That link to Oreck is very 'laughable'!! Why?
3: Why the need for a light! No one vacs in the dark (put the room light on! waste of electric and energy regardless of how light it takes!) and if your going under furniture (I believe someone made a comment on here) you would not vacuum blind under beds etc...
10: Diry Capacity - Why would you want old dirt sitting around in your vaccum for weeks or even months! Vacuum up and get it out of the house!
11: Environment/Green Issues - With no parts to replace (ie Bags, belts, filters) the Dyson is more greener than the Oreck! In a world where we are told to be greener then the Oreck is not that green!
No vacuum cleaner is perfect, each to their own and also down to users preferred choice! Oreck should be comparing there vacuum to other simular lighter models, ones with a bag. DC18
DC
I have no intentions of getting into a Dyson v __________ debate, but I would like to make a few points on my own as a simple end user. Not a vacuum professional, not a collector, just a plain old joe that pushes a vac on a regular basis.
Your last sentence I will most agree with. To compare a full size vac to a compact is like comparing a big SUV to a Pinto. What I think Dave Oreck is trying to do is to let the public know is that the Oreck is a viable alternative to larger vacuums, especially for people who have limited physical abilities. Though I question this in practice, I also know that there are many who would at give the rug a whack with a Oreck daily or weekly, whereas they would hesitate to drag out a Rainbow, Kirby, Dyson, or other heavy machine on a less frequent basis--thus it is a viable alternative. I think it comes down to practicallity. Something that will be used on a regular basis is more effective than something that is rarely used.
With that said I would like to respond, again as just a user to some of your other points.
3. Why a need for a light? For those of us with limited or diminishing eyesight the headlight helps us see items that we would otherwise miss. The light on the vac which is closer to the work area will illuminate a pin or needle, paper clip or penny faster than room light alone especially if there is little contrast between the item and the carpet being cleaned. I like the headlight feature. Then again I have always had one, and this is what I am used to which is true of many American's.
9. Energy Usage--As an end user I really don't care. I just want to pull the darn thing out of it's hiding place, and I expect it to do the job I bought it for. I never look at the watts it consumes unless it's a light bulb. In the end I feel it is rather insignificant. To further that point, I don't know how much electricity my range, or microwave uses. they just have to get the job done.
10. Dirt storage. The purpose of the vacuum is to get the dirt out of your house, however, I don't want to have to see it everytime I vacuum. I would rather take a nice tidy bag and usher it out of my home for good. I have a Kirby Omega that you can dump the emptor on a newspaper when I feel the need to see the dog hair. (Again this is preference).
11. Environmental issues? Ok I don't buy this one in any form. Bags are usually paper, which is biodegradeable, dirt in the bag is after all dirt. I don't see a big impact personally. Belts--Never have to be replaced? don't buy it. All parts will wear. To be correctly advertised I believe it should say "No user replaceable parts" but we all know they have to be replaced sometime.
I will add a couple of mine why I choose a USA built machine.
1. It's built by someone that can actually afford to own it in the end, not some poor child that doesn't even have electricity in their home, and would have no use for the machine even if they had a disposable income because their home has a dirt floor. ( I guess this is a fall back to Henry Ford and the Model T, but the worker who builds a machine should be able to own one. (This excludeds Mercedes and Rolls, these are pretty low volume anyway, and not U.S. made.)
2. Local service--When something does go wrong, and lets admit that anything made by man will eventually break. I can take my vac to a local shop, in most cases have a nice chat while it is being repaired and then take it back home. I don't have to pack it up in a box, send it to a "service center" and wait 12 weeks for them to tell me they aren't going to fix my piece of plastic and I will have to drop bill or so to get it back.
Let me again stress that I am responding to your post because you had some very valid points not because I disagree with you. I just want to expand on what the think is from a mere consumer's point of view.
This message was modified Jan 30, 2008 by Just
