I am in the market for a new vacuum cleaner. I am replacing a Dyson and would not consider one again for numerous reasons that you probably dont want to hear. So I am after some recommendations for alternatives. Budget is up to around the £300 mark but if I can get something that will work really well for half that then all the better. House is currently 85% carpeted so use on other flooring types is not a concern. What should I go for and why?
I purchased a Vax mach hover 4 years ago solely because it had a 6 year warranty. It was an okay hoover, any way the motor bracket snapped after 3 years of use and I contacted Vax and as it wasn't a user serviceable part they said if I paid an admin fee (something like £6) they would send me a completely free vacuum cleaner, When it arrived it was (at the time) their top model so we were well pleased, so their customer service is awesome. As for the cleaner itself it is very light, extremely powerful and generally very easy to use. It does have it's fault though (albeit minor), at first glance it didn't seem to be as well made as say a dyson but nothing has broken yet after about 18 months, also the hose attachment seems a bit of an afterthought and is a little awkwardly placed but still it works well. I recommend one to my sister in-law and she was really impressed with it in use. I don't generally like to recommend things to people in case they go out and buy it and really aren't impressed but thought I'd pass on my findings. My sister and my father have dysons and I seem to be quite reguarly changing parts, including 2 motor changes but these were well used cleaners. This is the one I have
That ones definately interesting. The price is keen. I have found that my Dyson suction has really suffered as it has aged and it's got a few bits of electrical tape in places to help improve things now. How's your coping as it ages?
Still brilliant. The hopper is quite small so needs regular emptying but the suction is crazy, it does drop a little if the hopper gets too full but empty it and it's good to go again. The filter in the top of the hopper is washable which is good. You can also turn the brush bar off for when your doing hard floors which is ideal as cleaners brush bars tend to fire larger items all over the place. With the old vax we had vacuuming up spilled budgie seed while having bare feet was actually painful, not so with the new cleaner Oh our dog is very fluffy and sheds like nobodies business and it makes short work of her hair.
I've had a few hoovers ATM got two dyson's and a industrial one for the work shop fits on the tools, those Henry's are crap had one it was like a wet fart. Actually I agree with nexxo this should be in GD not serious ffs
Sorry, there is no explanation as to what qualifies as serious and I thought it meant not taking the p*ss. Plenty of threads in general degenerate pretty quickly. Feel free to move this. Used a Henry at work at didnt rate it.
Buy the new vacuum from Microsoft, it's the first product they've made that's guaranteed not to suck!
I have a Vax Zero Swift and a Henry. I'd recommend the Vax simply because it has done 8 years hard labour with only a few hiccups. The parts are cheap though, so it's just a matter of tinkering to keep her alive. Suction as good as ever. Henry is fine for less busy areas, but hopeless when it comes to anything remotely challenging - you need a beater for pet hair etc.
My Dyson DC25 Overdrive is coming up 5 years old any day now and it's still going strong. Any faults have been dealt with by Dyson with minimal fuss and I couldn't be happier. Obviously this won't represent everyones experience but I'll certainly be buying another when it does pack up out of warranty. I've tried vacuums both bagged and bagless from Vax, Hoover and others and never had a great deal of success. I have heard good things of Shark and Miele though.
Agreed - moved to General Edit: I'm actually interested in this from a personal point of view however. Our Vax is now about 5 years old and it's starting to fall apart. Two of the tools have either broken or are on the point of breaking and the suction is noticeably poorer than it used to be, to the point where it will not pick up visible dust / fluff / whatever using the carpet tool unless you hoover over the same area repeatedly...
One of my dysons I think is a DC6 I've had it for 12 years now only ever needed replacing the flexi pipe parts are cheap on ebay and you can get any part at all, I've found if you clean it out now and then it works as good as the day I bought it. I bought my last one on ebay brand new ex demo one full warranty and really was brand new FYI Tesco is doing trade in deal for your old hoover when you buy a new dyson http://www.tesco.com/direct/dysontrade-in/?sc_cmp=ppc_g_dyson_p
Pick up a cheap DC7 or DC14 from ebay. We have a grand total of 4 (I think!), all work great and one is used for cleaning up concrete after builders I went through a period of buying broken ones locally for about £10 and repairing them. Really easy to work on, like lego for grown ups! Think the newer ones are a bit faffy though.
John Lewis are doing the same offer at the minute - I think that it's actually an offer from Dyson that retailers are passing on to others. I'd not thought about ebay tbh - certainly a good shout if they are easy to work on
Unfortunately I dont want to trade in the old one as I want to keep it for the really crappy jobs. Brick dust etc, got a lot of house renovation to do and dont want to kill the new one. The dyson works out at £145 after buying another cheap vacuum to trade in! So far the options then are dyson @ £145 or on the Vax front I am swaying towards the top end one as its on offer @ £150 for the Vax Air3 Pet. Anyone add anything different?
You could just go on ebay, look for one that's collect only and get it for super cheap http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dyson-Ani...355?pt=UK_Vacuum_Cleaners&hash=item20e469bce3 for example
