THE NEW KIRBY IS HERE

[sanitairered]

Kirby has had essentially the same model for what, 22 or 23 years? It's just one more color change before the big redesign; something different from the out of date grey bag/color scheme. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled on Kirby's 100th anniversary.

Floyd

 

[Ipreferkirby]

Same Old

Kirby, everyone on these forums (me included) get excited about the next new model hoping it is something different and we get the same thing except for a bag and slight color change.

 

[IL-Kirby-Fan]

The Kirby Design

One of the reasons I love Kirby so much is because of their consistency and continuity. All of the machines follow the same basic design and they all have the same functionality and features.

The color change was necessary. The Sentria I was the longest running model and the market was flooded with them. A lot of our sales staff were getting '07 and '08 Sentrias as trade ins on new ones. Even though the Sentria II is only a color change, that color change is very important to the market. People are ok with the machine being 'the same thing' because they already like Kirby for what it is and are ok with just the color being different. The color change is enough for people, they just like to be able to say 'I have the brand new one'. It's the whole keeping up with the Jone's affect.

If the next Kirby were to stay what it is now, just another color I am ok with it. I like what Kirbys are. If it changes but the over all performance and features are the same I am ok with that too. Kirby is the best vacuum product on the market and I trust them and their engineering and research. They've not let me down yet and I don't expect them to. That's why they're approaching their 100th birthday...they are doing things right!

 

[kirbymodel2c]

Hi Brad.

Hi Brad,

Any chance you can take a picture of the back of it)

James)

 

[seamusuk]

A lot of our sales staff were getting '07 and '08 Se

Erm WHY?? !!!

 

[IL-Kirby-Fan]

James

Yeah, send me an email reminder and I will take a photo on Monday to post.

 

[IL-Kirby-Fan]

SeamusUK

I guess some people just like to have new stuff and if they can afford to why not...what sold one customer was that she like that the zipper on the newer one was straight rather than curved...another couple who traded their first Sentria in on a new one this year liked the new emptor design... I don't know, people just do weird things, especially ones that have the finances for it.

 

[Sanifan]

Wow, that is the ugliest fabric pattern I've seen in a long time. Not for me, nope. Yikes!

 

[seamusuk]

More money than sense would be nice.....

I'm guessing the F type bag has sold some as well even though you can convert it for $20 odd in parts from Ebay lol.
I don't collect Kirbys but couldn't say no to mine for the price. I have no desire to update it in any way though- I actually prefer the look of the old Emptor......
Seamus

 

[IL-Kirby-Fan]

Kirby

I really like Kirby's new disposable bag that fits both F style and Generation Series machines. That was a great idea on their part.

 

[tolivac]

Kirbys new bag-what type# is it?

 

[madabouthoovers]

I'm all for the new Sentria still looking much the same as the Generation models, it keeps my G7E looking modern even though its 9 years old now, and in England, you can pick up a G7E for £50 (about $80) - well, thats what I paid for mine anyway with a broken power cable. Kirby feel obviously that if something works well, then why keep changing it? I cant keep up with the amount of new models and re-designs Dyson has come up with since the DC01 launched in 1993 - it makes my DC04 look very old and dated now, but the Sentria 2 is essentially a 1991 G3 with LED headlight and more curvy trim and bumper strip.
I hope they carry on with the dirty fan design as in the UK, you just cant get anything for the domestic market with the direct air system any more, and it does have a great deep down clean on carpeting.
I still think that they are doing a great deal of harm to UK sales with the prices charged for the brand new models, as we are in a recession and not many people here can really afford the £1500+ ($2300) pricetag in this day and age, especially when they see that the model is still essentially a 22 year old design. People here make much more use of the hose on a vacuum nowadays and I find that it is a real faff to use the hose on my Kirby, so I only use it for deep down carpet cleaning only, and use another cleaner for the jobs that need the hose.
They need to find a way to be able to use the hose without dissassembling the front of the cleaner - and they need to make the cleaner lighter, as when I was trying to sell Kirbys 18 years ago (The G4) that was the main bug bear to the average housewife - its weight (As well as its pricetag lol!). Just wondering if the new Sentria2 is any lighter than the Generation 3 - 7 range? How much is to be the average retail price for a Sentria 2 in the US after all the haggling and discounts etc?

 

[mieles7]

I'd guess that the Sentria 2 would be $1200-$2500, since that is what they are sold for here. Royal vacuums, which are similar in design to Kirbys have a removable cap called the Adjust-O-Rite on the front that is used to indicate the correct height setting. When the adjust-o-rite is removed and the belt is removed from the shaft, the hose can be plugged in.

http://royalvacuums.com/Household/Uprights/everlast.aspx

 

[madabouthoovers]

I've seen those Royal models, very cool cleaners, very retro, the button sucks in when the height adjuster is correct. But the point is that Kirbys need to become a bit more user friendly, and move into the next millenium - I think the new bag design is cool, but if they wanted to make a real difference, it would be to make the weight lighter - good quality doesnt always have to be heavy - I bet the Royal weighs nowhere near what the Kirby does, but it has just as good suction and looks very similar. Kirbys should always retain the "Harley Davidson" of vacuums look, but I wait with trepidation for the Centenary model, will be very interesting how they finally alter the Generation main body shell.

