Product review (5 stars): great cooling, great features
We're renting a 1940s built, ranch style home that has louvered windows, high ceilings, no insulation.  It's impossible to regulate the temperatures in the living room/kitchen/dining room areas because of the amount of space.  There is our bedroom, the baby's room, a bathroom on one end of the house, and a work/office space at the other end.  No central air.  Needless to say, after moving in a year ago last July we got pretty familiar with a hot house, and increasingly familiar with ways to cool it. Knowing this is where we were going to move, I got a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Whynter-14-000-BTU-Dual-Hose-Portable-Air-Conditioner-with-Heater-ARC-14SH/dp/B002W87P9C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Whynter 14,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable Air Conditioner with Heater (ARC-14SH)</a>&nbsp;for my office space.  I had a dissertation to finish and other class work to focus on.  The owner had a window unit in the bedroom, but it was pretty small, on on hot days, it just didn't keep up.

I recently acquired another portable air conditioner, a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Honeywell-MM14CCS-14-000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-with-Remote-Control-Black-Silver/dp/B00B2BT9J4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Honeywell MM14CCS 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Remote Control - Black/Silver</a>&nbsp;for the office, but was disappointed by two things. One, like the whynter, it blew air straight up. Which is fine if you have an insulated room that cools easy. But that room doesn't keep in the cool, so I had to rig a vent to have it blow more horizontal (the vent does adjust, but never to get most air blowing sideways).  It works okay, but not as well as the Whynter, and also leaks water a fair amount, making it okay for the concrete floor of that room, but entirely unsuitable for the rest of the house.

This Whirlpool is my last attempt at finding consistent cooling for our needs.  And so far, I really like it.  Now, the other two I have are 14,000 BTU, and this one is a 12,000. So, it's not a direct comparison.  That being said, I find the cooling power to be fairly equivalent.  All three also have capable remotes.

The Whynter is the better model for venting. It has an intake and an exhaust port, comes with two hoses and attachments. Having two hoses, as I've learned, is more efficient for cooling. The Honeywell, curiously, is set up the same, but only is supplied with one hose and a window attachment that fits one hose.  This Whirlpool has one exhaust, one hose, the intake is on the side of the machine.  The exhaust slot for the whirlpool is made a bit more solid. With the others, a bit of movement can jostle the hose loose.  With this Whirlpool, it locks into place, making it more secure but also making it so it can't go anywhere near the wall.  It needs about 18-20 inches or more of space from the wall.

The benefits of this Whirlpool, however, reveal themselves quickly in comparison once the machine is turned on.  First, the vents are louvered and in the off position are closed. Turn it on, two vents open, and make for variable adjustments. There's a button that can raise or lower the direction of the air, going from almost horizontal to almost vertical. This button also allows for an oscillating effect up and down. So, you can have the cold air blowing on you or over you.  Which is a huge benefit for me.

So much of this Whirlpool is likewise more user friendly. There are two drains, one of which has a hose attached, which when not in use clips to the top rear of the unit. This makes emptying this Whirlpool much easier than the other two I have.

Other features.  A quick cool option, that turns the unit on high at full power with the lowest temp setting. A variable timer.  Different modes including dehumidifying and fan.  The temperature setting itself can only be set in 2 degree increments, so you can have it set for 75 or 77 but not 76, for instance. It also has a bit of wide buffer for turning on. I had it set for 77, it cooled the room down, automatically switched to fan only, with the cooling not coming on until 82.  Which is a bother for this house because once it warms up during the day, this unit can't keep up by itself. So, I have to adjust the temp lower to keep it at the 77 degrees.

All in all, I'm very fond of this. I love the adjustable vents and overall greater ease of use. I understand why other portables blow straight up (to get the cool air up and so circulate better) but it's weird to me that so many other units don't even have the option of horizontal flow. This one does and it works great. It's 100 degrees outside now, and I'm sitting in my bedroom entirely comfortable with cool air blowing right at me.  A very worthwhile unit that has benefits that exceed some of the more powerful and expensive models out there.