Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

1)  Nov 21, 2007 James Dyson t.v. commercial parodied on Saturday Night Live.

2)  March 17, 2009:  While many independent vacuum dealers bad-mouth, lie of and/or dismiss James Dyson and his teams contributions, many others champion the man.  Watch James Dyson in his element - in his Malmesbury Headquarters.  NBC’s “Today Show”  http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=71fa9222-10d2-413c-bf31-0007895697ac

2)  Older video news:  I could not resist...  A Hottie car-news chick mentions the rumor of Dyson working with car makers, and Oreck gets a mention too (funny).

www.blinkx.com/video/hamann-stallion-audi-a7-fast-lane-daily-24jun08/JQ18e2m7y5hiULCgEQWSvw

"Oreck gets a mention too........."

I haven't viewed, but the above jogged my memory to note the following.  As I mentioned, ORECK [Tom Oreck, the CEO] was pleased with its 2008 sales.  Probably, the first to go public with a statement about 2008 results of all the vacuum makers.  And he thought it fared much better than most other brands.  He's probably right.  Why?  Read on.

HOOVER/TTI has ORECK in its sights with the latest bagged lightweight upright and companion compact canister.  DC18 Slim and DC24 are no doubt dyson's product competition directly against ORECK and the lightweight vacuum market.  And now, BEST BUY stores is giving away a free DDC16 [$149 MSRP] handheld with purchase of a DC25 Ball Animal for $549.  A page right out of the ORECK playbook.  Hard times call for desperate measures.  What works and let's get on board.

Carmine D.

Witvac.com and BestVacuum.com are also giving away DC16 handhelds with the purchase of any Dyson vacuum. IMO, the DC18 would have made an excellent Oreck competitor it they could have dropped some weight, added a lighter weight DDM motor, and perhaps jettisoned the Telescope wand altogether. Too bad it's discontinued with no chance of return; the DC24 is too much of a novelty vacuum to me, and is too expensive in comparison to other more capable machines in the line up.

CarmineD wrote:
Yeah but the punchline is -- the DDC16 probably wasn't moving that well in the first place. $149.00 a pop was a bit much for something that can't give at least 10 or 15 minutes of cleaning time. There was also a second version I believe that had a small electric cleaning head and priced somewhere around the $200.00 mark. Is this a bargain or are they just saving face?

At least Oreck has been offering financing arrangements to make its pricing a little less hard to swallow.

Venson

The HOOVER/TTI accucharge battery powered cordless, not yet added to the BEST BUY store venues, may be the ultimate winner down the road, over the more expensive shorter run time dyson DC16.  The latter [DC16] has almost 3 years on the market and it still suffers from its initial shortcomings:  Too high a price and too short a run time.  Time for a newer model, perhaps the HOOVER/TTI?

http://www.hoover.com/product.aspx?model=BH50015&ds=false

Note too that the ORECK finance terms have recently gotten better AND HOOVER/TTI offers TV sales of the lightweight bagged upright and compact canister with 5 payments of $90.  Another page taken right from the ORECK playbook.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
The Hoover/TTI hand vac has a list price of $149, typically selling via Amazon at $129, verses the DC16, selling at $149 - so not a huge difference in price.

The Dyson offers a filter that typically requires cleaning every 6months or so, verses the Hoover which looks like it needs a filter cleaning after emptying.

x2 the running time? Compared to what? The leading Lithium Ion based hand cleaners or NIcad cleaners? Notice, that they don't state these details or the actual run time.

It's possible that the Hoover *could* achieve a longer run time than the Dyson, as there is a power level at which the Dyson has to cut out, before the cyclone separation becomes ineffective, whereas the Hoover could continue running with reduced performance. So, to say you could continue to get twice the run time, but with a gradually reduced pickup that might not be suitable for the job at hand. In affect, if the Dyson was better at picking up, you might generally be spending less time anyway.

With the data we have (or rather we don't have) this Hoover branded product appears far from impressive. It really needs a comparitive product review to see if it could make the grade.

