Here's the details of a trademark that Dyson has filed for a to-be-launched project, the 'Digital Slim':-

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-os/t-find/t-find-number?detailsrequested=C&trademark=2552353

As usual, the trademark covers a multitude of product categories. Personally, I'd reckon the most likely candidate is a 'slim' upright vacuum, with a 'digital' motor. Dyson have used the 'slim' name before - on the DC18. The upright range has long been missing a product with digital motor. I would also be good if by slim, they mean as thin in profile as the DC03 - which could be hung on the wall and take up next to no space inside a storeage cupboard:-

The major downside was it's small, weedy motor. But if replaced with a similar model using a digital motor, it wouldn't have that same issue.

The Black & Decker cordless mini canister Flex with MSRP of $79.  Newer to the US market than the pivot stick and held held vacuums, probably just several years of sales and becoming just as pervasive as the B&D pivot hand held and stick with prices starting at $60 [Wal*Mart stores].

Weighs in at less than 4 pounds and has a 4 foot hose and attachments for straight suction cleaning.

Carmine D.

FLEX™ - Cordless Mini Canister Vac

MODEL # FHV1200

M00seUK wrote:

I recently read an article that coined a brilliant phrase for this type of brand maker thinking and action:  "Behavioral economics."  Basically the premise of the writer is that product makers and their loyal customers discount the drawbacks of products they are emotionally in favor of.  Sound like an inventor/brand talked about here?  Before you answer it has nothing to do with vacuums, fans, and hand driers but with wind turbines. 

Carmine D.

M00seUK wrote:

Hiya M00seUK,

I'd think the power nozzle is hoped to enhance surface litter pick up. Though the suction in this type of set-up certainly would win no points for deep cleaning, as regards small, light duty maneuvers,it should be able to quickly whisk away "top soil". Best, Venson

Venson wrote:
Spot on Venson! Infact as an owner of the original Electrolux Ergorapido, their first model had a rubber squeegee and thin paint brush like beater bar that didn't do it much favour on carpets. Did well on hard floors. Ergorapido mark 2 had a proper bristle bar with thicker tufts to cope with carpets. Replaces the idea of a dustpan and brush, supposedly.

Venson wrote:
Ah, so the rationale is that a relatively low-powered, cordless vacuum won’t always have enough suction on carpet to remove all surface debris and thus requires a brushbar. I’d imagine if carefully calibrated, the effectiveness of this could fall between dislodging for surface pick up and not the carpet pile itself.

I remember that James Dyson said once (about the DC16 handheld) that they were surprised to learn that a proportion of people were using the cleaner for general maintenance cleaning about the house. It appears, to better fit this use, they’ve increased the run time (with the DC31) and now, fitted a powered head, on a wand, with steerable wheels. It might well only satisfy a niche in the market, but as said, the investment in product development appears modest.

M00seUK wrote:
I'd say the rationale is offering buyers something better than a mechanical sweeper and that effectively is what the cordless dust busters with a stick and a moving brush roll are trying to emulate here. The next big step is to develop something Karcher already tried years ago; develop a wet brush model that picks up dirt or water on floors. I like the versatility that the brands are offering with so many different attachments to extend cleaning cycles with a dust buster on the hand - but it isnt exactly new - its just moving the game on a bit. The Americans reversed the design theory offering a hand held with a permanent brush roll and mains cord with extendable pipes and other attachments in the form of the Dirt Devil handy but one could argue it's mains powered only and restricts a "clean-anywhere" approach without a plug socket. Black and Decker know more about any other brand with wet pick up dust busters and could develop their interest further.

It's been proven that battery run times for these cleaning products diminishes when a revolving brush meets resistance from carpeting vice straight barefloor cleaning.  It would be interesting for a consumer, since dyson won't, to test the DC35 run times for both cleaning situations.  First in the barefloor cleaning mode.  Then in the carpet cleaning mode.  Measuring DC35 run times and noting the time differential. 

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
Always good to have the numbers for evaluation purposes. Here are the runtime figures from Dyson for the DC35:-

• 15 minutes on high power (28 aw - constant)

• 13 minutes when using the motorised brushbar (1,400 RPM)

• 6 minutes when using max power mode (65 aw - constant)

That all sounds reasonable for the small to mid-sized house this type of cleaner would be marketed towards.

M00seUK wrote:
Excellent performance but how is it judged? Picking little dirt up on hard floors or a lot? Surely if a carpet has a lot of surface dirt, then performance may struggle. Its all very well if its mains powered but since its cordless is there a secondary motor that is independently running the brush bar? Otherwise if its picking up a lot of dirt, then surely the power is going to run down by the amount of dirt the brush bar has to cope with picking up?

M00seUK wrote:

These numbers give only a partial time differential.  This provides the diminished battery run time with the brush roll engaged with 28 AW of power.  Loss of 2 minutes.  The missing piece of information is the battery run time with 65 AW and the brush roll engaged.   At a minimal, one would believe 2 minutes lost.  This leaves a run time of 4 minutes.  Since brush roll usage on carpet surfaces cause increased resistance to the motor operation, 65 AW would be a normal mode.  At 4 minutes of usage, and the price of the product, users would have to be emotionally tied to DC35 to discount the drawbacks in short run time. 

Carmine D.