Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Thank God for those who try.  I can't always give high scores in regard to the worth of their efforts but they do help to keep life interesitng.  And per the news link -- http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080926/0437655.html -- Bissell certainly is trying.

I can't find any information about the new Bissell Versus (see below) but the article states that HSN has it and that it will be in the hands of retailers this month.

Best,

Venson

Hi Venson:

Thanks for the info.  Nice idea.  Puts me in mind a bit of the Dirt Devil Kruz, also an HSN seller, which retails for $99.  The Kruz is straight suction, like the Versus, and has a triangular shaped floor cleaning nozzle.  The Kruz nozzle is on the order of the BISSELL Versus but designed a bit differently.   The proof is in using.  HAve to try out the BISSELL and see if it is "victorious."

BTW, if you go to the BISSELL Web Site and type in Versus, you can read the specs on the product.  No manual tho.

Carmine D.

Interesting design, and I see where it could be useful on external corners, near cabinets and such.  However, the outward V-shaped design would make it virtually impossible to clean flush with walls.  I also wonder how well the airflow would be channeled through the nozzle.

Good concept, though, but I'll stick with my traditional rectangular bare floor nozzles.

-MH

Motorhead wrote:

A better design and functioning nozzle head would be one that keeps the "V" shape but allows the user to pivot the head around so both the top and bottom"V" can be used in a forward position depending on the cleaning application.  This is easy to do by separating the wheels from the cleaning nozzle.  Especially since this is a strictly straight suction cleaning head.

Carmine D.

Take no offense for those who like this vacuum...
If this vacuum were a high school experiment I would say nothing, but instead it is the 130 year old (plus) Bissell with Mark Bissell at the helm (I believe).  This vacuum is a joke and a colossal waste of time.  Putting a pitch fork on the front of any vacuum is pure stupidity.  This vacs image should be on the cover of - Stupidity 101.  These things will be returned in droves.        DIB

DysonInventsBig wrote:

Thanks DIB.  Now, based on your comments, I will most definitely put one on my purchase list.  I think it will be a nice sidekick and spare user along with the Dirt Devil Kruz.  My granddaughters argue over using the Kruz to assist their Mother with the housecleaning.  The BISSELL Versus will be a good peace maker.

BTW, I wonder what some would think and say about putting a ball on a vacuum and wheelbarrow?

Carmine D.

I think as Carmine stated earlier, an adjustable "V" would work much better.  Parts of the nozzle could be detached, but I was thinking have the "wings" on pivots so they could be adjusted accordingly.  Except for cleaning around table legs and countertop corners, etc., the fixed V-shaped nozzle would be awkward to use near walls or for getting up close to edge-clean.

Motorhead wrote:

I don't know if it's still available but at one point there was an after-market nozzle that  had spring-loaded wings.  The wingssat straight out on either side but swung inward to conform to the area when pushed into corners.  Don't know how well they worked or if they were durable.  European Rowenta use a triangular, wedge-shaped nozzle with some of its canisters for a long time to make corner cleaning easier.

Venson

I love the wedge shaped nozzle, I use one off of an old Dirt Devil stick vac and use it on my canister wand.  It works great.  I have seen these winged nozzles in the patent filings.  Maybe a photo too.

Here is another silly Bissell way of doing things...  by adding more nozzle (adding one more blade to make up a V) thereby lessens suction, so here’s “the Bissell fix” add a heavier, louder, larger, and more expensive 12 amp motor than the lightweight traditional stick vacs.  Is there a big demand for heavy, clumsy sticks that cannot maneuver (as good as it’s competitors) and cannot fit or fit as easily into places as standard sticks?  What is Bissell thinking??        DIB

 Below is a photo from Bissell's website of their "Verses" hard floor vacuum...


Amazingly  Bissell demonstrates there nozzle cannot clean up to and squarely to a straight line (wall, furniture, etc.). I'm shaking my head in disbelief as to why the suits at Bissell produce and promote this vacuum as in advancement over standard vacuums. Standard vacuums can clean up to a straight edged wall or furniture, when Versus cannot.

 The Versus promo video tells Bissell's logic behind this "V" nozzle. Bissell believes funneling debris via a V shaped nozzle is an advancement. The problem is the filter clogs and loses suction strength. A vacuum with weak suction strength is the reason vacuums cannot suction floors adequately, so this, the real problem.  Bissell invented a "nozzle funneling" solution to a suction drop off problem.  Go figure.

DIB

Hello DIB:

WRT your last post, I understand your frustration.  I'm not fond of the design either unless and until it pivots on its axis to accomplish the normal edge cleaning too.  Perhaps this is a first attempt by BISSELL to patent rights for a new barefloor design/function.  With plans for future refining/modification to do just as I suggest.  In the meantime, the Versus tools on board have to suffice for users like me who intend to buy it.  BTW, it hasn't come yet to the big box store retailers in my area.  I'm thinking my young grand daughters will absolutely love using it!  As they do the DD Cruz.  [which BTW I saw hawked on HSN with a dyson DC14 earlier this year].

