Dyson claims Bosch paid mole to steal secrets

[joe_in_philly]

Corporate Espionage!

I wonder how much spying actually goes on.

Dyson claims Bosch paid mole to steal secrets

Bosch says it is trying to find out what, if anything, happened.

usat.ly

 

[Iowegian]

This kind of he-said, she-said kind of stuff is usually a waste of time.

Until we can see the Brit version of the petition from Dyson and the response from Bosch. What's the Brit court version of a petition for summary judgement? I dunno.

FYI, we have a Dyson, and while it's a pretty good vacuum, it's not nearly as life-transforming and universe-changing as James Dyson would like for us to think.

At least not enough for us to buy one of those douchy air-multiplier fans, anyway.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Not up on vacuum history too much so I'll ask. Isn't the Dyson based on the Phantom? When I used to service vacuums way back when, the Phantoms were a pia to work on. Always clogging and motor issues.

RCD

 

[d-jones]

Over at Vacuumland people have been known to get into argume

I personally find their styling and choice of colors way too garish for my taste, but other folks find it hip and trendy. To each his own I guess. But having had the opportunity to examine several of them up close, I can't say I'm at all impressed with the quality of their construction. I'd be curious to hear from someone who's used one for five years or more as to how they hold up over time. My folks have a thirty seven year old Filter Queen that's still used weekly and is still in very good serviceable condition. It's hard to fathom any of today's common plasti-vacs (including the current crop of Filter Queens)lasting even half that long. But who knows, maybe I'll be proven wrong.

 

[arbilab]

I'm still running a plastic Hoover Spirit (canister/powerhandle) I bought USED in 1985. Replaced the brushes around 2002 and the hose 2005.

Dyson is the Sharper Image of appliances. Ludicrous pricing for what it actually does.

 

[mattl]

My take on Dyson is that it's all hype.  I would not ever consider buying one.

 

[aquacycle]

Isn't the Dyson based on the Phantom?

Other way around. Phantom's were built to Dyson's specifications

 

[beekeyknee]

Oh, poor Mister Dyson. The one who said he'd never let Dyson products be moved from England to China, as I recall. It's bad when you get screwed and don't get a kiss, unless you like it that way. lol.

Have you ever noticed their commercials? "The best cyclone technology vacuum." Operative word being "cyclone". These companies and their advertisements. You have to watch every little word.

Bitches!

 

[ovrphil]

To each their own, but....for me, the Dyson products remind me of a heavily perfumed, garishly-dressed escort who sucks for alot of bucks(air, folks - it's vacuums). I looked at the high end product at WalMart the other day and thought they were overpriced exercises in plastic geometry(esp. the one that is super-articulating with the ball joint). No thanks.

 

[danemodsandy]

I Don't See....

....What anyone wants with an upright vacuum anyway. Clunky, with above-the-floor cleaning a major PITA and a lot of floor cleaning less convenient than it should be.

I'm a canister buff, and my vacs get under the bed, on the stairs, on the tops of door and window frames, the blades of ceiling fans, in the works of the refrigerator, you name it. Yes, it is possible for certain uprights to perform some of these tasks, but not with the ease I enjoy.

Canisters also generally have better suction as well. Just because the first vacs were uprights is no reason we should still be designing them today.

 

[lordkenmore]

What anyone wants with an upright vacuum anyway

I suppose it's partly perceived convenience having the most important daily use parts (that is: the stuff needed to vacuum the floor) integrated in one package. That, at least, would be my best guess.

Another issue is just what one is used to, which, for most people, is probably upright.

And I also suspect that vacuums often receive little thought when buying. Many people probably just look for the best sale price at Target, and be done with it. I'm under the distinct impression that people like us here at AW.org (who actually--at the least--care about appliances doing a decent basic job) are rare.

 

[beekeyknee]

Uprights

I agree, the Dysons are just plastic junk.

As far as upright cleaning goes, I thought my carpets needed steam cleaning until I got my Kirby Ultimate G Diamond. After a few cleanings all the dirt and dinginess began to disappear. I was pleased and amazed. The attachments on my Kirby are quite useful and some of the strongest suction I've seen, although it is noisy with the attachments on. But I don't care.

I suppose if one has hard surface floor or very low pile carpet, canisters would be fine, but I don't like cleaning carpet with a canister. It's like plowing the garden and it wares me out.

If your canister has a motorized head, that would make a difference.

 

[lordkenmore]

I don't like cleaning carpet with a canister.

I also am not sure how wild I'd be about using a canister. At one time I'd have said yes, since they seemed so fascinatingly exotic to me. But I have to admit that an upright probably works better for me.

