Is it Powerplus or too much of a negative? (Electrolux Z4431S Full Size 1800w Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner)

Name: dc-shock

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Product:	Electrolux Z4431S Full Size 1800w Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner
Date:	09/05/08 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Value for money, powerful, portable, effective

Disadvantages: Quality of some of the plastics is not good

This is my first review.

I bought this vacuum cleaner whilst living in rented accomodation back in 2006, mainly as the shared Henry was never available when I wanted it and after a disastrous encounter with a cheaper cleaner, decided to go to a name I felt I could trust due to previous postive experience. Now I am back in my own house it came with me and is still in use.

So one sunny afternoon I went to Argos to purchase the Electrolux Z4411 Powerplus but for some reason was supplied with the Z4431 at no extra cost at £39.95. Feeling that I had got myself a bargain, I went back smiling and hoping that I wasn't going to be disappointed.

OUT OF THE BOX
The main vacuum cleaner unit weighs 4.7kg, has a cable length of 4.5m which allows me to clean the whole of the ground floor of my house without changing sockets and is stored using the cord rewind. The seems to run smoothly but needs an additional push of the switch to get the plug flush into the recess where it sits.

The cleaner has a 1700w motor with electronic suction control which is adjusted using a rotary dial. The unit is reasonably quiet even on the full suction setting but not quiet enough to hold a telephone conversation and the suction is also adjustable by a vent on the hose handle.

USE
The unit has 2 large wheels and a small castor on the base. It moves quite well across floor surfaces, however the plastics do show any knocks or scrapes and there is no bumper to protect the cleaner from these.

The hose is a good length and all the extension tubes/attachments are positioned using friction fit and don't easily pry loose when being used. The floor head is good quality, sturdy and cleans well on ceramic floor tiles and the wool short pile carpet. It is less effective on synthetic carpet and generally needs a couple of more passes to collect lint or fluff. The tubes are metal and sturdy. I am 6' 2'' and I don't have to stoop to use this cleaner unlike other machines where I can be guaranteed to get some backache.

However, the other attachments are less good quality. The short crevice nozzle has a brush attached to it which can be swung into place for dusting. When that brush in place the decibels increase and it whistles like hell, to the point now I never use it. The upholstery nozzle is satisfactory but both it and crevice nozzle seem less well thought out. A bonus is that they are stored on the main cleaner under a flap but this flap seems to use a poorer quality plastic than the rest of the machine and I can foresee maybe one day it may give up the ghost.

BAGS
The vacuum uses either paper dustbags or a reusable cloth bag. The paper versions have a flap to cover the hole when removed for disposal which reduces the return of the dust to the environment a little. I find they last around 3 months, depending of frequency of use and what has been vacuumed and hold around 4l of dust. Clogging seems to occur fairly quickly if there is lots of fine dust.

I get the genuine Electrolux bags from a local shop at a cost of £3-95 for 5, which includes a filter which should be changed every 5 to 10 bags. The filter has to be cut to shape before fitting - I use the one to be removed as a template. I found that for some reason non genuine bags are dearer but now they seem to be making them from a cloth material like some other manufacturers. The reusable bag is adequate, it does get clogged quicker but I actually prefer paperbags as I find their disposal much easier.

When the bag is full there is an indicator which changes from green to orange on the cleaner.

STORAGE
The unit is easily stored. There are 2 hose parking slots one on the base and one on the rear of the cleaner near the exhaust. However, the hose is quite bulky and takes a fair amount of room up, and so is more often than not stored with hose off the machine.

As it is lightweight (4.7kg) it is easily carried up and downstairs and again glides well due to the large wheels and small castor on the base.

CONCLUSION
Overall I have been pleased with the performance of this machine, it does the job I want it to but there are niggles such as the quality of some of the plastics and the noise when the dusting brush is used.

For the price it meets my needs and copes well.

Thank you for reading.

Summary: Fairly good vacuum cleaner but still some niggles

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