Not worth the money (Dyson CR01)

Member Name: leeag

Product:	Dyson CR01
Date:	02/11/01 (4938 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 7kg drum, looks cool, easy to use

Disadvantages: creases clothes badly, not worth the money, style over substance

I've been a long time Dyson fan - I own a DC05 (and previously owned a DC02). James does produce some remarkable stuff. It's true that Dual Cyclone was the first wake up call the vacuum industry had ever had - something completely different that broke the traditional sales model of vacuums (sell cheap and recoup through sales of bags).

More importantly it offered something new to the consumer, the benefit of the Dyson cleaner could be instantly seen and understood by the consumer (no bags, better suction, lower running costs). So I was very keen to see if the CR01 did the same for the washing machine. The washing machine industry is not unlike the vacuum - the market is carved up by a few major players who seem to just rehash last years models with a few new features and restyling touches and launch a new range each year or two.

I've rented a washing machine from (what is now) Boxclever for about 13 years, going through umpteen Whirlpool's (I'd rank them all as average (at best) and utter rubbish (at worst) - NEVER buy one!) and then finally having a Hotpoint WM72 for 2.5 years (the longest ever in our house!), but being sick of the service quality and reliabilty of these machines/boxclever, plus their poor performance, we ordered a white CR01 from Kays, on 14 days approval to just see how good it was/wasn't. Sadly we returned it well before the 14 days were up.

The White CR01 does look fantastic, and does not need to be bolted the the floor - it is one of the most stable washers i've ever seen - no dancing across the kitchen here! You install it just like any other washer.

Unless you get the machine installed for you, unpacking & setting up is a bit of a fuss. You have to remove the lid and unscrew 4 transit bolts and a transit brace (these protect the drum from damage while in transit) then remove the back and extract a polystyrene brace which covers the drive mechanism and back of drum
area. Getting the lid and back cover back on again afterwards proved to be particularly trying, while some screw holes had not been finished off correctly which lead to one screw forever falling out from the back panel - not what you'd expect from a well engineered product.

Dyson thoughtfully provides a retractable handle under the front of the machine which you can use to pull the machine across the floor (but only if you're strong enough!).

Contrary to what you see on TV or even in Tempo, the CR01 spends most of the wash cycle NOT contrarotating. I think (from observation) less than 50% of the main wash is contrarotated. While not in this mode the machine is fairly quiet, but when it is, it's not overly noisy as such, but it does make a strange noise that does get rather annoying! The spin cycle is fine, but the clothes come out no dryer than other 1400 spin machines IMHO, the spin cycle is noisy but no where near as bad as Hotpoint or Whirlpool machines tend to be.

The soap draw is odd, you have to push to open it, rather than pull. The draw is very long with two large spaces for the pre and main wash powder. Behind these is the standard siphon based fabric conditioner dispenser, so you have to pull the draw out to it's fullest extent to reach this space. Sadly Dyson have repeated the mistakes of other lesser washer makers - the draw is rather stiff to return needing a firm push instead of a gentle glide - this frequently lead to the early dispensing of the fabric conditioner as the force of the draw going back is enough to start the siphon process.

The CR01 has two doors, one attached to the drum and one attached to the cabinet. This means that no rubber seal is required between the door and the drum (replaced instead by a smooth plasic lip) thus reducing smells/slime and risk of damage to clothes and door leakage (when seals wears out). The inner door is easy to shut, the outer door somewhat less
so.

Controls are easy to use, being computerised, but strangely there is no time remaining indicator. The drum is a huge 7kg and the door opening is massive!

But the problem is that the clothes seemed to come out no cleaner than our cast aside Hotpoint, worse still clothes were really badly creased up. We tried various programmes but each time clothes came out unacceptably creased or at best more creased than from the Hotpoint! We called Dyson and an engineer arrived, he looked at the machine and confirmed that it was working normally and that creasing is to be expected with any washer. He, and Dyson UK, could not explain why the Hotpoint performed better.

So back it went, Mum was just not prepared to live with a washer that cost well over £1000 and yet whose performance was inferior to a £500 Hotpoint, and frankly (and it pained me as Dyson fan to admit this) neither was I. I'm really sad actually, because I was hoping that Dyson would do for the Washing Machine industry what he did for Vacuum one. £1100 says that a CR01 should outperform every machine on the planet and convincingly so, but the basic truth is that it simply does not. If it cost £500 then it'll be a different story but otherwise it's very poor value. Yes it looks fantastic, but performance wise it ranks alongside it's supposedly "inferior" rivals - sorry James, i'm still a fan, but you need to go back to the drawing board with this one!

So do we still have the Hotpoint? Well no, I did some more research and purchased an LG WM-1460FHD (yes, the one on the TV add with the coin on top), costing just £500 it is the best washer i've ever seen, quiet (even at 1400 spin), 7kg drum, easy to use and best of all, does not badly crease clothes! I've written a review for that too now, but don't buy a Dyson unless you really must have something this different and unique, otherwise buy an LG instead!

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