It sucks but it's great! (Vax VZL-7071 Mach 1)

Member Name: mollbird

Product:	Vax VZL-7071 Mach 1
Date:	10/02/09 (975 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reliable and effective vacuum clearner, epic guarantee.

Disadvantages: Can't remove the head from the long tube.

About 3 and a half years ago me and my significant other moved in together, at the time I was straight out of uni and perhaps a little light on certain domestic sensibilities. As a result of my youthful knowledge and youthful bank balance I made some unwise vacuum cleaner purchases.

Now to help to indicate our vacuuming needs, I have thick long dark hair and also do crafty bits of wool everywhere type things, he has thick short dark hair, beard and manly chest and we live in a small one bedroom flat. In short we may as well have pets. Not to mention we like pop corn but have bad aim and then there's the general dirt that life brings.

And now for the rundown on my vacuum purchase failures-

First there was the hand-me-down from my parents.....who have several Golden Retrievers. It was ancient and clearly there was a reason that they didn't use it....because it was useless or at least canine interaction had rendered it so.

Then there was the cheapy cheap Asda bagged cleaner (approx £30) which worked reasonably well until the rubber seal at the machine end of the cleaner got damaged. It seems there's no return from this, no matter how many different types of tape you use.

Then there was another cheap supermarket job, this time from Tesco and it was a bagless one (£35). I thought I would be onto a winner with the bagless element but alas I was wrong. After only a few short months it simply stopped picking things up and that was even with the adjustable strength setting turned up so high I thought it would take off.

So there came the time where a more sensible purchase should be made. Living in a small flat we don't really have the space to store an upright cleaner so we were in the market for something of a similar size as the previous cleaners. My sensible mind has kicked in in the past 3 years so I thought to ensure that there was a reasonable guarantee on the new cleaner as we were essentially going through one a year. I also decided that going for a brand name would be a safer bet. Another quite substantial factor in my purchase decision was that I had £45 on a Next gift card that had been burning a hole in my wallet for a while.

On the next website there is and was a larger selection than you might have expected. At time of writing there are 15 that fit within the specifications that I have mentioned earlier. However some of them are Dysons which are really quite expensive.

Then I came across the Vax VZL-7071 MACH 1. It ticked all of the relevant boxes, here's the blurb-
Power- 1400W
Capacity- 2.60 Litres
Weight- 7.40kg
Cable length- 5 metres
Dimensions (dxhxw) 41cm x 39cm x 25cm
Colour- purple and silver

Features-
- Bagless
- HEPA filtration (good for allergy sufferers)
- Washable filters
- Cord rewind
- Aluminium telescopic tube
- Clean carpets, hard floors and dry upholstery
- Small nozzle and brush heads

The price at the time of purchase was £100; to me this seemed like quite a big deal though I know it won't to others. Having spent in the region of £30 for each of the previous cleaners, this was certainly "trading up". I bought this cleaner a few months back now and looking at online prices they have stayed similar, you can get the same model for £97.86 from the Vax website.

The final feature that prompted the purchase was that this cleaner comes with a 6 YEAR guarantee! I think they call that peace of mind.

So we went ahead with it feeling thoroughly grown up. The website indicated that it would be a 2 week wait before it arrived but amazingly it actually arrived the next day. I unpacked the cleaner which, as with most electronic equipment these days, was very well packed. It assembled as common sense would suggest and I was up and away with it in a matter of minutes. I have to say that I was amazed with the results; our carpets have never looked this good. The flat is carpeted throughout in beige and shows everything, we also have a thick woollen rug, all came up looking great.

As time went on I began to find that it wasn't picking up so well and I began to get the sinking feeling as with previous experiences. However I had a bit of a look down the tube and found that this vacuum has a bit of a tendency to get long hair tangled in the bristles on the head, it's easy enough to untangle it though and then you're up and away as good as the first time you used it.

The additional nozzles are also effective and useful and the changeable setting on the head mean you can use on carpet and (unfortunately for us) lino and pick up everything.

Perhaps my only other quibble with this cleaner is that you don't seem to be able to remove the head from the long tube. I found being able to do this was useful for getting rid of cobwebs. However that's what my feather duster is for so I don't mind too much.

I am really happy with my purchase and would gladly recommend this brand and model to anyone that decides that they want to chat about vacuum cleaners.

Summary: A very sensible purchase indeed.

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