What a cute little Sucker! (Russell Hobbs 14155)

Member Name: berrydelight

Product:	Russell Hobbs 14155
Date:	08/07/09 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compact, efficent, good quality, bagless

Disadvantages: None

It feels like I have been waiting forever to publish this review thanks to Dooyoo being bogged down in lovely suggestions! But finally here it is, I would like to think of this as my first real technical review so fingers crossed you all think it's helpful!

Since moving in with my boyfriend two years ago there are three things that have astounded me;
1. That his socks appear to mate and produce baby socks within minutes of being taken off
2. The sheer amount of dust (yuck yuck dead skin in the air!!) two people can produce in one small area
3. The bizarre tumbleweed like dust balls that appear to develop before my eyes in corners of rooms, clearly my mum was a domestic goddess as I have never seen these in her house!

We try and keep on top of the cleaning and will occasionally have sprees but a few weeks ago we retrieved our sorry looking Hoover from the 'store' cupboard and found its nozzle had snapped off! Clearly a revolution had occurred from the multiplying socks who consistently got sucked up. Of course there can be no more rational explanation.

At the grand old age of 24 and having no experience whatsoever with Vacuum buying I did what most people do these days and toddled off to Tesco, I had of course checked Dooyoo first and had a fair idea what I was after but as soon as I got to the store I was pulled in by a big "half price" sign, now this is what I like!

The Vacuum itself seemed perfect, Russell Hobbs is a reputable name and the box was compact enough to give the illusion that it would indeed fit snugly in my store cupboard. It also looked pretty snazzy with a black body and silver extender. According to the box the extender reduces to a minimal size and another selling feature was that it was bagless! A small joy but following an incident about a year ago when I hovered up a damp flannel our old Hoover had always contaminated the flat with a wet dog odour even when we changed the offending bag it seemed to linger! Also I felt a bagless option would allow me to do more competing with the dust and save money/time/effort on changing the thing. I could pretend that I surveyed the other extras and specification at length but I didn't and for me the real winner was the price.
Reduced from £80 to £39.99 made this a real bargain in my eyes, not only that but when compared to its Dyson counterparts I couldn't get close to justifying paying that much. Admittedly if I hadn't stumbled across this bargain I suspect I would have shopped around but thankfully it was perfect.


**The Look**
On getting my new 'toy' home I opened the box with a glee that made my boyfriend worry I was verging on becoming domesticated. Inside was a compact black Vacuum with large and stylish silver wheels and a curved frontage which contained the see-through bagless dirt holder. It had a clear on button and clear cord re-wind button, a function I was used to on my last Hoover and not sure how I would cope without.

A handle on the top of the Vacuum makes it easy to pick up and move with you and the nozzle is firmly attached. The extender is silver and does indeed reduce to a more suitable storing size whilst also being a good length so you aren't hunched over when hovering (I am only 5ft 4" though). The head is black and again looks quite snazzy with a setting for wood floors and a setting for carpets which is easy to change between. You also get a 'turbo' brush attachment and the cable length is good. I can get around my entire flat without having to unplug it, I reckon it has about 3m cable length.

In terms of size it really was ideal for us and when all minimised and stored is about the size of a laptop bag with the height of a bottle of wine - all expressed in BerryDelight measurement terms!


**The Functionality**
This baby is light! In comparison to my last Hoover this one was whipping round behind me without me even having to tug it, the big wheels means it moves around easily especially on wooden floors and because it is so light I am able to lift it around and put it away (retrieve it) from the mounds of rubbish in the 'store' cupboard with no difficulty.
The head is very moveable even though its square it fits into tight corners and as the suck seems to be well spread it pulls the dirt to it rather than you taking it to the dirt. The head seems to be on some kind of swivel which I was impressed with.
To change the dust cylinder is so easy I did it without instructions. You do have to dismantle a large part of the Vacuum to get to it but it comes out easily and once emptied slots back in and seals securely, I would suggest using the instructions first time though. As I mentioned before I have found the extender to be a perfect height and the cable length is ideal.


**The Suck**
This Vacuum is 2000watt, Im not sure if that relates to the suck but it seems to be a lot of power and that is certainly reflected in the efficiency of its performance. As soon as I turn it on the dust a metre away seems to be drawn towards it (another advantage of wooden floors) you literally skim over an area and wooppphhh everything's up! Of course this wouldn't be a fair comparison if I didn't also test it on carpet and I happen to have the thickest carpet in the planet, or at least it feels that way when you Hoover it!
The Vacuum performed exceptionally well on the rug with its short hair and the suck seemed to be as intensive, on the thick carpet it faired well but I never expected it to reach the very bottom of the pile, it did change the colour of the carpet back to a light beige which I don't recall seeing it look like for months so it is certainly giving the two fingers to its predecessor.

All in all I could not have picked better and have been so pleased with my choice. Even at £80 I think it would be a good buy as it seems sturdy, compact and efficient not to mention the money you save on the Hoover bags. Not only that I am hovering about half as much as I used to so it much be collecting more dust.
Sadly the socks are still multiplying however the humidity of late and the fear of the new Hoover has reduced it somewhat.

Thanks for reading, now I need a cup of tea!

Summary: A great compact Hoover

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