Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
An excellent purchase, full of features you would expect from higher value Vacuum's . |
| Disadvantages: |
None, as yet |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
When it comes to Vacuum cleaners I must confess I'm a bit of a skinflint. There are reasons for my tightfistedness the main one being is that I have bought more expensive vacuum cleaners in the past and in honesty they have not been up to much. I bought a Dyson in 2002 for just under £200 and them in 2003 I bought an Electrolux for a similar price, which died three times in two months before I finally returned to Macro for a refund. So as you can imagine my views on two of the best brands are a little jaded. More importantly though it's a vacuum cleaner, for the time you spend actually using one I think I'd sooner invest £200 on something a little more useful.
In 2003 after getting a refund for my vacuum cleaner I purchased a multicoloured Delonghi vacuum cleaner. This cost me all of £25 from Poundstretcher. And believe it or not it was an amazing vacuum cleaner to use. It had up to 1500 watt motor which was comparable to the Electrolux model I purchased, and it did an equal job the plus side was that it actually worked. However come late 2004 and we moved, through an unlikely turn of events I actually forgot to pack the vacuum into the van so it ended up staying in Essex while we moved to Cornwall.
On arrival in Cornwall the house we had purchased was quite a mess; it needed a damn good clean. I contacted LX Direct who for £24.99 had a
Morphy Richards Pod 6V barrel design vacuum cleaner. The following day it arrived, I had ordered it blind so to speak in that I had never seen it; I simply heard what it did and ordered it. I was surprised to see that not only was it the smallest
cylinder (barrel) vacuum cleaner I had ever seen it was also a very distinctive purple and silver colour, most of the purple is a kind of translucent colour. It was very eye catching.
The Pod 6V is specifically designed small enough so that you can use it almost like a dust devil if you so require. It has 1500 watts of power which is adjustable by a little button on the top of the unit. The power cord is retractable and has a surprisingly long length I would say possibly up to 30 feet. In our home now I can happily plug it in at the kitchen, clean through our living room, go up the stairs with it clean the upstairs corridor and my office without having to go downstairs and unplug it. The plastic vacuum tube/handle/pipe whatever you want to call it is adjustable at three points to achieve the height from brush to handle that best suits you. It has a collection of four separate heads (I dare not even give those names, but needless to say we are talking standard heads nothing too funky) these can sit on a special brush tidy system that sits on the handle. The cleaner has a bag less system so you don't need to worry about getting new bags like you do many other vacuum cleaners. It comes with two filter's which are some sort of super doper environmentally friendly design, and are machine washable. On average the capacity of the vacuum means I can do two complete runs of the house (bare in mind I have dogs) before it needs emptying; I estimate the storage capacity is between 6-10 litres, the motor side is very small at least a third of the total unit. So with this in mind you have a rough idea of the size of the unit.
I find the Pod 6V to be a fantastic little machine it sucks up anything in its path and does not struggle with dog hair and bits of general carpet fluffing (we have new carpets throughout which are still settling in). All the different heads and the
maximum length of the pipe allow you to reach all this difficult area's. The thinnest of the heads traditionally used for more hard to reach locations like down the sides of units etc is surprisingly thinner than other similar heads on other vacuums in fact I would say at its thinnest point its about a third of an inch wide. The nice and clever thing that Morphy Richards have done with this is made it thinner to the top. With previous vacuum cleaners I have found that they never quite have enough length making them often redundant for the job the length of this entire head is about 12 inches before it widens to allow it to connect with the hose/pipe.
The main head is three way adjustable this is designed for flat flooring i.e. vinyl, tiles, and wooden floors. The second adjustment is meant for short length carpets, the more traditional style. The final setting which is something I have never seen, this allows to vacuum longer length carpets and fluffy rugs or cushions.
The final point of interest is I confess I don't like to empty a vacuum cleaner, and often found that I often overfilled the cleaner which sometimes caused congestion in the corrugated piping. The Pod 6V has a pipe that is designed to avoid that congestion, if it vacuums up slightly moist or matted dog fur it never sticks inside the pipe.
I'll sing Morphy Richards praises till the cows come home on the Pod 6V, it does everything I would expect of a vacuum cleaner and nearly 2 years on its still working perfectly without assign of fault. But at the price I paid even if it did its an excellent value return for your money.
The Pod 6V is available from
Tesco's stores only for £32.99, or LX Direct for £24.99. I have looked on Ebay and found some today from a highly rated Powerseller for just £19.99. If your considering a purchase on this you'll find that any
price you pick from any of the retailers I expressed itsa very worthwhile and valued buy.
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