Purple Pod Performs Perfectly (Morphy Richards 73190)

Member Name: hukerjohn1

Product:	Morphy Richards 73190
Date:	08/01/09 (365 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, lightweight, reliable, convenient

Disadvantages: Short power cable, not very robust

-Morphy Richards 73190 Vacuum Cleaner-


This is a budget vacuum cleaner that is ideal for people who have limited amounts of storage or don't need to vacuum their abode very often.


It is nice and small, lightweight and bagless and does exactly what it's supposed to do. Suck stuff up. Mine came with a spare filter and the filters are washable. It comes with the usual nozzle attachments; main floor cleaning head, brush head, long thin head and the one that looks like a miniature version of the main floor cleaning head. The main head has a foot press button that allows you to change the set up between heavy pile carpets and solid floor or light pile carpets. My flat has laminate floor everywhere with rugs dotted about so this feature is useful. The solid part of the hose can be broken down into 2 smaller sections for ease of storage and the accessories have a clip that keep them attached to the hose. The complete hose is around 3.5 meters in length with the flexible section making up 2 meters of it.


It's lasted around five years so far and is still going strong. It doesn't get particularly heavy use and I would imagine that if you hoover your carpet several times a week then you'll need something a bit more robust. The power cord rewind button is still working nicely after four years although I find the short length of the cord a little irritating. I don't have a large flat but I still need to continually change sockets even when just vacuuming the one room.


The vacuum comes with an adjustable power dial, which I'd imagine would be useful if it was ridiculously powerful but alas, it is not. It's not as powerful as other vacuum designs that have the same power level. This one is 1500 Watts but obviously isn't very efficient. The larger the number of Watts the more powerful the vacuum is. I suppose the only real use for the power dial is if you want to be environmentally friendly and cut down the amount of electricity you are using.


When it comes to emptying your pod it is very easy and very straightforward. All you have to do it unclip the hose and press a button that allows you to remove the dust catcher. There is a filter that sits in the end which means that dust doesn't go everywhere when it's open. Pour it in the bin, click it back on and voilla. As with most bagless vacuums, the dust compartment is made from transparent plastic so it's easy to see how full it is.


The layout of the machine is very simple. Three buttons, one for turning it on and off and adjusting the power level, one for rewinding the power cord and the last button is for removing the dust compartment. It moves on two large wheels at the back and a caster at the front. It comes with a 2 year warranty which is nice but I have never had to use it as I've never had any problems.


As far as I know this little vacuum cleaner only comes in one colour scheme which is silver and a rather fetching purple. Not a particularly manly colour scheme but then again hoovering isn't a particularly manly sport...


The vacuum gets pretty warm after extended use and gets a bit smelly but that's fairly standard in the world of vacuum cleaners. It's reasonably quiet and I haven't had any comments from irate neighbours about midnight hovering sessions.


The only other gripes apart from the length of the cord are that the solid part of the tube is a bit thin and feels a little flimsy. The parts of the tube can separate if you don't push them together very firmly. Finally I find the capacity of the dust catcher (1.5 litres) a little small but is ideal for my needs.


-Advantages-

Light weight
Inexpensive
Bagless, so no extra costs
Compact, pretty handy when you live in a small flat
Simple design
Convenient


-Disadvantages-

Flimsy tube
Short wire
Small capacity
Not particularly robust


-Price-

This vacuum cleaner was available on Amazon for the highly reasonable price of £39.99 but is currently unavailable.


-Overall-

This particular vacuum cleaner is perfect for me and meets my needs. It's not particularly powerful or robust and doesn't have much capacity so if you have a big hairy dog then I wouldn't recommend it. If you are an "Occasional hooverer" then it's ideal.

I'm going to give it 4/5.

Summary: Great budget vacuum

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