Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

A famous German Vacuum soon to be available at your local Oreck Dealer.....Hummm.

vacmanuk wrote:

Hello Vacmanuk:

I have the precursor to the Hoover portapower called the Swingette.  Late 60's made.  No wheels.  Like the ORECK.  Some did come with wheels and some with wheels extra.  I preferred no wheels.  Matter of choice and preference depedning on your needs and uses.  Still works like a charm after all these years.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
Yes Carmine, but you made a statement previously that Hoover copied Oreck. So timewise, when the Oreck canister appear? Isn't a case of being the other way around that Oreck brought out their portable canister after Hoover?

vacmanuk wrote:

If you read my post Vacmanuk, I said HOOVER copied the marketing strategy of a lightweight upright and compact canister as a dual cleaning team from ORECK.  If you want to focus on who made the compact canister/handheld first, I would say HOOVER since it is much older than ORECK.  Long before there was an ORECK company, HOOVER made a handheld/handcleaner called a Pixie with shoulder strap and attachments.  But that was not my point and if you gleaned that you should go back and reread.  I was referring to ORECK's marketing strategy on the dual team vacuums, not who made what first.

What started this tangent is that you said ORECK is the only maker that does not have wheels.  I said the HOOVER doesn't.  Posted a pic for you when you asked.  Mike W. gave another from over 5 decades ago that did not have wheels.  GE Tidy Vac.  Came with shoulder strap and attachments.  Slightly irrelevant since the age makes it obsolete at this point.  The current HOOVER compact [with lightweight up] is relevant to your statement. And HOOVER mimics [copies if you will] the ORECK company by not offering wheels on the sidekick cleaner.  You said you don't have those in the UK.  But later posted you had/familiar with the HOOVER portapower in the UK in the 1980's which for all intents and purposes is the same cleaner as this current HOOVER which I posted and pictured for you.  Just like the ORECK with no wheels.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
You can use this little routine of trying to make it look like someone is just not "getting it" all you want.  People see right through it, because you do it all the time.  I could stand on my head and you still would not answer.  That is okay, because you already gave answers to the forum.

Here is another contradiction. 
CarmineD wrote:
A $499 ORECK  is not worth it, if it is made in China, but you plan on purchasing it before you even take it for a test drive?  You will be so happy w/it, that you will not mind if the price drops after your purchase.

CarmineD wrote: Oh, it is very relevant to this discussion.  You remember the phrase I always mention.  You have quoted me many times.  "What is old is new again!"  I mentioned, in an earlier post that GE already used this type of marketing to sell their upright and portable-Tidy.  ORECK later markets their upright with their portable as "purchase upright and get the portable vac for free".  HOOVER comes along and markets it w/o the "FREE". 

You cannot go around and say things are copied.  There are only a finite number of ways to produce/market.  We cannot go around and say one vacuum cleaner copied another, because they are selling door-to-door like the previous company.  One company has a vacuum cleaner line, then another company comes out w/their line that looks similar.  They have made slight changes though.  There are times that these changes actually benefit the user.

A company designs a vacuum cleaner w/a swiveling hose-copied.  A company puts a hose on the front-copied  There are/were many uprights w/bags on the back, many w/ bags on the side, and many w/bags mounted in front. 

There have been products, since the beginning, that look similar.   Like I have said many years ago, this works out for the purchaser.  As long as you know there is a difference between the machines, a person could be fine w/it.  

Mike_W wrote:

As usual Mike W. you jump to conclusions that are flat out wrong.  I posted that I would order/buy when I was under the assumption it would be German made [as in BOSCH/MIELE] and at $499 to me is worth the $.  When I learned its true country of origin [China], I declined to order.  But I said I would be back to scope it out on arrival. Remember it is due in March 30.  With luck I was told.

Carmine D.

Mike_W wrote:

If you want to go way back in vacuum history, HOOVER in the late 20's/early 30's [? little fizzy on the exact years] offered the model 425 upright with dustette handvacuum as side kick for a pair. 

I also said that the MSRP of $499 for the HOOVER pair was too expensive anmd not worth the $.  Why?  Made in China.  I said the price for the pair should be $250.  Last time I checked, the HOOVER duo is selling for that price by most retailers. 

Carmine D.

PS:  Just to remind, I bought 4 XL Classics at different times directly from ORECK w/o the compact canister.  Just the upright.  For $150-$199.  ORECK stores also offer just the XL uprights on special sale days throughout the year for similar prices as these or slightly higher depending on the length of warranty.  The 4 XL's I purchased new came with one year warranty.  BTW all still working well for their users.  Long past the warranty.  Mine turns 4 years next month.

CarmineD wrote:
So, you see, you used your own words to prove yourself wrong.  ORECK was not the first to think about it.  It did not matter to me which company, as long as it proved my point.  And  you helped.

Mike_W wrote:

Yeah right.  Why didn't you think of it first instead of the GE Tidy vac.  Same old same old from you.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

I just happened to pick up the April 16, 2011 of People Magazine and noticed on page 138 in the magazine an ad for the ORECK XL Insight lightweight upright now at SEARS.  Looks like it's true.  ORECK is going retail.

Carmine D.