and then I got Henry..... (Henry Vacuum Cleaner HVR200 p)

Member Name: Aces

Product:	Henry Vacuum Cleaner HVR200 p
Date:	10/03/06 (1340 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Solidly built, simply operation, great suction, little to go wrong

Disadvantages: none

Prelude....

A few months back I moved into a new flat and, being short on cash, I bought a cheap vacuum cleaner. The flat has cream carpet throughout which looks clean and airy but of course shows every little speck of dust. Throw in a large brown rug which moults everywhere and I'm sure you are beginning to get the picture.

Buying a cheap vacuum cleaner was an unqualified mistake, I broke my rules and I paid the price, as, after a couple of months, it lost just about all suction in fact it had less suction than a geriatric asthmatic and stubbonly refused to pickup even the slightest speck of dust and only served to distribute the chocolate brown "detritus" from the living room rug around the flat.

and then I got Henry....

Although I'm not what you might call overly "house-proud" I do like keeping the flat clean and relatively tidy so I started searching around for a vacuum cleaner that would, well, clean, really. At first I considered buying a Dyson but the more reviews I found the less the idea appealed to me and then I remembered a funny little cylinder cleaner that we used to have at a previous workplace. I also remembered seeing these same models in various locations such as offices etc. My first thoughts were if they're good enough for cleaning professionals then they're good enough for me but surely they cost a packet so I started searching around the web for reviews and pricing and was pleasantly re-assured to find many great reviews from happy owners and even more pleasantly suprised to see that the "Henry" cost less than £100 which fitted in with my budget nicely.

There are maybe only a few times when, having made a consumer purchase, one instintively knows that one has bought the right tool for the job. Over the years I've learnt to subscribe to one basic philosophy, "does it do what you want it to do reliably and consistently with good simple engineering ?, or is it overly complicated, prone to breakdown and/or expensive to maintain ?". In all of these respects the Henry triumphs, its solidly built but light enough to move around, its well designed and easy to disassemble with relatively few working parts to go wrong and, most of all, it has great suction. The flat isn't a large one but the mains cable length of the Henry coupled with the long plastic tubing and wand meant that I could clean the whole flat without re-plugging it in, something that I had to do three times with my previous cleaner. I was delighted that it really does have great suction, I could see the carpets lifting as it cleaned them and the wand allows easy cleaning under tables, beds etc., it really made short and effortless work of the whole job.

I guess that there are better vacuum cleaners out there with all manner of "bells and whistles" but I doubt if there's another cleaner weighing in at this cost and build quality that performs the task any better. Another nice suprise was that the manufacturers, Numatic, are a British company so its nice to see that we can still make well designed, well engineered products such as this that do what they claim to do, bravo to them and bravo to "Henry". I don't want a vacuum cleaner as a fashion accessory, a piece of furniture or expect it to make me a cup of tea but I do expect it to suck up dust from the floor so, if Henry had a motto, I think it should be something like "I'm a vacuum cleaner ergo: I suck up dust" :)

Summary: A great little vacuum cleaner at a great price.

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Cleaning/Maintenance: