HoMedics White Noise Machine

My mom has had bad insomnia for several years, more noticeably in the past year as she recovered from knee surgery that left her in a lot of pain even after her knee had "healed". She tried everything for sleep: melatonin, Ambien, a 1/2 glass of wine, herbal remedies, diets, low/no sugar, the list goes on and on. She already was eating healthy and exercising as much as could be expected, but she could not sleep. I got her DVDs and CDs from the library and she hated them all. Then I thought of this on 1/13/13, and now she sleeps!!!!!! She doesn't have that blissful perfect sleep that she wants, but now she dozes off and wakes up more rested - without medication for sleep! We've had this for 5 days and the change is definitely noticeable! The sounds are as listed: ocean, summer night, rain, thunder, white noise and brook. "Ocean" is perfect, the dogs think the beach is in the bedroom and you think a surfer will walk in at any moment! "Summer Night" has cricket noises and sounds like riding Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland (without the music) "Rain" is by far the most relaxing. The "Thunder" one is odd as you would think thunder is a scary noise for some, but hey if it works for you use it! "White Noise" sounds just like a fan, a kind of noisy fan, but a fan. "Brook" sounds bubbly and is my least favorite... it sounds like a brook but also like a faucet running. My mom listens to this very loud for some reason - I can hear it 2 rooms away - but she can sleep with it like that. I come in and turn it down when I go by her room and she doesn't wake up. The sound is unobtrusive even when it is loud, and when I do hear it I am usually reading or something and it is pretty comforting. The audio does not sound tinny at all and is very realistic. I was surprised at the sound quality especially when she had it turned up so loud, but it was very good. I bought this model because it specifically did not have the heartbeat sound - maybe good for kids who have not read Edgar Allan Poe, but not for us! Note: This one can play ALL NIGHT LONG!! I was afraid the timer feature was the only way to use it as with some other brands/models, but you just turn this on and let it run as long as you want. Thanks to the other reviewer who mentioned that feature. The unit is very lightweight and I can see how it can be very portable for trips. Not sure how long the batteries would last, so will probably use it with the adapter whenever we can. It is so lightweight, I do think that if you dropped it, it would probably break or crack, so be careful with it. Definitely worth the money!