Cordless / wireless technology; is it all it's cracked up to be.

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Julius

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Just tuned in to see Miceal Murphy, the lying little leprechaun, touting a Dyson cordless vac. They did a demo aimed at convincing us how cordless vacs are the future. They ran a VT of James Dyson crowing about how his company no longer makes cordless vacuum cleaners. His purported casting of cordless vacs into abyss of obsolescence was no doubt intended to impress and instil confidence in all us ordinary folk that cordless is the way to go.

But is it?

What happened next was hilarious. They did a side-by-side demo with the guest using the new cordless vac while M. Murphy used a corded Dyson. Together they stood, vacuuming their pre-prepared squares of carpet. Then a "LOL moment happened" for Murphy's vacuum performed PERFECTLY WELL, easily equalling the effectiveness of the cordless model....and then came the pitch change in the sound of the motor as MM put it on a lower setting!!! Then he hammed up the acting as he pretended that picking up a few coffee granules with a c. 2000w motor was so incredibly difficult and awkward, whilst the guest's new cordless vac (predictably) glided over the carpet with ease.

Just how f***ing STUPID do they think we are? Suddenly a new product comes out and the old one (once vaunted as the best thing since sliced bread) doesn't work anymore? Yeah RIGHT! It only paled in comparison once Murphy skewed the demonstration by reducing the power setting and bringing in his sh*t acting!

This got me thinking about cordless technology and it dawned on me just how crap it can be. I had a cordless kettle that would only work if I inserted a spoon between the kettle and the docking station it plugged into.

Then I got Bluetooth headphones. "Great! No wires!" I thought. But then every time I used them they slowed my wifi internet connection down from 38mbps to about 0.03, meaning I couldn't download or stream anything, and rendering them pointless.

Then I got a cordless iron which experience similar issues to the kettle. Then there's the whole wifi thing - it's not bad, but never as good as when it's plugged in with an ethernet cable.

This got me thinking about vacuum cleaners. Most people have power sockets in each room. Most vacuum cleaners have long power cords and flexible hoses (well my Henry vacuum does) and I can do the whole flat with it plugged in the one socket. One thing Dyson and QVC don't tell us is that lithium ion batteries degrade as they age and are pretty much dud after c. 500 recharges, and all that "power" they keep touting ain't there no more, as the battery loses its storage capacity. It's an inherent problem with lithium ion batteries, and of course Dyson doesn't mention this, because a year or two down the line he'll have developed some new, overhyped and overpriced twist on cordless vacuuming, which means yet ANOTHER product to sell!

I inherited my Henry vac from my mother and it's still every bit as good as it was when she bought it back in 1997!

Murphy's demo proved (if you were eagle-eyed enough to spot it) that corded vacs are perfectly fine. The only reason they're trying to tout cordless vacs is because it's a new product to sell, and some people want to have the latest tech.

Murphy's "demo" was amusing as he heaved the vacuum cleaner around with what looked like faux difficulty - but there and again maybe he really did find it difficult. I imagine I'd have difficulty maneuvering a vacuum cleaner were it almost as tall as me!

What are your experiences with cordless technology? Do you like it? Does it present any advantages?
 
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I use a lot of cordless and wireless technology namely mobile phone, cordless landline receiver, iPad, laptop, fire stick, Gtech, toothbrush, water pik, kettle, camera, irobot Roomba vacuum cleaner. The main problem with the more powerful lithium batteries are that they need to be used otherwise the batteries degrade.
I am away from home for extended periods of time and have to go round the house fully charging batteries and then removing them from appliances. The worst failure has been the very expensive battery in the Roomba circa £100 to replace. My Panasonic water irrigator died too but I was able to pay £30 for a replacement battery on espares.
 
I used to have a small cordless vac downstairs for cleaning spills etc on rugs in the living room rather than dragging the Dyson downstairs. Hopeless. I then bought an equally small corded vac and it was terrific. This was years ago but I have never bought cordless since. I appreciate though that the technology may have come a long way since I made that decision.
 
I have a cordless Dyson which I like due to its portability.It is great to carry upstairs and is very powerful.The downside is,after 3 years of daily use the battery is almost depleted and doesn't charge fully and the trigger fails.My corded Dyson is 10 years old and still works fine.To suggest corded gadgets are obsolete is ridiculous really.Many of these items depend on batteries which eventually need replacing whereas corded gadgets work on mains electric which is usually more dependable.Wifi connections for some cordless items also need to be available at all times.I think we will always have a market for corded items because when our cordless ones break down or malfunction it is useful to have an alternative available at home.QVC should make up their minds which cordless is the best anyway.They are extolling the virtues of Dyson one minute,then telling us Gtec 's the greatest
the next !!
 
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Cordless vacs, IMO, will never be as powerful as mains powered. I used a cordless for small jobs, but nothing gets the carpets clean like the 2.5Kw corded vac.

And I suspect replacement batteries for all these cordless items are going to be like ink in printers - the devices are dirt cheap to buy but replacement spare batteries will cost a King's ransom. And you have to pay or else buy a whole new device for yet more. That's assuming you can even find a replacement battery - thinking of those Bernini fountains.