No offense to you, but many feel the same about a soccer sized ball wheel on a vacuum cleaner.  Wheel barrows are one thing.  But vacuums?  The maker provides a maneuverability solution by increasing the weight/mass/bulk of an existing vacuum's size.  Worsening the conditions that give rise to the maneuverability problems in vacuums in order to solve it.  Sounds oxymoronic, IMHO?

The age old adage applies: Where you stand depends on where you sit.  Similarly:  Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  Didn't the inventor of the intermittent wipers call his creation the Mona Lisa?  Leonardo must have turned over in his grave!

Carmine D.

The V nozzle comes off so you can use it as a BOOMERANG,just a little added feature,keeps the cleaning person from getting bored.

HOW MANY DC15 DID DYSON SELL TODAY?????????????

MOLE

mole wrote:
 Hey mole,

 Maybe the boomerang should be used to throw at the Bissell suits. Heads should fly over this one.

 The DC15 spawned an entirely new segment and more profits for those vacuum manufacturers whose business model is to copy Dyson's inroads. In no way should Dyson throw this baby out with the bathwater. It can be made great!! And be made better than both the Miele and Hoover UK offerings.

DIB

DysonInventsBig wrote:

Hi DIB,

You're missing the spin here.  Notice the white arrows at the ends of the nozzle wings.  That would mean that a forward pass along a floor edge with the "wing tip" is meant to clean corners and along baseboards.  You turn the cleaner one way or another to clean the next floor edge.  Not  a practical idea but Best Buy has been talked into carrying the Versus online.  I'm curious to see who follows.  If they move, it means that you can sell anybody anything.  But . . . at 80-bucks it will prove of interest to the non-thinking because it's cheap.

Venson

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson:

Thanks for the tip on the "V" wing and the info about the BEST BUY Site and the Versus.  I agree with your above statement.  At $80 with TOB and bagless it's an easy sell over the internet and off shelves in a box.  BISSELL is borrowing a page from Dirt Devil which knows the sales beauty of vacuums priced at $50-$60.  Most people take them right off the shelf in a box and never scope out the displays.  The price sells it.  Add a gimmick and its a sure fire sales success.  Look at REGINA's Electrik Broom.  Sold millions.  Lightweight.  Cheap.  It couldn't even stand up by itself!

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Hi DIB:

Thanks for the pic with the hand.  It struck me when seeing.  Dyson has a brilliant idea here but not for vacuums and wheels.  For a new hand granade!  Pack that sucker with C4, a pin and a finger pull, and let her rip!  Sell millions of them.

Too bad your reply got stuck in the small quote print.  It looks very similar to my criticism of some of dyson's products.

Carmine D.

Carmine,

Can you view the print?  Do you know how to enlarge the text on a page?  Go to...  click on the browsers View button > enlarge print is typical to enlarge from the browser.  DIB

Thanks DIB:

Alas, you missed my point.  By imbedding your reply in my quote, readers may mistake your reply for mine.  Especially since it sounds like my constructive criticisms of your fave brand's products.

Carmine D.

Is it true that animal or human hair sticks to the ball on the dyson ball machines,I think that a lot of static electricity is being built up on the housing do to that this is where the motor is.

This is especially noticed when on hardwood or tile flooring.

Looks like more R@D is needed,I thought these guys knew what they were doing?????????????????????

Good Day

MOLE

mole wrote:
 Mole,

 I read this on the vacuum cleaner collection site. It's pure fiction, yet entertaining. Was it you who posted this at the other site?

DIB

CarmineD wrote:

DIB could have chosen colored or bold type.  However, I had no problem with his reply.  Maybe you have been blinded by the light      on your oreck.

HARDSELL wrote:
  He is "too much".

 Come on Carmine, talk vacuums.

HARDSELL:

Wrong, AGAIN.  ORECK CLassic XL doesn't have a light.  You're not reading and comprehending here.  Have a another cup of joe to stimulate those brain cells.  They are falling asleep on you/dying!  No light on the ORECK is one of my reasons for upgrading.  We went through this before here, my friend.  Not to worry: The headlight on the new TEMPO works fine until I upgrade to the new ORECK Silver series.

Carmine D. 

TARGET stores have added the BISSELL Versa to its sales venue for $79.95

Carmine D.

Dainty, it’s not...

Below is a pic from Target's; Bissell's Versus page.  You can see the clear advantage of the patent pending "V" nozzle - it's impossible to position the vacuums nozzle and clean up to base boards and such, unlike atypical nozzle[d] vacuum which can.

Keep up the good work Bissell.

Hello DIB:

I believe you made this comment earlier and Venson responded to it, with no reply from you at the time.  Did you miss/misunderstand the previous response?

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Hi DIB,

You're missing the spin here.  Notice the white arrows at the ends of the nozzle wings.  That would mean that a forward pass along a floor edge with the "wing tip" is meant to clean corners and along baseboards.  You turn the cleaner one way or another to clean the next floor edge.  Not  a practical idea but Best Buy has been talked into carrying the Versus online.  I'm curious to see who follows.  If they move, it means that you can sell anybody anything.  But . . . at 80-bucks it will prove of interest to the non-thinking because it's cheap.

