Hitachi BLN1

Advantages: large enough for family of four or five
Disadvantages: it weighs a ton!

...I bought this from Dixons in the january sales for £29.99, I had originally gone in for a 'George Foreman' but they were out of stock so I decided to buy the Hitachi instead. I have never owned one of these before so wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do with it but the instructions were very clear and inspiring. The grill itself has two non-stick plates inside with a chrome lid and black feet, it looks very stylish but wieghs a ton! (I weighed it on the bathroom scales and it came in at over 6kg's). It has a temperature control knob on the right hand side and allows you to adjust to low, med and high. The instruction booklet has a list of various meats and vegetables with a suggested temperature and time for cooking so was very easy to follow. The first thing I cooked on it was a sirloin steak (instructions suggested 8... Read review

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Advantages: lightweight, good suction, inexpensive, well-built
Disadvantages: difficult to empty, gets very hot

...We've had a variety of vacuum cleaners over the years. A couple of uprights - effective but heavy, and awkward for the stairs - and about three of the canister type. All of them had disposable bags, which were easy enough to change, but we found it was sometimes difficult to find replacements. The more popular types would be out of stock, the less popular types unavailable other than by special order! About five years ago, having struggled for a while with an elderly vacuum cleaner whose suction got progressively worse and worse, we decided to splash out on a new one. We didn't want to spend a vast amount, and were so fed up of the bag-buying problems that we decided to buy a small canister machine which didn't use disposable bags. There was plenty of choice in the larger electrical shops; eventually we opted for the Hitachi... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent Sucking! - Good on edges
Disadvantages: Attachments keep coming off

...The Hitachi Powerhouse 1100 "To the Edge" hoover has to be one of the worst we have ever purchased. Whilst the suction is ample enough to excite!, the built in attachments simply are not practical. This includes. 1. Too Short 2. Breaks easily 3. Keeps coming out of the bottom. The hoover is also very heavy, and because of this, my wife refuses to use it. Consequently I end up having to do the hoovering, which although I enjoy, can sometimes get tedious when doing the stairs with the short attachments. The attachments coming out of the bottom tend to be a real pain as you have to keep bending over. This gives rise to back pain, which at my age I cannot tolerate! Come on Hitachi, get your act together and give us a hoover with longer attachments.... Read review

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