NEW Vax Air3 Compact Upright

[hi-loswitch98]

Found this on Argos, the new Air3 Compact Upright by Vax.

Still has the 6 Year Guarantee, it looks smaller but £229.99 is very steep, I'm sure the price will reduce soon though.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Air3

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Air3

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Air3

 

[oliveoiltinfoil]

I had the air 3 max a few months ago and had to get rid of it because it was ridiculously hard to push, and quite noisy, very in-efficient cyclone technology. I see how they think they can get away with that union flag logo on the box and in very small writing saying "designed in the UK". Designed, not made :/

 

[sebo_fan]

Welcome to Vacuumland, Ollie - nice to see you have a few SEBOs!

HILo - apart from a few redesigns in the plastic, its probably the same as the standard Air3 models. I can't stand them - I prefer the fixed version instead - easier to push and doesn't fall over when it fails to lock in place.

 

[sebo_fan]

Interesting spec there - when you consider the original Vax Mach Air appears to be smaller than 111cm. Argos and their specs, eh? Dont know whether to trust one or the other....

 

[oliveoiltinfoil]

Thanks sebo fan! Yes. The best cleaners in the world!

 

[madabouthoovers]

I have one of these - its been out a while as a Currys exclusive the Air Agile - its in this pic next to my Air Reach

 

[sebo_fan]

So Steve, you can tell us, is the handle for the Vax Mach Air Reach and the silver twisty one the same or different in height? Looks like the Mach Air Reach is more compact in your photo but slightly wider.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Nar - the handles are as photod here:


 


Mach Air extended:

 

[madabouthoovers]

And compacted:

 

[sebo_fan]

Ty for posting. Not really much of a difference then or justifiable to pay so much for the new Compact model.

Gosh, so the silver one is fixed and basically Vax have reduced the dust bin capacity by not very much , either. You could in theory just unlock the handle and do the same as the stock photos from Hi-Lo show.

Maybe when the EU law comes in, Vax will do another "Compact" and fit a likewise smaller motor.

 

[madabouthoovers]

The Air 3 Agile has been available as a Currys exclusive for a while now, and I bought mine last year for £129. Its very light I do admit, lighter than the air Reach, but the cord is only 6m and the Hose is so short its pretty much useless. The hose also doesn't stay attached to the end of the handle wand properly, and this is a design fault rather than anything else.


Vax just don't seem to be able to produce an Ideal small vac - there is always some flaw that spoils a good design.


The Handle on the compact is indeed fixed, and cant be raised or lowered from the "fixed" position. Its also shorter as you can see when used as a wand due to it lacking the telescope feature.


The Compact and Agile have been produced to be as light as possible, and they are light, but that comes at the expense of functionality when the hose is needed.

 

[sebo_fan]

I liked the original Vax Mach Air and found it to be highly versatile. Much prefer my Reach model but sold that off. I don't miss the high motor whine. I wish bagless brands could produce the same quiet noise as the Germans, but that's just a personal issue.

I still think though that the Mach Air design is great but price has a lot to do with it - when you consider what it achieves when it has copied Dyson so closely - its a telling story that Dyson should produce a likewise "budget" upright rather than that Slim cordless thing.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I'd love a Digital Slim, I think they are actually a very good idea, but like Dyson's other models, they are just far too expensive for what they are. I think the same about the GTECH Air Ram - another clever design for a quick whip round machine in between proper vacuuming sessions, but I don't like the £200 odd price tag. For less than that, I got a top quality Miele S8730, and also a Sebo K3 Vulcano, for £170 and £190 respectively. If Miele and Sebo can produce vacs of superior quality in Germany for the £200 mark, then Dyson could afford to sell his vacs for far less, considering he benefits from cheap manufacturing costs in Malaysia.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Yes but Dyson dosen't want to reduce the price - because he has told consumers that the high price pays for the designing & development in the UK. However, Vax design their vacuum cleaners in the UK (obviously Vax are not as well designed as Dyson cleaners) but they don't charge the ridiculously high price.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I used to stand up for Vax, and I own a few of them, but the last one I bought, the Performance Floor to Floor Total home, from Argos, was the most useless model to date, Yes it looks good, but functionally that floorhead is a disaster area. Shame - as the handle was an improvement on the Zoom model, which this is based on, and supposed to be an improvement on.

[this post was last edited: 2/17/2014-16:19]

 

[keiththomas]

There is a pet version for £99.99 that's all they are worth in my view