Comparison Intex 64418 vs Intex 68564

The type determines the general purpose of the furniture.

— Bed. Inflatable analogues of regular beds — products intended mainly for sleeping. Most often they resemble thick inflatable mattresses — several tens of centimeters; some models have additional design elements such as a small back and sides, but this is not mandatory. Note that in addition to traditional home models, inflatable beds are now produced for use in cars — namely, for converting the back seat into a sleeping place. Such products are distinguished by their small thickness, and the delivery set includes special stops — they are installed under the outer edge of the bed, protruding beyond the seat.

— Armchair. Armchairs have a design that allows you to sit or recline comfortably in them. A mandatory element of such products is a backrest, and armrests are also often provided. Traditionally, an armchair is designed for one person, but there are also two-seater models; their difference from sofas is the presence of clearly defined "seats".

— Sofa. Inflatable sofas are usually furniture designed for seating several people. Most often, they are designated as two-seaters, but the surface of the sofa is usually not divided into separate "seats", and the actual capacity depends on the length of this surface and the body type of the sitters. In addition, such furniture can also be...used as a bed, although such use is more of an extreme measure than a standard option: the length of inflatable sofas is usually small, and they are not originally intended for sleeping.

— Folding chair. A type of chair described above, in which the seat can be folded out, turning into a full-fledged sleeping place. Such products are very versatile, since they can be used both as a chair and as a bed. At the same time, they are complex in design and are quite expensive.

— Folding sofa. A type of sofa (see above) that provides the ability to increase the seat area by unfolding it. Like folding chairs, such furniture can be used as beds, and sofas usually accommodate two people without problems. Their disadvantages are also similar — first of all, the high price.

— Bivan. A relatively new type of inflatable furniture. When filled, a classic single-person bivan is an oblong bag with a longitudinal depression; such a device can be used, in particular, as a lounger for one person and as a kind of analogue of a bench - for several. One of the features of such products is that they do not need to be inflated or pumped up with a pump - instead, it is enough to open the inlet located at the end, wave the shell so that it takes in air, and then tightly close the hole. This procedure does not take much effort and takes a few seconds.
It should be noted that the word "Bivan" was originally a trademark used by a Russian manufacturer; however, in our time this name has become a household word and is used for all similar products, regardless of brand and geographic origin. In addition, you can find other names - "lamzac" (named after the company that first released such furniture), "aerodivan", etc.

The number of people who can comfortably use the product when placed in a regular way (for chairs and sofas — sitting, for beds and bivans — lying down).

Modern inflatable furniture is mainly made single or double ; but the specific meaning of this characteristic is largely determined by the type of product (see above). So, sofas, by definition, have two seats; this also applies to folding models — two people can not only sit comfortably on them, but also lie down (unfolded). Armchairs, on the contrary, are mostly designed for one person, but there are single exceptions here — designs for two seats, as well as sets of two seats that can be used separately. But beds and bivans can have a different number of places — it all depends on how many people the width of such furniture is enough for.

The maximum load allowed for a piece of furniture; in other words, the maximum allowable total weight of people using the product.

It is definitely not recommended to exceed this parameter — even if the shell does not burst immediately, it will be subjected to abnormal loads, and an “accident” can occur at any time. And ideally, you should have a weight margin of at least a couple of tens of kilograms — this will give an additional guarantee in case of unforeseen situations. With regard to specific values, a permissible load of up to 100 kg is found exclusively in single furniture; values of 100 – 200 kg are also typical mainly for products for 1 person, although double solutions are already found here (the actual minimum for them is about 175 kg); and the most durable and “hardy” models, which can withstand more than 200 kg, are already mainly double.

The type of stiffeners provided in the design of the bed (this item is relevant for this type of inflatable furniture).

Stiffeners externally look like a special set of protrusions and depressions on the surface of the product, however, the matter may not be limited to external details (see below). Anyway, such structural elements increase the resistance of the surface to bending and, accordingly, increase strength and reliability. In modern inflatable furniture, you can find the following types of similar parts:

— Longitudinal. Stiffening elements in the form of a set of protrusions and grooves directed along the product; the ridges and grooves can be zigzagged for transverse efficiency, but even such elements resist mainly lateral deformation. Anyway, this is the simplest and most inexpensive form of stiffeners. As for practical properties, such a design works well at small and medium loads, but at high loads it is inferior to the transverse one (see below) both in terms of efficiency and durability. In addition, for some users, the longitudinal elements are inconvenient purely for subjective feelings.

