Vacuum Cleaners

[tooj]

We have a Vax 2200 cleaner which makes as much noise as a Jet taking off at heathrow and weighs as much as a bucket of wet cement. Now old age has caught up with us we are having difficulty mauling it about and carrying it upstairs. Has anyone had experience of the Airram cordless now being advertised on TV . It looks good but we are wary of the claims of vacuum salesmen.

[woofgang]

yes I have got one and am very pleased with it for what it does. Its very light does excellent rug and flat floor cleaning if your house isn't filthy. Goes flat to go under beds and furniture, you get a nice long run for the charge.
Cons. I have got two large dogs and when its wet and they tread in the mud, it struggles to keep up. You do need to change and wash the filters more frequently than they suggest and its a good idea to have two sets. It has no tools, doesn't do stairs or get right into corners.
I have still got a Dyson which I use for thorough cleaning, stairs and so on. There is no comparison in cleaning power but the Dyson is a corded machine and weighs a ton.
horses for courses I guess......

[gingejbee]

Which? says it's "worth considering"....but that "there are better cordless models available".(Two of these are Bosch Athlets and the other is a Dyson cordless).

[Tuvok]

We have a Roomba.

We don't have stairs, but Roomba can detect stairs and turns away to avoid them.

I've also found he doesn't like black carpets - think he thinks its stairs and won't budge! So you can't clean the car boot!

[chrissa1]

You can't beat a Dyson and they do a cordless machine, too.

[jennyjoan]

as I have said before I threw my Dyson out after a year into a skip - too heavy and not much suction.

I have bought a new hoover about 2 weeks ago - unfortunately it's downstairs - but it is brilliant - it is a Hoover but will get proper name for you later. The best hoover I ever bought. I bought 3 vacuums within 4 weeks and 2 of them were disasters and have ended up in the shed. This is one is a treat. I know you will say why didn't I bring the disasterous ones back - but I maltreated them - no suction out of them at all and they were expensive enough. Shoot myself quicker before Dyson would come into my life.

[pastafreak]

I've had my AirRam for just over a year and I love it. I can carry it upstairs so easily.n
No fear of dropping the damn heavy monster I had before. It picks up amazing amounts of gunk from two cats and a dog. Love it.

[EDDIE51]

One problem with cordless vacuums ( and other cordless electrical items)is that long before the machine is at the end of it's life it will need new batteries. They run on Lithium cells that have a limited life before they can no longer hold a charge and need replacement. This is expensive as the cost of the Lithium cells is a large % of the total cost of the product. If a new cleaner is £200 a set new batteries can be £120. They fail to mention this in the adverts of course. Think how a mobile phone battery is what normally fails first, the cells in the vacuum are the same but just larger. Same with an electric car (Lithium cells again) an new set of batteries is around £5000 and may well only last 3 years.

[Gromit]

I love my Dyson but why are they so ugly.

Someone should shoot Dyson's industrial designer - and his Guide Dog.

[gingejbee]

EDDIE's point about rechargeable batteries in these items is spot-on and is likely to be even more relevant with vacuums. These have a relatively short usage time between charges and are likely to need several recharging cycles each week...meaning batteries lifespan could be rather short.
@Gromit...we have two Dysons (one upstairs, one down)...both unbeatable. Ugly? Do vacuums have to be nice-looking?

[chrissa1]

Not much suction in a Dyson, jennyjoan??? My new one raises the carpet off the wall to wall carpet!!

[chrissa1]

Off the floor** I should have said. :/

[chaptazbru2]

I agree chrissa, the suction is amazing !