Today I went to Glasgow to get my passport renewed and had to spend 6 hours in the city before it could be processed. What better way to visit John Lewis and see their exclusive X4 Excel upright. Reason it's an "exclusive" to John Lewis is simply because JL didn't want to keep "knowingly underselling" price match all the time with X4 Extra uprights, hence the change of name and colour to differentiate the models.
Anyway I also test drove the Panasonic MC-UG614/ I note that another member on here had already created a thread on this model as it is known as a Kenmore Progressive Glide.
If Panasonic or Kenmore decided to match the specs of the Felix, then this upright couldn't be closer if it tried. Here's the specs:
5.9Kg
Swivel head and 2 motor system.
7 metre cord
Tool kit
Mini turbo brush
hard floor to carpet adjuster/on/off.
3.5 litre capacity bag, 1900 watt, 250 air watts (Claimed).
I love the design to a point - the 14" floor head is too big to get around tables and awkward furniture though. It has a brush on/off pedal at the back - and it's a bit noisy. However, whilst it has a similar price band to the Felix (£219) and dust capacity, JL have yet to stock the dust bags - but worse of all - it comes with a shoe bag in which crevice tool, upholstery tool, mini turbo brush and a short hose are included. You have to manually attach the hose onto this machine and there's a poor plastic stabilizer that slips into the back of the floor head so that it doesn't fall over. Shame you can't slide it into the back of the floor head when not in use, so it's a part that could get lost over time.
Still, now I know why Sebo never put a looped handle on their upright - its lovely and curvy on the Panasonic but it twists my wrist painfully when turning left or right.