 

[tolivac]

I hope Kirby still carries on with their basic Direct air design--and keep in mind Kirby is the ONLY DTD upright cleaning system out there!Yes,make it lighter---but NO PLASTIC!!!!!keep the metal housings-I could maybe see Kirby going to a Titanium fan and fancase-no worries about busted fans or cases.then the Kirby would be worth the high price-they could put a lifetime waarantee on the fan and fancase!Titanium is a hard,tough,metal.And please----ditch that stupid combo floor carpet tool!Go to a real castle cut brush for bare floors and a seperate carpet surface tool.Good for places the upright can't fit-like under very low furniture.and make the tools METAL with replaceable brush strips.please.Metal wands-nice touch,too!I just think for the price of the Kirby-more use of METAL should be made here.If the machine was all metal-get rid of the transmission-would indeed make the machine lighter-remember Royal metals are all metal and they are just as easy to push as the Tech Drive Kirby!And they are easier to lift and carry.Ditch the Kirby foam carpet cleaner and go to a dry cleaning system like Host or Capture.Would be better for us folks that live in very damp climates.A Kirby attachemtn could be devised to distribute and work in the cleaner-then the regular carpet-floor head could be used to pick it up-and into a reusable dump bag-save on bag cost and soggy paper bags-the Filtrete bags should work with Host or Capture without breaking-but expensive.Damp Host or Capture weakens paper bags causing them to break or burst.-what a mess!!!

 

[trebor]

You're not supposed to...

vacuum up damp Host. If it's damp it is not done cleaning yet.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I've never been really a fan of the Kirby shampoo system, I have the tools and hose but no shampoo kit - I prefer to wet shampoo my carpets with a VAX machine. A agree about the Kirby accessories, the wands should be telescopic metal like Miele's, and like you say a better floorhead, but how many people actually use all the accessories, expeciall the sander/massager - when I used to show customers the massager, and they heard how loud it was, they just laughed! Kirby's excel in there dry carpet cleaning ability and the reason for the tech drive is not so much the weight of the cleaner, but due to the drag on the carpet of the suction force pulling the head down at the correct height adjustment. I know how hard some other cleaners can be to push - the greater the suction power in air-watts, the harder the cleaner is to push, regardless of its overall weight. Dyson had to modify the soleplates to include air bleed pathways on some of its early model DC07's onwards as the suction was that strong people were complaining that the cleaner was impossible to move on carpets and worse on lino flooring. Kirby soleplates have no air bleed routes and this means that full suction has to pass through the carpet, and thats why the tech drive was put on, with power increasing substantially over the older Heritage/Legend model range (1970-1990). I'm sure the tech drive could be made lighter, but still serve the same purpose, and is a main selling advantage as how many other cleaners are power assisted?
The main things Kirby needs to do, is make the hose easier and quicker to use, improve the quality of the accessories, but reduce the number of unnecessary attachments that most people never use, and make the cleaner sustantially lighter to carry. I am not going to comment on the shampoo system, as I dont have any experience of this since I used to demo it in 1994. Price is still an issue, and many people dislike the method of direct sales that Kirby still uses. I love Kirbys but really dislike the hard sell, pushy, ignorant sales techniques employed by its agents.

 

[fantomlightning]

Rex...

I don't know about Host, but Capture if left for the correct amount of time will be totally dry...

 

[tolivac]

In the times I have used both of those-never have seen them completely dry out.Even after waiting for an hour.Guess the dampness in my area-it REALLY damp here-even with AC.And my home has a vapor barrier under the flooring.

 

[tolivac]

Kirby sander-messager-Remeber a freind was redoing some of the drywall in his house-He was having a hard time sanding it by hand and coping with the dust-He asked me over to help.I brought a Kirby with the sander-was GREAT for sanding the plastered areas on his new drywall-the suction system is truely dustless.No drywall dust in the room.And that sander worked even better when I used it with the NSS M1 ! Kirby can make the sanders and such which I beleive they do-sold as extras.The toolkit with the Kirby is nice-just make it better quality to match the price of the machine.Yes,Kirby does use the sealed suction "airlift" system much like Royal-and Royals are easy to push-no power drives required.Same with Sanitaire-Riccar Radiance--All of these I see my carpet "Airlifted" to the floor nozzle just like Kirby.Come to think of it other folks who have used Host cleaner have had the same problems of it not drying completely-maybe you have to wait MORE than an hour!anyway-no matter how you do it-a reusable shake out bag would be best for picking up the Host or Capture.Using disposable bags for this adds up quickly!One time I used a dump bag on a Royal to pick up spent Host-it was better.Then just dump the spent Host into a trashbag.