M00seUK wrote:

The HOOVER/TTI charged power is constant until the charge is over [if my understanding is correct].  Also, like a dyson DC16 HOOVER has a charge gauge with time left.  Looking at the run times of the current handcleaner products in competition:  Dirt Devil Kone for $45 has a run time of 10 minutes with a 16 hour charge.  The Black and Decker Pivot [oft talked about here] for $60 has a 10 minute run time and 16 hour charge.  The Dirt Devil Kurv for $50 has a 15 minute run time and a 16 hour charge.  These models all have 2x [or more] the run time of a DC16.  I suspect the HOOVER/TTI with a price of $129 is at least 10-15 minutes for a run time, like these, and more likely longer.  HOOVER comes with a 6 year warranty vice dyson's 2 year.  The accucharge on HOOVER's battery cuts the charging off once full charge is reached.  This feature prolongs battery life.

Carmine D.

Hi guys,

I called Hoover/TTI and got mad due to all the electronic run around their phone system makes for. Per the email I sent requesting an actual minute count, heres the "skinny" . . .

"Hello, Thank you for your recent email. Per charge cycle the battery will run 12-15 minutes. Lithium-Ion batteries differ from Ni-cad batteries in that with time Ni-cad power will decrease during operation, the Lithium-on battery will not. You will get continual optimum fade free power every time you use this battery in either the Linx Stick Vac, or the Linx Hand Vac, (since the battery works for both models). The battery is designed to run 12-15 minutes per charge cycle. Meaning that you will get 12-15 minutes run time per charge. It may not sound like much, but you would be surprised how long 15 minutes of straight vacuuming is. The Platinum Linx System is designed to be machines you use in-between weekly cleaning. The Platinum Stick Vac is the perfect machine for touch-ups and go cleaning on carpeted or bare floor surfaces, and the Platinum Hand Vac compliments this machine. With 6 year warranties on the machines, and 2 on the battery, you can't really go wrong. If you have further questions please let us know. Or call the exclusive Hoover Platinum Customer Service line at 1.877.697.5866, we would be happy to assist you. Sincerely, Customer Service 41 1.330.499.9499 Monday - Friday 800am to 700pm EST."

Venson

PS -- Despite the time quote I am assuming the run time for the stick vac -- if it has separate motors for the fan and brushroll -- may be a bit less.

"Yea" and "nay" customer reviews at the Hoover Platinum are at the following link:

http://www.hoover.com/linx/read-a-review.aspx?item_id=436247

The One and Only Mr. Gadget gives the HOOVER Lynx hand vacuum 5 STARS.

Carmine D.

Man climbs building with vacuum gloves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8166923.stm

DysonInventsBig wrote:

Talking about gloves DIB, did you hear the true story about a boxer and his handlers who over 25 years ago cheated an opponent in a fight.  Seems the fighter Ruis Resto, now in his 50's, was an accomplice to a fraud by using a pair of tainted gloves and hand wrappings that gave him the edge over his opponent Billy Collins Jr.[deceased].  Collins lost the fight and suffered one of the worse ring beatings in pugilistic history.  Resto's handlers were the master minds behind the crime but the young fighter was a part of it.  Why?  Greed.  Money bet on the fight.  Trainer [still alive]  and corner man [deceased]. 

All involved were barred from boxing for their lifetimes.  It ruined their careers and personal lives.  The investigator, who did a documentary, originally believed Resto was innocent as he claimed.   But after his research, ended up disclosing the truth that Resto was involved too.  All tried to sue the NY Boxing Commission.  The fight was held in Madison Square Garden.  No one from the Commission was present to observe the hand wrappings and gloves, as required.  So the guilty people blamed the Commission as culpable.  The Commission made them do it!   The courts have consistently thrown the cases out for years and years even the appeals.  Why?  You can't pass and enforce laws to make people have integrity and honesty.  Very sad case.  Moral odf story:  Once you go down that long grey road of hypocrisy, it gets harder and harder to tun back.

Carmine D.