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Dyson DC35 Multi Floor
by northernlovely
I have had the Dyson DC35 for only three months now but I've been itching to write my review on it so here goes!
**What is it?**
The Dyson DC35 is a Dyson 'Digital Slim' vacuum cleaner. It is portable, lightweight, and stores easily, yet with no loss of suction due to the digitally controlled ... motors.
**What do you get in the box?**
You get the Dyson DC35, the accessories set which comprises of -
Ball floor tool - this has a ball fitting (meaning you can go around furniture easily) and has spinning brushes inside which means it's incredibly effetive not only at getting the general dirt from your carpets but also the ground and trodden in dirt deeper in the pile. It also makes my slate floor shine with cleanliness which I didn't expect!
Long reach wand - a long aluminium pole which can be used to lenthen the reach from the handheld motor section. It's very lightweight and you can reach up to vacuum curtain swags, chandeliers and so on without the need for a footstool.
Combination tool - a combination tool designed for skirting boards, drawers and so on with built in brushes, I must admit I don't use this as much as the other tools are so versatile.
Crevice tool - this is a tool which when attached means you can clean very sharp corners, the backs of radiators, around pipework (I have exposed pipework in the bathroom which can get dusty) and in small spaces. It's very effective, I don't use it every week but more like every fortnight, it gives a really thorough clean.
You also get a warranty card with the Dyson, which you need to fill out and return or do online. I would recommend you do this as they're not cheap!
**Price and Availability**
The Dyson DC35 is freely available both on the high street and on online retailers, it costs anywhere from £190 - £250 with £250 being the average, but I managed to get mine in the sale. You can buy this via Argos, Tesco Direct (and instore), John Lewis, Debenhams and Amazon to name a few.
**Use**
It's so easy to use, and has so many uses, that it's quickly made itself invaluable in my household.
Firstly the storage. It's so teeny that you can hang it in a shoe cupboard, on the back of a door, or even keep it in a deep drawer. No more hoover hanging around the house!
It's so light that even I don't mind carrying it around the house. Given that it is so adjustable, you can be hoovering the lounge carpet, move seamlessly to the slate floor in the kitchen and then two clicks later be using it as a handheld to do the stairs or even the mattresses.
I find that the deep cleaning of the floor tool gives my carpets a bit of a spruce up in the same way a wet clean would. I love how I can use the handheld feature to hoover up mess from my daughter's dinner, and then empty the lot out with one click, right in the bin.
Dyson's digital motor certainly seems to be powerful, too, I won't go through the specs as you can see them anywhere but from a usage point of view it feels very very powerful without vibrating too much or making too much sound at all - very impressive. My daugther isn't scared of this vacuum either!
I initially bought this to use more as a handheld but the results have been so impressive I've given our Vax away and now exclusively use the Dyson DC35. I have recommended it to countless people and will continue to do so.
I charge my vacuum up for about two hours (I plug it in whilst we have breakfast to make sure it's got enough charge for a good vacuum at around 11am) though it holds charge between uses very well. I do my entire house, it takes maybe an hour or so, and I still get strong vacuum suction to the end. Not having cables around is amazing, too - no more swapping plug sockets, you can just fly around with it! Another great plus point of the rechargable aspect is that I can clean my car out very easily, and I can even use it on the picnic blanket in the garden, too, no more shaking crumbs out over my washing!
**Final Points**
I simply cannot praise this vacuum enough - it's an amazing piece of kit and it is worth every penny. I highly recommend it if you're looking towards Dyson as a brand or if you are wanting a quality multifunctional vacuum cleaner. It might cost a touch more than your regular vacuum cleaner but boy does it deliver. I can now clean my house without hassle, have the freedom to clean my car more regularly, it's even been on a day trip to my dad's when he moved house and it came in really handy.
Overall I can't recommend it more than to simply say BUY ONE!!
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Black & Decker V7210
by Whizz11
Its a dustbuster!!
I always remember that old television commercial singing about a dust buster and thought it was such a great name for a little hoover.
If you have kids you will know that they are messy, very messy. Give them a biscuit and guaranteed half of it will end up on the floor, not in one piece but ... crushed into a thousand pieces after one of the said kids has stamped on it. I am also weaning my little boy at the moment so half of his food ends up on the floor and not on his mouth. As meal time happens three times a day and snack time is two times a day I did not want to always have to get out a big, heavy hoover to vacuum up just a few bits of food and crumbs so I decided a duct buster was the perfect way to clean up and also a quick and easy solution.
