SEBO Felix Vacuum!?

[bugsyjones]

I saw a picture of the new SEBO Felix vacuum. It's a nice one!

It's the exact same machine that Windsor makes for commercial use. We use Windsor 'Flexamatics' as they are called, at the hotel I work at. Although the Flexamatic my department uses is rather beat up, it works great. I like the features it has.

I am curious about the SEBO Felix and their performance etc. Are they worth the huge pricetag? Are they as good as the Windsor equivalent?

The Windsor Flexamatic is just as expensive, but the SEBO version has some really attractive color combinations.

Would like YOUR input!

~Tim

 

[foraloysius]

Sebo are good vacuums. Friends of mine have a Sebo K3 Vulcano canister model. They were very happy with it but personally I found it to be rather loud. I don't know what the pricetag on the Sebo Felix is. I do know however that the Volcano is more than twice as expensive in the USA than overhere in the Netherlands. A bit too much I think.

Just my $0.02

 

[ronhic]

Here is the test that Choice did on the rebadged 'Kleenmaid' version...

http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=105847&catId=100168&tid=100008

 

[vintagehoover]

I don't care much for Sebo machines. I think their stellar reputation for reliability often blinkers people to the fact that their performance - especially of the X-series and the non-PN canisters - is often mediocre compared to their competition.

However, if you must have a Sebo, the Felix is the one to go for. I had the Premium Navy model from new. I kept it for about a year before I sold it (I have various other modern cleaners I like a lot more). But I didn't dislike it as much as the X-series machines - I guess that counts for something!

The manual height adjustment lets you set it as YOU want it, rather than forcing you to rely on a rather slow-acting automatic system. Still has the awful top-mounted, short hose, although you can take the head off and carry it by the handle at the side for dusting, etc.

Bags are smaller than those of the X-series, so you have to change them more often. And if you feel the power of the cleaner with a bag that's 2/3rds full, then fit a new bag and try it again, you'll realise the drop in performance which occurs is quite alarming. Overall, though, performance is pretty good.

It is quite loud, and the noise is a little abrasive to listen to for long periods - this is true of many cleaners which use a separate brush-roll motor.

Anyway, hope that helps! It's not a bad cleaner, but I just didn't 'get on' with the design. It's been sold when many other modern cleaners I've bought have been kept, which says a lot. It might have lasted me 20 years or more, but 2 decades is a long time to put up with a cleaner you're not 100% keen on!

 

[aquacycle]

I'm completely going to counteract what Jack has just said. Sebo are fantastic vacuums and I don't think the performance is in the least bit mediocre. When you've watched a Sebo X1.1 eat it's way through a house with 12 cats that hasn't been vacuumed in 5 months, you'll soon see the performance is not at all lacking. I have the blue and yellow X4 extra and wouldn't part with it. I agree that the hose is a little annoying but my cleaner came with an extension hose which rectifies this. All in all, I think Sebo are the best uprights on the UK market today, but it's all a matter of opinion

 

[vintagehoover]

Well, I stand by everything I said. An extension hose will still cause the machine to topple over if you put any tension on it - and you have the annoyance of having to carry the extra section around with you in case you need it. Machines with the hose mounted lower down - Dyson, Miele S7, Hoover Freedom/Slalom, etc - will just follow after you.

For the sake of fairness, things I like about the X-range:

- Durable
- Quiet
- Reliable
- Large bag (although you're lugging the weight of all that dirt around with you as it fills!)
- Easy to change the bag
- Long cord
- Average weight
- Auto-shut off in case of brush-jam
- Easy to remove brush-roll for cleaning
- "Lifetime belt" (Although I've personally replaced 2 of these that have broken!!)

The X-Series is based on a machine designed over 20 years ago for commercial use; where reliability, durability, and ease of maintenance are key. It does all these things well, but it just can't keep up with the advances in efficiency and technology that have occurred since. It's been facelifted and given a few extra watts, but it would needs a total rethink to turn it into something I'd personally use.

Sebo are a little like Numatic, Oreck, Kirby etc; they know what they do, and they do it well. But none of those are a good fit for me!

 

[aquacycle]

Sebo, Numatic, Kirby...

Jack, the fact that you compared Sebo with 2 of the best brands available today (apart from Oreck - waste of the plastic it's made with IMO) proves my point. As for being designed over 20 years ago, so what? If the design still works for what it's meant to do, and does it well, why change it? I'm sure Hoover would still be producing the Junior and Turbopower machines but with more power if they didn't look as dated as they do.

 

[vintagehoover]

I don't like that word 'best'. 'Best' is subjective, since everyone's requirements are different - hence there being such a diverse range of styles, brands and price-brackets of appliances on the market. What's 'best' in your opinion is not necessarily 'best' in mine. I haven't 'proved' anything - Kirby, Sebo and Numatic are not brands I especially care for - that's MY opinion, and I made that clear when I said '...none of those are a good fit for ME!'

Opinions can't be 'proved' or 'disproved', they're entirely a matter for the person who holds them. I haven't simply said 'Sebo are crap!', I've detailed and explained the reasons why I, personally, dislike certain aspects of the design and function of a specific Sebo product. I also listed the aspects which I DO like about the product. Again, likes and dislikes are a matter for the person who holds them, and there's no right or wrong, as you're trying to suggest.

