on.
It does let off a very very slight airflow out the holes, if I put my hand right over them I can feel it, but not enough to reach my face sleeping next to it and bother me.
I wanted to note that the first picture in this listing is NOT of the 980A, it must be a slightly older model, the switch is different, the second picture is correct.
