Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Some observations -

• Oreck is conspicuously missing from the upright ratings.
• Panasonic has a new AeroBlast for $700 is a apparently a poor copy of a Dyson that burps loudly when it reverses the air flow to clean the filter.   Why would anyone pay so much for a Dyson copy, particularly when the filter clogs with fine dust?
  
• Hoover's fall from grace is noted, presumably due to their ill conceived bagless vacuums.  Hoover now has the worst reliability of the uprights.  Dyson is second only to Kirby in the reliability rankings.   
  
• For uprights, Kenmore takes the top 2 spots (bagged and bagless), followed by the Riccar SupraLite RSL3, the Electrolux Oxygen EL5035A, and the Kirby Sentria.  
  
• The Halo is #33 on the list for uprights. 
  
• The $60 Hoover Tempo Widepath has a better tool airflow score than the Dyson DC17 as well as better carpet cleaning scores. 
  

Hello My Old Friend Hardsell:

The HOOVER Fusion, one of Wal*Mart's most popular sellers, and the FUSION Plus, one of Sam's Club best sellers, have been superceded [read redesigned] by the HOOVER Mach's which come in several models ranging in price from $100 to $160 and available at most retailers currently.  And selling quite well. 

The HOOVER Z, much too expensive for today's big box retail stores' venue, is an integral part of the HOOVER line up and available for sale from HOOVER stores and on-line.  The HOOVER Z has more patents pending than any other vacuums past and/or present: i.e, the digiTouch control pad for rug height adjustment, on/off, automatic hard surface cleaning, and diagnostic indicators; Z fold design; self-cleaning HEPA filter; no belts, bulbs, bags/filters to replace ever; and microban coating to prevent bacteria and mold.  To name some.

Carmine D.

PS: the HOOVER Z also has a soft brush setting to avoid degrading sensitive carpeting.  Does the dyson DC17 have such a feature?

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

The Fusion is a decent vacuum for the price.  Still can't match the Dyson DC07.

All those patents pending on a Vacuum that is selling at distress prices.  Why haven't you ever told us about that?

It is worth noting that the sole reason the Z (and other long-since-discontinued Hoover models) still remains on the Hoover website is because TTI apparently has no interest in updating the pages.  I've noticed this with the Maytag page as well.

Just out of interest how many patent pendings does the Hoover Z actually have?

DC18

HARDSELL wrote:

Hello Good Friend:

The shortcomings of the Z have been exhaustively discussed here.  Too heavy.  Too expensive for big box store sales venue.  Bad market and industry timing.  The Z was launched in the midst of the Whirlpool buy out of Maytag knowing full well that HOOVER would be spun off/sold off.  

The FUSION for $90-$120 filled the void left by the dyson DC07 when Wal*Mart scrubbed the line.  Sales for the FUSION exceeded expectations and had a successful 2 plus years run at Wal*Mart stores.  So well in fact that a similar model was made and sold by Sam's Stores as a FUSION Plus for $120-$130.  The HOOVER Mach models superceded the FUSION and are not only in Wal*Mart and Sam Club stores NOW but also other retailers.  Why?  FUSION paved the way with several years of successful sales. 

The dyson DC07 [both the All Carpet for $359 and the Original for $378] couldn't match the success of the sales of the FUSION and Mach in these stores' venues.  And like the HOOVER Z the All Carpet was sold at distressed prices by Wal*Mart stores and probably the dyson DC 07 ORIGINAL will be soon too.

Carmine D. 

BTW, I personally thought the DC07 All Carpet was the best of the 07 dyson models.  Why?  No gawdawful ratcheting noise because it did not [the model is no longer made] have a clutch to stop the brushbar.  At $329 it was probably the best dyson value.  I could have bought one new in a box for $50 when Wal*Mart stores were selling them out.  I turned it down.  Probably a mistake.  It will be a desirable dyson collectable soon if not already. 

Carmine D.

PS:  I have not seen dysons on end cap positions at retailers for months.  I presume dyson no longer wants to pay for the privilege to be displayed in the prime retail space.

Carmine D.

PS:

Talking about distressed vacuum prices, I mentioned to you in a private email a long time ago, that the BEST BUY store in Woodbridge VA offered me the entire inventory of new Electrolux models for 20 percent on the dollar.  When?  Spring of 2006.  At the time Matt mmc now Airblade commented that dyson had bested the Electrolux line at Best Buy which was dropping the line.  I told you I couldn't accept the deal because we were planning a move to Las Vegas in the summer 2006.

I also posted on another Forum [in which you participated] in September 2006 after the Electrolux models scored so well in the the Consumer Reports ratings, that BEST BUY stores would soon be selling them again.   By the 2006 Holiday season, BEST BUY was and still is.  In the same year, the line went from extinction to distinction and has stayed there.

Carmine D. 

PS:

Contrary to some statements here, the HOOVER Z will not be discontinued by TTI unless and until all pending patents are approved.  At last notice, some patents are still under review and others in use by HOOVER/TTI on new models

Carmine D.