A good, solid machine that works well. (Henry Vacuum Cleaner HVR200 p)

Member Name: Nozza

Product:	Henry Vacuum Cleaner HVR200 p
Date:	03/04/07 (392 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong suction, long hoses and cables, built to last.

Disadvantages: No on-board tool storage.

This is not another Dyson-bashing review! I've never owned a Dyson. I can only compare the Henry to cheaper vacs I've owned.

The first thing you notice about the Henry is the build quality. You can see why it is a firm favorite with commercial cleaning firms. The plastic pipe is strong crimped ABS plastic, not poly plastic stretched over wire which is common in vacs and commonly splits. The rigid pipes are stainless steel which you can step on with no fear of denting and can push on as hard as you like – no way it will crack or break. The body of the machine is thick, tough plastic that will take more than a few knocks. Stories abound of owners abusing them for 10 years and I have no reason to doubt them. This machine is built to last.

Performance wise it’s good. Suction is strong and stays strong. Obviously it gets weaker when the bag is full but it’s still strong enough. Bagless vacs I’ve owned also get weaker when the canister is full and especially when the filters get blocked requiring a dirty and unpleasant brushing which releases a months worth of dead skin and pet hair into the air. It seems bags have as many advantages as bagless systems. Also the bag is a larger than normal so it lasts a decent amount of time. At 50p a bag, consumable costs are not a major issue. They are very easily obtained – Numatic have been supplying them widely for years so you won’t find, as I have done in the past, that you have to go to specialist shops to ask for a bag for your now defunct HV-2323/H/JS8lS-1/2/005-Mark3.2(B) cleaner! It’s a canister vac so you do miss out on the rotary brush and since the suction is strong, it requires a little effort to push the head around on carpet. This is the same for all canister vacs of course. However the cleaning power is so good that you only need to go over an area once to clean it well. Our carpets, especially that dark stuff that accumulates near the skirting boards, are much cleaner than they have been with other vacs.

It’s mostly easy to use. You have to drag the body around on it’s wheels. This isn’t especially hard but not as easy as an upright. Like all canisters it doesn’t like rugs or cables etc. It seems pretty stable and doesn’t fall over regularly. Putting the pipe extensions and different heads on is simple but not as convenient as it could be. It involves a little 6” extension tube. I think they could come up with some sort of snap-fit system but it probably wouldn’t be as robust. Numatic seem to have a simple is strong is best philosophy. In practice we only tend to use the main head and the edger so it’s not a big deal.

Two terrific features are the length of the hose (with the extension hose in place) and the cable length. Small things you would think but in practice very valuable. The hose means we can leave the Henry at the bottom of the stairs and clean them all without having to take him with us and balance him and inevitably knock him down the stairs – which is how our last vacuum met it’s demise. The cable is so long we can do each floor of the house without changing plug sockets.

One downer is the lack of onboard tool storage. This makes it easier to lose the tools if you are disorganised like me and you have to carry one or more around with you. I think they could easily change this.

There is a range of accessories available including an air-powered brush head. I’d like to know how good this is. You can add a special HEPA filter for not much money if you have allergy problems. Other tools and extensions and replacements are available and to my mind reasonably priced if you shop around on the net

Summary – what can you say about a vacuum? It works well. It’s not too heavy. It’s well made. It will last. It’s not hugely expensive. I think it’s a good buy.

Summary: Well made, effective, decent value.

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