I was interested to hear James Dyson today (Radio 4,Today). He seemed to be 'a little dismissive of German engineering', saying 'it wasn't all what we have it'. (Guess the discussion was around VW) He has his vacuum cleaners and some hand-dryers. He seems a well spoken,decent,clever bloke(worth a few million!) I know his vacuum cleaners to be 'revolutionary'(or so the adverts tell me). I must guess they are. Howsoever,if his vacuum cleaners are as good as he says they are,why do I always see hotel chains using the 'Henry' models? These aren't Dysons. Surely business useage/savvy would dictate they would buy the better machine using better suction,staying power,no? They would also be cheaper.
What's the general opinion? We have a Henry.
GB v Germany: We have Rolls Royce. But Germany has VW,Mercedes,Porsche...great international cachet?
Is it GB 1,Germany 1. A draw? Comments welcome.
GB v Johnny Foreigner
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
German stuff is usually good, but not always. I bought a B&M rear battery light to put on the rear of a pannier and the internal connections were the rubbishy sort you used to get on Everready lights in the 1970s. It went out every time I went over a bump in the road. It took me about a week to suss that no amount of fiddling would redeem such a trashy light and I binned it.
As for Dyson, I've had two and they worked well for a while. But the plastic is, well, plastic, and they snapped in various places. The cost was too high to make this tolerable so I now look for something cheaper. And Dysons are no longer UK made.
As for Dyson, I've had two and they worked well for a while. But the plastic is, well, plastic, and they snapped in various places. The cost was too high to make this tolerable so I now look for something cheaper. And Dysons are no longer UK made.
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
tyreon wrote:
GB v Germany: We have Rolls Royce.
We don't have Rolls-Royce, they have Rolls-Royce.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Motor_Cars
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
Best vacuum cleaner EVER is the Oreck.
We've had one for the last 20odd years.
https://www.oreck.co.uk
We've had one for the last 20odd years.
https://www.oreck.co.uk
Mick F. Cornwall
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
tyreon wrote:I ..... They would also be cheaper.
Dysons are expensive. That's how they are marketed
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
Dyson is a strange mix of 'designer' and engineer. He is very very rich busy buying up lots of farmland with his wealth. He speaks up for Engineering and innovation and he has done plenty. He is intelligent thats why he outsourced manufacturing to Asia whilst retaining research design product development and marketing in the UK because thats where the most added value is generated. Had he tried to retain manufacturing in the UK his company would be nowhere and probably been bust by now. He literally invented the cyclone based vacuum cleaner, the airblade hand dryer and those nice fans. He ploughs a lot of money back into R&D. Having been up against the Germans in several manufacturing businesses they are great at making quality kit that is reiable, but my experience is that they are generally not as innovative as us. We still fail on that front. As for Henrys, a quirky very simple product made here. The Germans wouldnt get it.
Al
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
JimL wrote:Not Rolls Royce engines.
No, BMW engines just like the ones BMW used to supply to Rolls-Royce when Rolls Royce was UK owned.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
Henry's are made by Numatic, a British company. As I understand it Dyson's are not used in commercial rolls because they can be (or are perceived to be) quite fragile. They are just not designed for the hammering a hotel job would give it.
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
horizon wrote:JimL wrote:Not Rolls Royce engines.
No, BMW engines just like the ones BMW used to supply to Rolls-Royce when Rolls Royce was UK owned.
I was talking about the company Rolls Royce aero engines which is a UK company (as much anything is)
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
There's a whole lot of guff spouted about "German engineering" as if anything produced in the country ought to be better than something produced elsewhere, particularly anything of Asian manufacture. All too often it amounts to nothing more than simple racial prejudice.
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
JimL wrote:horizon wrote:JimL wrote:Not Rolls Royce engines.
No, BMW engines just like the ones BMW used to supply to Rolls-Royce when Rolls Royce was UK owned.
I was talking about the company Rolls Royce aero engines which is a UK company (as much anything is)
Sorry Jim. The OP started with cars so I thought we were continuing in that vein.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
We had a Dyson, but it didn't last long, plasticky bits kept breaking off it. Now we have a Henry, like several others here, and find it incomparably better. The only disadvantage of Henry is that you have to buy disposable bags - but they hold a lot of dust before they are full!
I can't remember how the cable rewind worked on the Dyson, but on the Henry it's a simple manual winder: you just turn a handle. A lot more straightforward than those spring-loaded winders which are forever jamming or breaking!
As for German "Teknik" - well I don't know. The best in the world? Mrs P says the Bosch (are Bosch made in Germany?) washing machine and dryer work fine - but I have noticed that the washer can be noisy at times, and the dryer occasionally grinds to a halt - usually when you've forgotten to clean the filter.
As for my Bosch drill - well it gave up after a year or two (just outside of warranty
). It suddenly decided it would only go backwards: good for taking out screws but not much use for anything else. I now have a Black and Decker....
I can't remember how the cable rewind worked on the Dyson, but on the Henry it's a simple manual winder: you just turn a handle. A lot more straightforward than those spring-loaded winders which are forever jamming or breaking!
As for German "Teknik" - well I don't know. The best in the world? Mrs P says the Bosch (are Bosch made in Germany?) washing machine and dryer work fine - but I have noticed that the washer can be noisy at times, and the dryer occasionally grinds to a halt - usually when you've forgotten to clean the filter.
As for my Bosch drill - well it gave up after a year or two (just outside of warranty
). It suddenly decided it would only go backwards: good for taking out screws but not much use for anything else. I now have a Black and Decker....Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
I've been told that Dyson's are almost impossible - or at least prohibitively expensive - to repair. They look awful. And they aren't even made in the UK any more, are they?
Henry is made in the UK, is durable (have one that's over 25 years old), easy to repair (not that anything is likely to break) and has a friendly face. It doesn't have to be used with a bag, by the way.
Lord Dyson!??? Where's Lord Numatic?...that's what I'd like to know.
Henry is made in the UK, is durable (have one that's over 25 years old), easy to repair (not that anything is likely to break) and has a friendly face. It doesn't have to be used with a bag, by the way.
Lord Dyson!??? Where's Lord Numatic?...that's what I'd like to know.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: GB v Johnny Foreigner
Best vacuum cleaner ever is the Hoover Junior. If you've never owned one or your parents haven't owned one you must be a young bairn fresh out of school. I have family with 40+ year old ones. Still repairable, yes you can all get parts for them. The guy my Gran takes hers to took one look at one of my modern vacuums that had failed and said they are all made to be disposable now. IMHO buy them as if they are, i.e. buy cheap.
UK has some very good companies just like Germany, perhaps not as big or high profile to normal public like BMW and other German car brands, but they're still world leaders. There's no mistake in the fact Rolls Royce makes some of the best aero engines going. BAe Systems is one of the best defence contractors in the world. As a nation we still make good product, just that we threw it away a bit.
UK has some very good companies just like Germany, perhaps not as big or high profile to normal public like BMW and other German car brands, but they're still world leaders. There's no mistake in the fact Rolls Royce makes some of the best aero engines going. BAe Systems is one of the best defence contractors in the world. As a nation we still make good product, just that we threw it away a bit.