Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard)Apr 23

In 1959, Volvo invented the three point seat belt and released the patent to it for free, realising it would save millions of lives.

In 2020 (Covid), James Dyson asked for a tax cut before he would even try to build a ventilator to save a life, then moved his business abroad to avoid tax. He didn't deliver a single ventilator.

Don’t buy a Dyson.

Show threadC++ Wage SlaveApr 23

@MarkHoltom

It's only one couple's experience, but we had a Dyson vacuum cleaner and the thing kept breaking down every three months. Fortunately, we'd bought an extended warranty and we got free parts. When the parts were no longer available, the insurer gave us a replacement machine, also made by #Dyson, which was much worse and couldn't actually clean our carpets.

We gave up on it and bought a #Henry. We couldn't be happier with it.

Show threadwoe2you

@CppGuy @MarkHoltom Good call. I bought a Henry because it's what I always see contract cleaners using. Apparently they're fairly repairable too, not that I've needed to.

Oh, and Dyson supported Brexit too. So he can get in the bin with Tim Martin.

Apr 23 at 8:23amWeb
Show threadStuartBApr 23
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom My understanding is that Henry's are really low-tech as far as vacuum cleaners go - they may not have all the bells and whistles of more modern machines, but they take all the abuse you can throw at them, and are easily replaceable with readily accessible spare parts, which is why they are do beloved by contract cleaners
It is apparently possible to build one from off the shelf parts, but why would you do that when it's cheaper to buy a new one?
Show threadwoe2youApr 23
@stuartb @CppGuy @MarkHoltom I don't think anyone would literally build one from parts, it's just a way of illustrating that something has 100% spares availability.
Show threadStuartBApr 23
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom The only example of something similar i can think of is when Charles Church bought the RAF's stockpile of spare parts for Spifires in the 1980, and managed to build a plane from them that was registered as a genuine, authentic, very late production aircraft rather than a replica, which tend yo use non-authentic parts.
But then, the Dpitfire had been out of production for 40 years, and even examples in really poor shape cost more than the parts.
Show threadNoodlemazApr 23

@stuartb @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom we tried to repair a Dyson ball vacuum in the US because it was at a flea market for like ten dollars. Fun project, thought I.

NOPE
after watching some YouTube repair guys the problems piled up - they make deliberately proprietary bits that are very hard to take apart without damaging, you need special tools (had to buy a set of weird screwdrivers specially) and it's not intuitively designed in any way.

Would never ever get one new. Mainly because the guy sucks but so does a lot of the tech.

Ended up giving it away for someone else to get parts from.
#rightToRepair

Show threadAndreas KApr 23
@noodlemaz
The guy is a bit an early British Musk. Managed to get himself tagged as a genius with clever marketing.
@stuartb @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom
Show threadwoe2youApr 23
@yacc143 @noodlemaz @stuartb @CppGuy @MarkHoltom ...but really it was a load of balls.
Show threadAndreas KApr 23

@woe2you
Well, I don't consider Musk a genius either, perhaps a genius conman.

Getting away for years with promising vaporware and not delivering it.
@noodlemaz @stuartb @CppGuy @MarkHoltom

Show threadAndreas KApr 23

@stuartb
Low tech translates here as, all the kinks have been worked out decades ago.

It's a classical case of where boring is good.

And surprise the professionals who depend on the things for their work somehow prefer the simple low tech things over blinking high tech toys, that break when you look the wrong way at it.
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom

Show threadEstarriol, Terrorist DragonApr 23

@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom

Henrys are brilliant, and rarely go wrond.

Show threadwoe2youApr 23

@Thebratdragon @CppGuy @MarkHoltom Yup. I don't want fancy wanky unreliable rubbish, I just want a rugged vacuum that doesn't suck.

Wait, no.

Show threadbent0_b0x 🏴‍☠️🏳️‍🌈Apr 23
@woe2you 🤣 @Thebratdragon @CppGuy @MarkHoltom
Show threadHenry IIIApr 23
@Thebratdragon @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom I completely agree.
Show threadEstarriol, Terrorist DragonApr 23

@johnhenrythe3rd @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom

My other issue with Dysons, is they are foookin heavy, I had wrist issues and trying to use one could break me for the day.

Show threadDan PriceApr 23
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom Contract cleaners love Henries because they've got fantastic spares service and they're practically maintenance-free. Bagless cleaners have multiple filters that need cleaning that rarely happens. On a Henry the bag itself is the filter so it gets replaced frequently.
Show threadpatterApr 23
@flexplate @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom Henry, if it's good enough for workmen to lug round for cleanup when they're gutting & renovating entire rooms in your house, they're good enough for general hoovering too
Show threadwoe2youApr 23
@patterfloof @flexplate @CppGuy @MarkHoltom They should really be using a Class M for that, but sadly Numatic's shop vacs don't have names or faces.
Show threadPhil M0OFXApr 23
@flexplate @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom My first job was in retail - we had a banged up Henry which must have belonged to the previous tenants. It lasted longer than any of us! I was in the shop the other day and sure enough, they still had it. Different shop, same hoover.
They at least bought some bags for it...
Show threadDavid SApr 23

@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom

Henry's made in Somerset I believe?

My parents had a Dyson (inherited from my grandparents). They had to change the filter more often than I'd change a bag on mine. Then it broke.

Don't buy a Dyson

Show threadQuinn9282 🖥️🌙✌️Apr 23
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom I'd love to get a Henry, but sadly they only make them in 240V, making them pretty useless in North America. If there's an equivalent out there that works on 120V, I'd love to know! (for future reference anyways, I don't need a new vacuum currently)
Show threadwoe2youApr 23
@Quinn9282 @CppGuy @MarkHoltom I heard a while back that Miele were also good from a repairs standpoint.
Show threadCoastalCoastingApr 23

@woe2you @Quinn9282 @CppGuy @MarkHoltom

Miele was, emphasis on past tense, truly excellent.

Recent years they produce dysfunctional overpriced crap. It was one of the few brands I really admired up until that point. My first Meile lasted 15 years, until it got ran over by a car (long story). The replacement 8 years ago never worked despite taking it in for service help 3 times in the first year but didn't fix the problem, until 6 years later when I was ready to trash it and went to ace hardware in a final act of desperation, where they and showed the design flaw causing all the problems. So now I can use it, so long as I dismantle it and home fix it after every use, sometimes multiple times per use. It is their top of the line model. Corporate ignored every request and warranty plea, even though the problem is the same from the start and I had records showing it was a constant issue. They make junk now, save your $. My meile now has about 10 hours of use racked up for it's 8 year old life, and I've spent about 40-50 hours trying to get it to work.

Show threadwoe2youApr 23
@CoastalCoasting @Quinn9282 @CppGuy @MarkHoltom Oh no.