Also, when they demo these vacs, why do they only ever show things like M&Ms, smarties or nuts and bolts. Never those little pieces of fluff or thread that stick to the carpet as though they've been glued down.
 
Seems as though most people's experiences are similar to mine. I'm not impressed by cordless technology at all. The only cordless thing I have now is the vacuum for my vehicles. I had a cheap one from the Argos Value range for the last 3 years and decided to "upgrade" when I saw a cheap one in Lidl. The old vac really struggled but did the job - just about. The new one is a lot better and was worth every penny of the £14.99 I paid. Now I can charge it in 4 hours (as opposed to 19 hours for the old one) and it's more powerful.

Now it's even easier to keep the vehicles immaculate!

As for Satnavs, they are rubbish when it comes to built-in batteries. Plug them in, I say!
 
I saw an JML-style infomercial for a cordless food mixed. The selling point was that you don't have to unplug your other kitchen products to use it! I mean really They said it would also be good for mixing things outside in the garden! Who does that? And what are you going to do when you want to recharge it? PLUG IT IN! I'm sick of all this push towards cordless technology. Apart from in certain circumstances, it's no good and a waste of money. Same with electric cars. Awful ****** things. Give me a petrol engine any day.
 
Haven't Dyson recently stopped production of corded vacuum cleaners? Yeah....just googled it, and they are indeed stopping making corded vacs.

This might be partly due to the EU sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong, and forcing vac manufacturers to quite drastically reduce the wattage they can use.

I agree that corded is better than cordless. But I must admit that the Hoover cordless one that I have is pretty good. But it does have the powered brush head which I think is essential if you go for a cordless vac.
 
Haven't Dyson recently stopped production of corded vacuum cleaners? Yeah....just googled it, and they are indeed stopping making corded vacs.

This might be partly due to the EU sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong, and forcing vac manufacturers to quite drastically reduce the wattage they can use.

I agree that corded is better than cordless. But I must admit that the Hoover cordless one that I have is pretty good. But it does have the powered brush head which I think is essential if you go for a cordless vac.

When I went to Luxembourg recently I rented an apartment which has a cordless Dyson, and it was perfectly good, however it would not have the longevity my Henry vacuum has seen - 21 years and still going!
 
i am a fan of dyson cleaners and recently bought a basic stick around £170. i would never go back to a corded as i have mobility issues and stairs. the basic stick is the best cleaner i have ever had. i also like the fact you got a separate dusting kit so you can clean your hard and soft furniture thoroughly and with ease. even if i only get 3 years from it i will buy it again. normally if the cleaners break its a blockage. every single bit of the dyson can be taken apart and cleaned. all the filters, canister, the cleaning head. this shows the quality of the build. its cheaper to make everything sealed. i had a miele and it was heavy, unreliable and cost a fortune in bags.
 
i am a fan of dyson cleaners and recently bought a basic stick around £170. i would never go back to a corded as i have mobility issues and stairs. the basic stick is the best cleaner i have ever had. i also like the fact you got a separate dusting kit so you can clean your hard and soft furniture thoroughly and with ease. even if i only get 3 years from it i will buy it again. normally if the cleaners break its a blockage. every single bit of the dyson can be taken apart and cleaned. all the filters, canister, the cleaning head. this shows the quality of the build. its cheaper to make everything sealed. i had a miele and it was heavy, unreliable and cost a fortune in bags.

I'm like you - corded are too difficult for me to use these days. I must admit I wish Dyson would give the option of having an on-all-the-time trigger, though.

OH pulls the heavy pre-EU wattage monster out for a real good clean every few months but I'm always pleasantly surprised by how little there is in the cannister after cleaning. It proves that the cordless does do the job well enough for me.

Wireless is so handy for most things, but it does have its cons like charging a lot or losing signal. I'd still prefer wireless for ease of use.

ETA: My Dyson is one of the early models and is still going strong - but now I've said that...
 
I saw an JML-style infomercial for a cordless food mixed. The selling point was that you don't have to unplug your other kitchen products to use it! I mean really They said it would also be good for mixing things outside in the garden! Who does that? And what are you going to do when you want to recharge it? PLUG IT IN! I'm sick of all this push towards cordless technology. Apart from in certain circumstances, it's no good and a waste of money. Same with electric cars. Awful ****** things. Give me a petrol engine any day.
We have a Toyota Hybrid car Petrol/electric it’s the best car ever so economical and it doesn’t have to be plugged in as most people tend to think as it generates its own power. We have numerous WiFi/cordless gadgets and have not had any trouble with them.
 
Up until 3 years ago I always had a corded vacuum, however not being young anymore, lugging a very weighty vacuum upstairs felt like climbing Everest with a tv on your back. I now have 2 G Tech vacuums (upstairs and downstairs) which has made life so much easier.

Also living on my own, I've had the drudgery of keeping the grass cut back and front for decades, which meant getting extension cables sorted and having windows open to plug them in indoors. Last year I bought a G Tech lawnmower, and again a job that could take me the good part of an hour, I can now complete in less than half the time, and with less effort, the mower is in the garage and I just insert the battery and I'm off !! All my other household appliances have cords though.
 

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