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hooverman2121

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Joined
Aug 15, 2011
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112
Location
Albany, NY
Today's my day off from work so I went to Target today to get more laundry detergent and a bunch of other cleaning supplies for the apartment.

As usual, had to stop by the vacuum cleaner aisle just to see what they had. As usual, all were cheap brands but I still looked around anyway. Put attachments back in their places, and fixed wands, etc. that were installed the wrong way. I got a few weird looks from the employees and one lady who was looking at some Dirt Devil, but I didn't care.

Took some pics, I apologize for the quality as I rushed taking the pics from my cell phone.

Had some extra money and ended up buying a Hoover WindTunnel Air Canister just to see how well it cleans. My partner is going to kill me when he gets back from the law school tonight as we already have twelve vacuum cleaners here, but he can deal with it! At least the rest of my collection is still at my mom's place.

On another note, my mother bought my Miele S8 Marin with the upgraded SEB236 and her housekeeper loves it.

hooverman2121++1-29-2014-12-38-14.jpg
 
I do the same thing when I visit Target too, so many pulled apart , or on the wrong machine. I actually like the looks of that canister, have not tried one of course. Good luck
 
Robert

not yet if I do I will be buying it from my good friend John Gregory at sweeper central in Dunmore Pa.

I did check it out when I was there last week or there about. I am in the process of going through all 450+ of my collection and just need to sell about 400 I am tired of owning all of these machines it has gotten way outta control .

Dan
 
With the way that cord was all tossed around, it seems maybe someone had been trying out the vacuum at some point?

At least they have a bit of variety there - they have canisters at least, which Walmart here does not. But then, Walmart has one bagged upright - the Bissell Powerforce, whereas it appears Target has none.
 
Grand majority of those "plasticrap" machines-good for TRASH TRUCK food-crunchy treats-the trucks are licking their hoppers in anticipation!Few month to a year or so-those pretty plastivacs will be dusty,smelly,dirty,and broken,waiting on the curb for....
 
The more things change, the more they stay the same. I remember when the Regina Housekeeper was launched. We said the same thing about them being 'crap'. When the Hoover Elite was launched, we HATED that plastic hunk of junk. When the Dirt Devil (used type C bags) was launched, we bemoaned the horribleness of the plastic junk machine. Now, there's young people who actually are collecting them. In twenty years, some little kid is going to say "ooooh, I WANT a Bissell Lift Off so bad". Look at what happened with Fantoms. We all cried "plastic junk" when we saw them (and they were new). Now there are people selling them for over a thousand dollars on eBay. Who knew?
 
The thing to consider Dysonman is this:

You list bottom line machines, or in the case of Fantom, a company who sold far more low end machines than the far more useful Thunder model.
As i heard an engineer say about bridges, "most any engineer can design a bridge on paper, but designing a bridge that can actually be built in the real world on a limited budget, well that's an art." I respect lots of plastic vacs given the many constraints they where designed under, most notably cost and marketability considerations. That said gratuitous use of clear or weak plastic (mostly for planned obsolescence purposes) does grate and i will only spend about $5-$10 each max on only a select few of such machines, like the WindTunnel 2.
The basic clean air Panasonic/ Tacony etc. (see pic) to me is perfect for mid pile & shorter carpet and checks in at a very affordable price point, i prfer the ones with some metal, but all metal would be far too heavy, too costly, and not really better in any way except extreme longevity. The 8lb vacs are also marvels for their intended purpose. The Windsor/Sebo commercial vacs & Lindhaus are also great and necessarily mostly plastic. I have also seen carpet cleaning companies using the Amway Dyson machine, i imagine because it works well for what they need.

Hooveman, i probably would have chosen the same vac from what i see in the pics, looking forward to your thoughts on it.[this post was last edited: 1/30/2014-20:03]

stricklybojack++1-30-2014-15-27-32.jpg
 
Agree with Robert

While I don't have a lot of interest in the current bulky, bagless vacuums, some plastic vacuums I do have an interest in. Most any Panasonics are well made machines, especially the basic ones like in photo above. And a plastic vacuum can do a good job.

So I do say some plastic vacuums aren't that bad, and especially the first ones to introduce a feature are fascinating in my opinion. Such as early Elite II, Dyson DC01, early Fantom, Bissell Lift Off, etc. Those are machines I don't mind having, if for no reason than their uniqueness.
 
The Thunder was Fantom's best vacuum properly cared for it will hold up and that has been proven, 11 amp ones are pushing 20 years old. The canister portion of the Lightning was decently built the powerhead had issues, but it is not hard to find the working canister. The body of the Fury is decent quality plastic, but the motor got clogged up as it was not as efficient as the Thunder at separating dirt. I don't really care for the build of the Cyclone XT. The Crosswinds were the same as the Fury and Cyclone XT with different dust bins. The Wildcat was completely different in design, but it's weakest part seems to be the handle. The brush roller gets clogged easily as it is so narrow, but it seems like decent quality plastic.

I think deriding plastic as a material is not the issue but the quality of it. I don't see many Rainbow vacs with issues due to plastic being used. The Fantom Thunder weighs nearly 30lbs, you could almost hit it with a hammer. Now compare this to the Eureka Airspeed One, it weighs less in the box than the canister portion of the Rainbow. Sure it is nice to have a light vac but the build is terrible. In regular use in my house it may last a year.

Yet what is said here is correct. Someone, 20 years from now will decide they want an Airspeed One because they thought it looked cool when they were a kid, there will be a handful left commanding premium prices.

I don't know what the Fantom attraction always was and people still want them 13 years after they closed up. EuroPro still holds the design, most if not all the patents should be up, they should just clone them in China and make everyone happy. I would gladly buy a new Thunder if they chose to do it.

I always liked them, they were easy to work on once you got used to them. The Thunder almost always is a check for clogs, clean the brushroller, replace the belt and plug it in to work. The only Thunders I could never get working were both garbage picked and missing enough parts to make it cost ineffective to try and piece them together.
 
I remember when I needed a new vacuum when my Hoover Powerdrive went out. I Looked for a new vacuum at a store for the first time since the 90's, and just can't believe how much the quality has diminished since (compared to my old Hoover)! Next, I read reviews to see if people liked them, and left and right I come across reviewers who have constant problems with belts going bad in MINUTES TO WEEKS, parts breaking off, motors failing in months, melting beater bar end caps, and all that other nonsense! Instead, I looked at premium vacs and got a Miele S7 instead for their good reliability, cleaning prowess, and amazing air filtration. I had not yet have a problem with it for over a year. Yeah it's plastic, but it's MUCH tougher with its thicker plastic and metal bottom and read nothing but happy reviews. Sad to see how flimsy and unreliable most new vacs are. And by the way, my old DIRT DEVIL Featherlite from back in Dirt Devil's heyday is more sturdy than these cheap vacs!
 

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