Quote from No Loss of Suction on 03/31/07 at 8:50pm:

 
This is an ideal thread for the Halo-UV.  Why?  If not for the dyson vacuum, this product would never come to the market in the USA especially with a price tag of $399.
 
It is an interesting concept.  And one talked about for as long as I've been in the vacuum industry.  And that's a long time.  How long?  At breakfast today I ordered a 3 minute egg and the waitress asked me for payment in advance!
 
Recently, I quoted Columbia Business School Bruce Greenwald who expressed the view that all dazzling innovations end their days as commodities: Products that anyone can make and that are bought according to their price.  Greenwald quipped: "In the long run, everything is a toaster."  This comes to mind with the Halo-UV.  At the end of the day, it's a vacuum not a bug killer.
 
The UV light may kill micro-organisms but many die a natural death.  Vacuuming has to get the bugs (dead/alive) up and out of the rug and into the bag.  (Yes, I said bag and not bin). How well does the Halo-UV do that on the rug?  And how would we know?  We don't.  The only vacuum specifications for performance are the weight (15 pounds) and the motorized brush.
 
Put the UV lights into a headlamp on an existing USA vacuum, like the HOOVER Tempo, with a price of $299 and now you're talking!
 
Carmine D.

Quote from No Loss of Suction on 04/01/07 at 2:22am:

 
Dyson was not the first.  Not even for cyclone suction technology.  Eureka had both HEPA and cyclone bagless suction technology combined successfully and marketed in the US vacuum industry (on a $150 upright) while dyson was still experimenting with prototypes.  
 
From the advent of paper bags in vacuums in the USA (40-50's), the filtering quality of the bag paper has improved year after year by leaps and bounds (hold more dirt in and let more clean air out).  They had to improve for performance and price reasons to compete with cloth bags (less expensive over the life of the vacuum), the accepted industry standard for almost 50 years.  Paper and cloth coexisted for decades in the US vacuum industry.
 
Filters (pre/post motor) are as old as the vacuum industry.  HEPA filter came first (mid 90's) in concert with bagged vacuums not bagless vacuums.  Bagless vacuums with HEPA filters soon followed.  Not for performance reasons but due to the increased emphasis on the perception of clean vacuum exhaust air.  Most reputable bagged vacuums already provided clean exhaust air without HEPA filters and still do.  HEPA is a "sexy" word and flashy feature to appeal to vacuum buyers (and allow makers to charge a little bit more).
 
Carmine D.

Quote from JimB on 04/02/07 at 4:01pm:

Hello JimB:  
 
It jibes perfectly.    
 
The G Force sold briefly door-to-door in 1983 in the UK.  From 1982-84, Dyson tried to interest European firms in buying the design with the same welcome of a fox in a chicken shed.  Dyson sold the rights in 1984.  After a year the buyer pulled out so Dyson took the G-force to Japan where it was acclaimed.  Progress was halted while dyson sued his former American licensee for patent infringement over a machine brought out after the breakup of their business relationship (not Eureka and/or HOOVER).    
 
After this was settled, royalties from abroad enabled him to set up a factory in Britain in 1992.  Then he began making refined designs under the dyson name.  Dyson's Dual Cyclone machine in both upright and cylinder form was launched in 1993.    
 
If dyson was THE first to the market with a "cyclone" bagless, it would have sued Eureka (as it did HOOVER) for patent infringement when Eureka called it's bagless Whirlwind upright "cyclonic."  A moniker prominently displayed on the Eureka Whirlwind bagless dirt bins.
 
Carmine D.

Quote from JimB on 04/02/07 at 5:42pm:

 
Agreed.  Mid 1990's give or take a year or so for lapse in memory!  
 
Carmine D.

Quote from JimB on 04/02/07 at 10:05pm:

 
Hello JimB:
 
I had to add HOOVER to Eureka AFTER I "GOTCHA."  If I had it there before, you would have caught on to my APRIL FOOL'S PLOY.   ;)  We both know who the real vacuum company (and former business partner) that dyson sued and dyson used the settlement proceeds (royalties) to open the Malmesbury plant!  Correct?
 
The Eureka WW bagless date: That is the 64,000 question!  A staple of the vacuum industry in the USA for many years.  It had a long and distinquished production run.  One of my favorites for under $100 when it was finally removed from the Eureka line.  I gifted dozens away.  All to my knowledge are still in operation.  Some are many years old.  
 
The Eureka Whirlwind bagless uprights were sold by all the big box retailers in the USA.  They proudly displayed the "cyclonic" moniker on the dirt bins of each and every one.  
 
If Eureka were not first to market with the cyclonic bagless, dyson would have sued over its use of "cyclonic."  Dyson's propensity and inclination for litigation in the vacuum industry is unparalleled and unprecedented in over 100 years of history.  The 2 big lawsuits got him the money to open his Malmesbury UK plant and Malaysian dyson plant.  Lucky man.  He doesn't have to grow and eat his own vegetables anymore.
 
Carmine D.