Hoover Hurricane: 1900w

I am not even going to attempt to write a review with as much knowledge and complexity as our resident vacuum expert Nar2, I don't have the knowledge, experience and to be honest, the inclination. I am quite an admirer of his reviews in this department and after reading his review of the model down from this particular model, I was very, very unsure as to whether this Hoover should be purchased at all.

So, why did I purchase it?

Okay, long story cut short. We have had a Dyson for nearly 7 years and it gave up the ghost recently, so we set out to get a new Dyson. The model we were after was not in stock at either Comet or Curry's so in both shops we tried to 'barter' a few quid off the next model up, to be told, £10 off on each attempt.....now when I am purchasing anything electrical, I expect a minimum of 10%, especially in this climate, no joy, so we decided to get a model that would not be as good, would not last as long, but would be much cheaper.

So let's assess this Hoover in a few categories:

* Aesthetics
* Quality
* Usability
* Suction


~~~Aesthetics~~~

This is not a pretty Hoover; it is garish red with yucky plastic silver look attachments. It looks cheap, well it is. In fact it really looks like a toy Hoover that one might buy a child as a present, only bigger.

There is a see through cylinder, a la Dyson which does not seem to contain an awful lot and needs emptying after two vacuums of the house (we have a five bedroom house).

The outside of the Hoover states 'Hoover' in three places in case you forget who has made it, along with the legend, on the cylinder of 'Hurricane' & 'Cyclonic System', so now you know!

The attachment pipe/hose is cheap plastic too, as are the attachments, though at least they are colour coordinated.

Looks: 3/10.


~~~Quality~~~

It looks poorly built, though with a one year warranty and the 'Hoover' brand it cannot be that bad. The whole thing is quite unsteady to the feel and I worry about breaking bits, though so far, so good.

The switches and releases are really, really cheap plastic and remind me of a budget end car from Korea.

All the bits come off easily and go back together easily, so that is quality of sorts, I used to regularly do battle with the Dyson trying to put it back together after emptying the cylinder. In fact, to empty the cylinder is simplicity itself, the switch marked 'release' does what it should and the cylinder lifts easily from the main body, it goes back easily too. This is just as well as I do not think it would take a lot of shoving to break.

There are all the replacement part codes in te instruction booklet should they be needed (they may well might be)

Finally, not enough attachments to do all I want.

Quality: 3/10.


~~~Usability~~~

Here is where we have some really good points and really bad points.

The worst thing about it is it's unsteadiness, extend the handle to far and the whole thing topples very easily.

Good points are that; it cleans right up to the edges, the cylinder is very easy to empty, the handle extends to the users desire, again very easily (good for storage too). It is also quite light and the two 'pedals', left to change the position, and right to turn the power on and off are very accessible.

The filters are washable filters which is a new one on me, seems easy enough and seems to work, though I have my doubts about long term usability of these filters.

Finally, all the switches and releases are well marked as I have mentioned, and the bits come off and reconnect easily.

Usability 7/10.


~~~Suction~~~

The best point of this model by far, really good cleaning power, very impressed. In fact I will go so far as to say it is better than our old Dyson, now this might be due to the age of the old Dyson, I don't know, and don't care. It works really well in getting stuff up from even hard to get places such as between the keys on a computer keyboard, or between the wooden floor slats in one of our rooms. Very happy with this aspect.

Suction: 9/10.


~~~What else~~~

It's quite noisy.

The extension cable is not long enough, nor is the pipe/hose.

It's cheap; at £77 it was a third of the price of the Dyson we wanted, so if it lasts a third of the time, fair enough.

The instruction booklet which comes with it is clear and easy to understand.

A decent enough budget vacuum, but if you are looking for quality and longevity, look elsewhere.