I purchased this hair dryer four years ago now. As a skint student, my faithful (and heavy) hair dryer had packed in all of 2 days before the law ball (I was most aggrieved...) So with the last few pounds of my pay check one week, I headed down to boots. On the shelves amongst all the fancy, branded (read: expensive) hair dryers, was this one.

It immediately appealed to me, as my main deciding factor was price! I paid about £7 for it at the time, although I imagine it would have increased proportionately now! I picked up the fairly plain, boots branded box (white, with a picture of the product on the front and a fairly stating the obvious description of what it does!) and headed off to purchase with my advantage points and a few pounds.

Since then, I've not looked back. Firstly, for the bargain price I paid for it, it still works! Immediate brownie points. Secondly, now although it says it's compact, normally I would have taken that with a punch of salt, but it really is! It's a brilliant size for popping in your bag when you go away for the weekend or on holiday. It doesn't take up loads of space and it doesn't take up loads of weight in your luggage allowance either! I still used it while I had some cracked ribs and had very limited movement from my waist up! It's not heavy, which meant I could still lift it adequately to dry my hair with.
Finally, for it's size, it's remarkably powerful. I understand that it is 1600w. Now, I'm not the most technically minded of people, so to put it into terms I would understand if I was reading this review, I have relatively long (a few inches past my shoulders) hair. I can currently dry my hair with this hair dryer in 10 mins. Previously, I had very long hair (all the way down my back), which took longer, at 20 mins. Now, for the length and thickness of my hair, 10 mins is great and shows how powerful this hair dryer actually is. Also, its plastic casing has never got hot while I've been drying my hair, and there's never been one of those funny 'hair dryer packing in' smells coming from it; which I think shows its reliability.

Now, let us not forget, it is a lower end of the range product. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other, fancier brands. It has 2 settings (well, 3 if you count "off" as a setting), fast and slow. There is no variable heat, just a slower blast. It also doesn't have one of these "cold air" settings that I've seen on my sisters. (The point is what, exactly? Surely it's negating the purpose of a hair dryer. But hey.)
This is not exactly a downside for me. I'm not the most girliest minded of people. I'm fine with my hair dryer having "off" and "on" as its only functions!

For the price paid, I would highly recommend this product. It has staying power! I'm surprised that it's still going strong like it is. If you don't mind having a basic model, this one is ideal. Especially if you travel anywhere!