Convincing the Parents????

[panthera]

Well,

I suppose how you define "perfect" and "good". In the end, that is.
Yup, Kirby is sold in the US. Of course, it is no longer what it once was...tho' not as horrid as Maytag was at the end.
I have had to fight to keep the 1963 GE in the basement twice now, fully expect it to be gone when I get back this summer. How anyone can prefer this "modern" trash to good, solid performance is a mystery to me. And since shop vac liners work perfectly in it, there is no reason why it can't be going strong another 44 years or so.
But there it is.
I like the "you pay the difference" suggestion.

 

[kirk280980]

Jaxsunst,

As far as I'm aware the first Kirby sold on these shores was the Classic III, so they've been around here a fair amount of time. We do pay over the odds though, and last year I was quoted £1800 (with room to haggle) for the Sentria with basic attachments - as if! Decided to go with an Ultimate G instead, from an eBay seller who does excellent rebuilds, and it's literally impossible to tell apart from a brand new unit straight from the factory.

Rolls,

The new Hoover brushroll doesn't make sense to me, because if there's one thing the company was always renowned for, it was having one of the best agitators around. Those long, soft bristles will flex as soon as they come into contact with the carpet, merely sweeping the surface instead of grooming deep down. I'm convinced that today's ridiculously high motor wattages have something to do with the introduction of the new brushroll. Perhaps if they didn't insist upon putting 2000 watt motors in their upright cleaners (insane IMHO), they could use shorter, stiffer bristles without risk of the excess torque burning up the drive belts and motor in no time at all.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Kirk...

The thought that occurred to me was that Hoover probably put those skinny brushrolls on, to make the machines more friendly to laminate flooring (vile, abhorrent stuff!).

The 'activator' agitators (auger-type, with the 'nodules') can damage vinyl flooring; maybe that is why they changed them.

There seems to have been some fiddling with the specifications for the Purepowers, over the years:

The early models (late 1990s) had normal sized brushrolls without beaters of any type.

The models available in early 2000s, had the 'activator' agitator, with the beater nodules.

The models now, have the skinny brushrolls.

Relying upon suction alone is poor thinking. As the bag fills up, the suction power will fall, reducing cleaning efficiency. A decent agitator will do most of the work, reducing the need for stong suction, as you say.

And... those super-powered Hoovers have no suction control at all, so you cannot reduce the suction to clean curtains or upholstery. Bloody daft IMHO!

Who is running Hoover UK these days? Some bean-counter with no idea of consumers' requirements?

 

[kirk280980]

Hi Rolls,

That makes perfect sense too, because there will always be folks who put laminate down in every single room, yet won't have anything other than an upright cleaner. A softer brushroll would be much safer on laminate, but even then it's still not the best solution for the job. Without a sealing strip behind the nozzle (like the Sebo has), the brushes will scatter dirt backwards onto the user's feet. Better still would be an agitator shutoff facility, but I can't see that happening with the way Hoover keeps cheapening the Purepower series.

Not sure what's up with Hoover now, but they do appear to have had several duff products make it onto the market in recent years. I wonder if all product development (successful or not) is controlled by Candy at HQ level, or whether the Hoover division still retains a certain degree of autonomy ?

 

[whirlcool]

I went thru something like this with my parents. They had the mindset that you can get everything good at Sears. Everything was bought at Sears! Finally, they were so aggravated, it started to affect our relationship.
The cure all? I went off to college and saved my money and when I got my first apartment I had the money to buy the things I wanted. my parents are long gone, but til the very end everything they owned usually said "Sears", or Coldspot, or Kenmore or Craftsman on it!
Well, I did talk them into a Zenith Color TV rather than a Silvertone one!