Stop taking constructive and intelligent analysis of a product so personally. I don't particularly care for the Hoover Turbopower either, as it happens, so if you're trying to make some point by taking a swipe at Hoover, you've failed!

 

[vintagehoover]

A few further points:

- By listing Sebo with Numatic, Kirby and Oreck, I was grouping together a selection of companies who have found a basic formula - a core design - which works for them, and have stuck with it. They make small changes here and there, but essentially, in each case they've remained the same for over a decade. This is in contrast to other brands, who seek to introduce new features and technology with each new model range they launch.

- Have you noticed that of the brands you consider 'best' - Sebo, Kirby, Numatic - none are even in the top 5 UK sales positions, either by unit sales or value? The biggest-selling brand are Vax, followed by Dyson, followed by Hoover/Electrolux/Bissell. Clearly, the buying public does not agree with you on what's 'best'! Maybe for them, 'best' is a cleaner with no consumables (bagless, washable filters), and thus, no running costs. Maybe 'best' is least expensive.

- Why is an Oreck 'a waste of plastic'? If someone is elderly or disabled, but wants to do their own cleaning, a vac which weighs 4lbs might be exactly what they're looking for. 'Best', in fact. Again, you're welcome to your opinion, and I agree, I wouldn't own an Oreck. But I wouldn't condemn it as 'a waste of plastic' either. For some people, it's exactly what they're looking for.

- Most people don't enjoy vacuuming, or have any real interest in the machine that does it for them. They don't buy the one they like best; they buy the one they dislike least!

- Your point about the Junior/Turbopower does not float either. It would be perfectly possible to reskin the Junior or Turbopower to look like a 2009 product - and the R&D costs would be minimal, if we go with your theory that all else Hoover would need to do is simply ramp up the power. Direct-air cleaners are not mainstream market products in the UK anymore, due to fan breakage, the carbon emissions from the motor, and the fact that their suction through the hose is poor compared to clean-fan vacs. The fact is, Hoover's R&D for new products now consists of taking a current Dyson model and asking their engineers 'How can we do this, but cheaper?' The Junior and Turbopower are no longer manufactured because the public do not want them, and will not buy them. Time has moved on and the market has changed!

 

[aquacycle]

I think we can all agree that the word "best" can be applied to something that is consistently good, with all aspects of it taken into account. Therefore, I think most people, regardless of whether they enjoy or are remotely interested in vacuuming or not, would agree that performance and reliability are the two key features in choosing a vacuum. Sebo, Kirby and Numatic all have exellent results and are all proven to be reliable. Therefore, I consider them the best.

I wasn't "taking a swipe at Hoover" as you put it. I was trying to say that just because a design is old, or no longer "fashionable", doesn't make it a bad design and doesn't mean that any product of an older design is at all lacking in performance. In some cases, an older design is often better in terms of what a product is actually meant to do. Just look at the old Hotpoint washing machines and Hoover washers of the 70's and 80's and compare it with what is on the market today. The older design offers better performance and reliability. The newer designs are proving unreliable and giving poor results but they do come with lots of flashy lights and buttons and funky facia's. Given the choice between something older, well performing & reliable and something new and lacking in performance that will end up at the tip in 2 years, I know what I'd sooner have.

As I'm sure you would agree, a lot of cheap bagless cleaners on the market today are horrid. Especially the ones with no dust seperation cyclone. As much as I wouldn't own a Dyson, I always say that if you're going to go down the bagless route, then they are unrivaled. I much prefer a vacuum with a bag but thats a personal thing and I have recomended Dysons and Vax uprights to friends and family as they like the bagless aspect and both do it well IMO (apart from Vax have that annoyingly soft brush). However, the Lux uprights are dreadful and they're in the top 5. Britney Spears sells a lot of records but it doesn't make her any good. Dreadful films with clever promotion make millions of pounds. Just because something sells well, doesn't mean it's good.

Oreck..well, I hate them. As they may be reliable, I don't think they perform well at all and therefore don't consider them. As I said the word "best" surely should apply to something that is consistently good. And they're not. Surely anyone with half a brain, vacuum enthusiast or not, would be able to tell you that if it doesn't suck well, it's not doing the job it's designed to do well and is therefore a waste. Especially for the money.

My point about the turbopower and junior's was that they are widely accepted as being great vacuums and it went along with my point that just because something is old, or of an older design, doesn't make it bad. The same would apply for an Electrolux 500 series. They're not direct air vacuums and are of an old design. With a slight redesign and a power upage to bring it to todays standards and you've got a damn good vacuum on your hands, and that is a design from the early 70's. Same with sensotronics, the plathora of electrolux cylinders from the 60's through to the 90's and the Panasonic 40 and 50 series. You made a point of stating that the Sebo X series are of an old design, therefore implying that this somehow makes them lacking in what they are designed to do. So my point was that just because something is of an older design, does not make it lacking in anyway, especially if it performs better than something of a newer design. Most people don't give a hoot what they're vacuum looks like, as long as it does what it's meant to do, and does it well, which Sebo, Kirby and Numatic quite clearly do.

As for taking things personally...ditto!

 

[petek]

Me thinks the Sebo Felix looks like an updated vesion of the once popular Regina Electrikbrush... you can see mine in the attached video, the one with the power nozzle

 

[twintubdexter]

some Grade Z humor...

Sebo huh? Never heard of it. Perhaps they need to advertise more and develop a catchy little jingle...Ertha Kitt's "Say Sebo" (sic) might work.