Venson

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My post was an answer to Venson's curiosity: TARGET follows BEST BUY.  I suspect other retailers will too and carry the BISSELL VERSA.

Carmine D.

Carmine,
I am getting older...  I may of missed his reply and I may of posted the pic before too.  I was blown away Target is using this pic on their site, that was my motivation for today's post.        DIB

DysonInventsBig wrote:
Be ye not astonished!  Though this is to my mind a rather silly spin on a vacuum cleaner Target, purveyor of Fruit of the Loom for six bucks per pack, isn't Nieman Marcus or Bloomingdale's.  Who ever approved the Versus design believed that there is enough of a public more taken by form as opposed to function who'd think, "Isn't that cool"  because they know there's also enough of a public -- that I shall not be so rude as to call uninformed or kind of dumb -- who'll pop the 80 bucks on the counter to give it a go.  The cheap trash you see on the shelf ain't out there for nothin'.  (I confess -- I've shopped in a 99-cents store.)

We're a populous of 303,500,000 souls, per early 2008 findings, and few give much deep thought to household devices until they feel they need one and don't think about them much after they get them -- until something goes wrong..  Of course the wonderful thing about us is that today as opposed to the good old days in which you simply got used to walking if you couldn't afford a horse -- there's now something for everybody.  And everybody wants a chance to have.  For that reason alone, rest assured big business wants everbody's money, not just that of those who are well-heeled to afford quality or real science.  The folks who do fall for the high-amp and unique design hype will love it until the nozzle gets fractured in two or three months. BUT -- there will be more affordable junk available when they go back to look for another one.

God, how I wish I too still believed in fairy tales.

Venson

Venson wrote:

Hello Venson:

BISSELL's answer to the Dirt Devil designer series Kruz and Kurv!

Carmine D.

These have also been featured on a dedicated Infomercial. You know how successful they are in getting idio ummm sorry "consumers" to buy second rate garbage. Note SHARK.

Lucky1 wrote:

Hello Lucky 1:

Alot of vacuum consumers who knew better bought Regina Electrik Brooms and used them like full size vacuums.  And swore by them [not at them].  The product couldn't stand up by itself.  Had to be hung/leaned.   $19.95 to $119.95.  Go figure.  It's called the greater fool theory. 

Carmine D.

Men,

It’s marketing suicide photographing the vacuums major weakness (above) while highlighting a minor strength.  The need to vacuum up to a straight edge - a wall, furniture, etc. is far greater than the much rarer need of poking around in a corner suctioning renegade debris.  Bissell fixed a “problem” that does not exist...  many/most sticks on the market and in the past can and did suck up debris from inside of corners.

I understand Bissell has a desperate need for new products or different than normal products. Too bad Grandma Bissell is not around leading product development.


DIB

Hello DIB:

To BISSELL's credit it offers a full complement of floorcare cleaning products: Stick vacuums, hand vacuums, carpet sweepers, floor washers, rug extractors both full size and portable, canisters and uprights.  Its top of line HEALTHY HOME with a 5 Year Warranty, makes the Consumer Reports cut for best upright ratings, still carries its MSRP of $249 among all the retailers.  With some retailers offering a $25-$40 Giftcard on Holiday sales.  While less expensive BISSELL models like the Clear View and Momentum uprights are always rated a CR Best Buy.  And very popular sellers among all the big box stores.   BISSELL's signature model, the carpet sweeper, is a US vacuum industry and American household icon and classic. 

As Venson points out with the Versa, at $70 a pop, before discounts, there is not much thought needed/given by consumers to make a buy decision.  Marketing/advertising probably never enter the process for most buyers.  Just the $70 price and the BISSELL name recognition. 

Despite your Grandma BISSELL analogy and perhaps due in large part to it, BISSELL with over 100 years in the vacuum industry in the USA, thru good and bad economic times, is very well positioned as a big box venue brand, to flourish in short/long lived recessions.  In the final business analysis, this is the only marketing edge that matters.   

Carmine D.

The March 2009 Consumer Reports tested new held held and stick vacuums, corded and cordless, and compared them with the best previously tested models.  The results?  New top performers.  BISSELL lands the top spots for both:  For sticks, the BISSELL corded Versus for $80.  The boomerang shaped head, according to CR, fits into corners and edges better than almost every other stick CR tested.  Consider it, per CR, for quick clean-up on bare floors.  Yet its not an option for carpets since it lacks a brush [according to CR].  On the last point I would agree too and note the DIrt Devil Cruz, for a similar shortcoming.  Great on floors, pass on rugs due to no brush.

For hand helds, the new BISSELL corded Pet Hair Eraser for $35. Superb on carpets, floors, and edges, according to CR.  But despite the name the worst tested for pet hair.

Carmine D.

The March 2009 issue of C/R actually praised the 'V' for its ability to get into corners. Looking at the narrow front and rear slots on the underside view of the nozzle, it may create enough turbulance when directed intoa corner to pick up loose debris