Black and Decker are a really good name in my opinion in household, appliances, power tools etc so I knew this would be quite a good brand to purchase. This is quite a basic dust buster but then that was really what I was looking for, I didn't need something to fancy, just something good enough to pick up all the food and dirt. This dust buster is cordless which is something I was definitely looking for as I need to sue it in funny places, like under the dining room table to pick up food and things like that so I needed to not have to worry about a cord and worrying that it would not stretch where I needed it to. The dust buster charges on a wall charger. Its just like a cradle that you place the dust buster back in once you have used it so you have somewhere to store it as well as somewhere you can charge it at the same time which is nice. I always place the dust buster back in the charger when I am not using it so I never really run out of charge. Plus, I only really use this for a few minutes at a time, never a long amount of time so it will always keep its charge which is nice. Whenever I use it the motor runs really fast and has a really great suction on it so food is picked up fast and conveniently.
This dust buster is handy to hold and quite light so you can use it just holding it in one hand which is nice. This is really handy when I am reaching under the table as I can hold myself up with one hand and use the dust buster with the other one. According to the paperwork you get with this dust buster the capacity of the holder is 13.6 ounces so it will hold 70 percent more dirt and debris. I must admit that I am guilty of never emptying the bowl and it does always seem to last for quite a long time. When you do come to empty it it comes apart easily when you press the release button, then you can just empty it out into the bin and snap it shut again, ready to pick up more food.
I also have a dog and when he comes and sits in the lounge and on the couch with us he seems to leave his black hair everywhere. Its nice to have a cuddle with him but then I have to clean up afterwards. The dust buster also works perfectly on the couches too as you do not have to lift up a heavy vacuum cleaner to do the couches, you can just zoom this small handheld over the couch and it picks up the hairs well. The dust buster comes with a little upholstery brush which fits into the small slit in the mouth of the dust buster at the front to pick up the hair. The brush has quite small, tightly spaced together bristles so it moves the hair off the couches and lifts it up so it can be sucked up by the dust buster. The brush slots into the dust buster when you are not using it so you can store it easily.
A great little tool for all your small dirt needs!
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Vax H90-GA-B Gator Handheld Vacuum Cleaner
by Tarapea
There are many reasons to consider owning a hand-held mini vacuum cleaner, even though some people may wonder the point of them. If you own pets, messy children, to clean out the car, cleaning hard to reach areas with less effort... Many bonuses, as long as you pick the right one. Some cleaners are more minor dust busters, with about as ... much power as a gnat's breath (an asthmatic gnat, judging by the one I tried before the Vax). Others are much higher powered, including this little mean machine.
~~A bit of boring background~~~
Vax is a well known brand of vacuums and carpet cleaners. Based in Hong Kong, they've been around since the 1970s. I own both the Gator hand-held, and a carpet washer/cleaner from the brand and my overall opinion of them is that they make reasonable quality, well powered products with a cheap plastic-y outer design.
My reason for buying the Gator? I wanted something that was light to hold, but powerful, to clean my bedroom and keep things tidy without having to have the standard vacuum cleaner in here.
~~~Where can I get one?~~~
I purchased my Gator from Amazon, where it's currently retailing at £33.91. At Vax direct, B&Q and other places this is priced at £49.99 so I believe the Amazon price to be very reasonable. This is a very similar price to what I paid around a year ago, so clearly the Gator has held its value well.
~~~Keeping up appearances~~~
The Vax Gator is a funny orange looking creature with a transparent grey bottom to it.
The words 'Gator 10.8 V' are emblazoned on the side of the unit. Meanwhile, the on/off switch is located on the handle, the removable filter tab is on the top, and the buttons to disassemble the unit and empty it are either side of the product, with a squeeze to open mechanism.
All the buttons are grey, which, when coupled with the rather unusual orange body seem to create quite a smart looking piece of equipment. Somehow the name Gator seems to suit it - it's quite a mean, no-nonsense looking thing. I wasn't really fussed by the appearance of the vacuum, but I like it all the same.
The hand-held arrives in a very long cardboard box which could be useful for storage, but personally I find the vacuum to be very small and unobtrusive, so I'm happy to leave it about the house.
~~~Functions~~~
As already mentioned, the Gator is powered by a 10.8V motor. This isn't something that means a lot to me, but in practical terms I've found it incredibly powerful and more than enough to cope with day to day uses.
According to the manual, the vacuum itself weighs a minute 1.24 kg. As this was an important feature to me, I researched it at length, and some of the high end hand-held cleaners weigh a staggering amount more than this. I find the Gator to be extremely lightweight, and easy to push along the carpet and other areas without really having to lift much of its weight in your hand anyway. Due to the chunkiness of the unit, it can be operated two handed if needs be.