— Transverse. Stiffeners of this type may look different. The most obvious, traditional option is a set of protrusions and grooves directed across the recumbent place; in other words, it is an analogue of the longitudinal ribs described above, differing only in direction. This provides, above all, resistance to transverse deformations, whic...h is especially useful for double products used by people who differ significantly in weight. Another, more advanced type of transverse ribs is a set of special recesses located in the correct order on the surface of the product. Under these recesses, partitions are hidden that connect the upper and lower sides of the inflatable shell. Such a design is quite expensive, but it has a number of advantages: in particular, it works effectively not only in the transverse, but also in the longitudinal direction, and also optimally distributes the load on the body of a lying person, providing maximum comfort.

The type of pump that the product is equipped with.

Nowadays, built-in electric units are the most popular. Furniture supplied with separately manufactured pumps, both electric and mechanical, is much less common. In addition, many products are not equipped with pumps at all; this configuration also has its advantages. Here is a more detailed description of each of these options:

— Electric built-in. A pump in the form of a module built directly into the product shell (usually into one of the ends). The popularity of such equipment is due to a number of practical advantages. Firstly, such a pump is always at hand - you can only lose it together with the furniture itself. Secondly, it takes up almost no extra space. Thirdly, the pumping procedure is extremely simple and convenient - you do not need to fiddle with the connection and waste energy on pumping air, just plug the device into the socket and start the process. Fourthly, the built-in pump in many models is capable of working not only for pumping, but also for releasing air, accelerating the folding of the shell; this is especially convenient given that inflatable furniture usually has a significant volume, and releasing air in the usual way (without a pump) can take a lot of time. At the same time, even a breakdown of such a unit does not disable the product - f...or this case, as a rule, the design provides a spare valve for an external pump.
The main disadvantage of the built-in module is its relatively high cost, but in most cases it is more than offset by the advantages described. In addition, any electric pump requires power (usually from a power outlet), but this point is not critical in this case - after all, inflatable furniture is most often used in everyday settings where there are no problems with the availability of power outlets. In extreme cases, the shell can be inflated in another way, through the aforementioned spare valve.

— Electric. An electric pump in the form of a separate device supplied with the furniture. This option is somewhat cheaper than the built-in unit described above; at the same time, pumping, again, does not require any physical effort. On the other hand, a separate pump is less convenient than a built-in one in a number of respects — in particular, it takes up additional space during storage and can get lost. So this type of equipment is not popular in inflatable furniture.

— Mechanical. A separate mechanical pump supplied with the product. Such a pump works due to the customer's muscular strength; it can be hand or foot driven, but in either case, considerable effort is required to pump it. The advantages of such devices include, first of all, low cost and independence from sockets. At the same time, the price of a pump (both mechanical and even more expensive electric) usually makes up only a small part of the price of the entire product; and "away from civilization" inflatable furniture is used extremely rarely, and the ability to pump without sockets is not particularly relevant for such products. For these reasons, mechanical pumps have not become noticeably widespread - they are even less common than separate electric ones.

— Without a pump. The absence of a pump in the design or delivery set of the product. In most cases, the point of such a set is to allow the customer to choose a pump at their own discretion, without relying on the manufacturer's choice; it will also be useful in cases where there is already a suitable pumping unit on the farm. However, there is also a more specific option — products that do not require a pump at all to fill with air; this is, first of all, the majority of so-called bivans (see "Type").

The presence of an ottoman in the scope of delivery of the product.

The ottoman is a low stool with a soft surface; in this case, it is usually also made inflatable. Such devices are used mainly as a support for the legs of a seated person; so most often such a complete set can be found among inflatable chairs (see "Type"). Of course, if desired, the ottoman can be purchased separately; however, the complete accessory optimally fits the "native" piece of furniture in height, and often also costs less.

The presence of a cup holder in the design of furniture. Most often, it is a characteristic cylindrical recess in the armrest, in which you can install not only a glass, but also other objects: a bottle, a bag of snacks, and even a mobile phone or a TV remote control. Typically, a similar function is provided in models designed for a sitting position — armchairs and sofas (see "Type").

The overall dimensions of the product in the working position — fully inflated, and for folding models (see "Type") — also unfolded.

In general, this is a fairly obvious parameter; we only note that the size of the space available for sitting or lying down may be somewhat less than the overall length or width of the product — due to the presence of a backrest and/or armrests. These elements usually account for about 20 – 25 cm of space.

The total weight of the product.

The ease of transportation depends primarily on the weight. However in the case of inflatable furniture, this point is not critical: most of these products are still designed for constant use in one place. However, sometimes a piece of furniture is also bought with the expectation of being able to quickly move from place to place — for example, from home to the country house and back. In such cases, it is worth considering that light weight makes it easier to carry, but for the same performance, lighter products usually have either less reliability (due to the thin shell) or more cost than heavier ones.