Possibly the best choice would be both an upright, and a canister, since both have strengths and weaknesses. Plus one can never have too many appliances to play with, er, use!

 

[danemodsandy]

A Motorized Head.....

....a.k.a. "power nozzle," is standard equipment on canisters with any pretensions to quality. Introduced in the '50s, power nozzles were the "killer app" that gave canisters carpet-cleaning capability equal to uprights, with their revolving brushes.

What's marvelous is getting under the bed or low furniture. A power nozzle just slides under there effortlessly. The average upright can't do it; there isn't enough clearance for the upright's motor housing and bag.

I've never understood that "wears me out" claim, either. With a canister, the long hose means you're wielding only the hose much of the time. When you're using the power nozzle on carpet, you're still dealing with far less weight and bulk than with an upright (particularly a Kirby, which is a machine of extraordinary quality, but also one of the heaviest around). You deal with the weight of the canister itself only when you need to move it. With an upright, you're dealing with the weight of the whole thing the entire time you're vacuuming carpet.

Again, me no understand. Never will.

 

[lordkenmore]

Good insights, Sandy. Hmmm, maybe the next vacuum at Lord Kenmore's "estate" will be a canister.

One stupid question (not that I claim to ask any other kind): how long a hose does a cansister typically have?

 

[danemodsandy]

Typically:

Between six and eight feet. That, coupled with the length of two wands, gives a goodly amount of "reach" to get at things that are up high or down low.

If you want a canister, I can wholeheartedly recommend vintage Electrolux metal-bodied ones, which are readily and cheaply available used. Parts are mostly easy to come by, too. If you want a truly dyn-o-mite canister, I highly, highly recommend the TriStar EX-20, or the earlier CXL and DXL models. These have a die-cast magnesium-alloy housing, and quadruple filtration - a paper bag, which rests inside a cloth bag, plus a motor pre-filter and an exhaust-mounted afterfilter. Wonderful machines, but they're not cheap, even used. DO NOT get the current TriStar MG series machines, which are far more cheaply made.

One other tip: Whatever machine you get, you may want to buy a couple of extra wands. Vacuum manufacturers often cut costs by supplying one set of wands that are supposed to be good for both the power nozzle and regular tools. Since power nozzles require a cord to be clipped to the wands, changing from the power nozzle to, say, the dusting brush to get at spider webs at the ceiling can be a bit of a chore. Having a separate set of wands for the regular tools eliminates that. As an added bonus, if you have an awkwardly high area to vacuum (like getting spider webs off the ceiling of a stairwell), you then have four wands to give you an incredible reach.

 

[ovrphil]

I recently bought at Goodwill, a Kenmore 4.3 Powermate, but it was missing the PowerHead and the power extension wand - looking for one to match the beautiful blue-teal color. I removed a bag that felt like 10 lbs of crud, cleaned and waxed the unit and replaced with a new bag. It has WAY more vacuuming power than the Eureka Boss upright with attachments, that we've owned. My sister has a Kirby - really wonderful, but holycow it's heavy. You have to like it - it cost her over $1000 back in 1984. I'd like to find a nice old Electrolux, as danemodsandy talked about - I'm familiar with their vacuuming quality.

I grew up in a family of four - mom, dad, me and my sister - in a 450 ft2 house(plus a master bedroom added some years later, that added 200 ft2). For my mom, an upright worked for her the best, even though at times, a canister would be needed for some cleaning.

Whatever your preference...as long as you don't mind using an upright for everything, have at it! I think there's room for both, in most houses, but maybe not the room to store the extra cleaning equipment for some of us.

Lordkenmore: yeah, I agree, as well - people here at AW.org are not the run-of-the-mill consumers.

 

[countryguy]

Danemodsandy,

 

Most of the vacs these days have the wiring built into the wands and the wands are also quick connect at both the handle end and the power nozzle end e.g. Rainbow, Filter Queen, Sebo, Miele, Riccar, Kenmore, Electrolux, Aerus, etc.

 

Gary

 

[beekeyknee]

Sandy

I meant that using a canister to clean carpets w/o a power nozzle, like a long time ago was really hard. Using the Kirby U/G Diamond isn't hard. It's got power drive. I even used it the other day w/o the power drive and went slower for a deeper clean. Too many things are made out of cheap plastic these days. Like you said, I'll take the quality. And when the plastic's gone, it's gone. How we gonna make plastic w/o oil?

Besides, if I can't lift that little thing I sure can't work on washers and dryers, clean out the gutters and do all the other crap I have to do around the house.