Another useful feature is that this is a cordless device, no more trailing cables everywhere! I had noticed that the corded hand-helds tended to be more powerful, whereas wireless ones lacked in power judging by the reviews, but again, I'm more than happy with the Gator's power. It's easy to charge too - charged by AC mains adapter, you simply plug it into the end of the handle and wait for the light to go from red to green. I find it does need to be charged overnight usually, but if I use it every other day or so I find it only needs charging every 3 weeks roughly. So constant draining of the battery isn't an issue here either.
The internal capacity of the unit is 0.2 litres, which sounds a tiny amount, but it's also very easy to empty so this shouldn't be too much of an issue for most people. All you need to do is squeeze the two buttons, at which point the 'mouth' of the vacuum slides open and can be emptied into a bin with ease. If there's still a lot of dust or debris in there, a quick shake tends to sort it, but the filter can also be removed and cleaned separately to keep things spick and span.
Hiding in the 'nose' of Gator is a pull-out narrower crevice tool, perfect for use in corners and smaller areas that the chunky unit cannot otherwise reach properly. The vacuum also comes with a separate accessory -a small square brush, not dissimilar to the brush attachments on standard vacuums. This slots into the crevice tool and is brilliant for use on carpets.
~~~It talks the talk, but can it walk the walk?~~~
Well yes, I think it can.
This has encountered everything from dust to biscuit crumbs, pet hair to spilled craft materials. It meets them all with a dry sarcastic snigger, a loud purr of its Gator-y engine, and then swallows them all whole. There's been several occasions where its accidentally sucked up a small plastic bag and a memory card while vacuuming the carpet too, so the Gator is certainly not just for dust. It can pick up a number of different spills with ease, and I've yet to be disappointed by it.
In our house,the Gator is used on carpets, windowsills, on beds, on top of units and it always achieves a pleasing result. I find you don't need to run the vacuum back and forth over the same spot as it generally picks up any mess on the first go - the suction is very powerful.
The noise it makes is very loud, in my opinion. I would put it at relatively similar to a normal sized vacuum cleaner, which probably isn't a big deal to most people, particularly as its use tends to be in short bursts. However it's certainly not a quiet machine, as the advertising would have had me believe.
It also has other uses, namely scaring our dog who will bark loudly and square up to Gator, who simply growls mockingly and continues his cleaning duties.
As previously mentioned, the battery holds its charge for a good amount of time too. When it runs low the vacuum does begin to lose its suction (and noise!) noticeably, but an overnight charge always restores it to its former power.
I do think the Vax Gator offers a lot of power for a medium range hand-held vacuum, and it performs fantastically.
~~~Warranty~~~
The Gator comes with a fantastic 2 year warranty if you register it on day of purchase, and unfortunately I have had cause to use this.
After around five months of use, the unit would not charge. When I plugged it in, no light would appear and I could see no reason for this, having not dropped it or noticed anything wrong previously. So I rang Vax, which was pleasantly straight-forward.
Speaking to one of their team, he apologised for the problem and advised me that there was no repairs possible on the Gators, they were simply replaced if broken. He thought it could possibly be the charger that had an issue rather than the vacuum itself as it was a known problem, but told me that he did not want me to have to wait longer to fix the problem if a new charger did not resolve the issue. He issued me a replacement vacuum and charger to be sent out that very day, and all I had to do was peel the label off the bottom of my own Gator, attach it to the paper that came with the new model and send it back to them. So I didn't even have to return the old model, I was asked to dispose of it or enjoy it if it worked with the new charger. My new vacuum arrived promptly, and as it turns out it was the charger that was the problem (something I don't understand as it's not had rough use), so the household has two Gators now!
I found this all to be very encouraging and generally great customer service. I've had a lot of experience with customer service where they make the customer feel as if they're lying, and you often have to send the company the broken object before they agree to replace it, leaving you without your item for some time and a feeling of being disbelieved. Not so with Vax. I admit that I'm not very impressed that a problem occurred so quickly, but with a sturdy 2 year warranty backed by fantastic customer service if anything does go wrong, I don't think I'd be too worried about purchasing from Vax in the future. Having now owned the two Gators for a year now, I have noticed no furthers problems with them.
~~~Conclusion~~~
The Vax Gator is a brilliant mid-range hand-held vacuum cleaner. It has immense power and will perform well in normal day-to-day use, and holds its charge very well. It's easy to empty and clean, and the included crevice tools means even the tightest corners can be cleaned using this vacuum. I personally had some problems shortly after purchasing, but Vax customer service rectified it quickly with a pleasant attitude and I would feel happy to buy a Vax branded product again.
Thanks for reading :)
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