Firstly, it is important to say that in the main we have been really pleased with this Vax PWR blade 4 and are glad we purchased it. We have had it for about 18 months now and in terms of convenience and ease of use in normal operation (for a quick vac all around the house or in one particular room) it is really good. However, we also have a ‘Hetty’ (Henry) type vacuum too and I think we would struggle if we didn’t have both. We have found a few drawbacks with the Vax:
1a. Brush bar – gets clogged very quickly (at least in our house) – I have my wife two daughters and a springer spaniel and it seems I am forever removing the brush bar because it gets quickly clogged with hair, bits of cotton / string etc and if you don’t deal with this regularly the brush bar stops picking up and eventually jams.
1b. Brush bar and 3 year warranty issues – also the brush bar started making some very bad noises and had to be replaced – we had the ‘3 year’ extended warranty so I thought it would be free of charge but when you read the small print the 3 years warranty only covers the ‘main unit and not accessories’ – Vax counts the brush bar as an accessory (which I was very frustrated at because clearly it is not an accessory and is integral to the vacuum) and despite the fact it was just a few days out of its one year warranty Vax were unprepared to replace it for me so buying one from them wasn’t cheap – really disappointed with Vax on this one
2. Poor hand held Vacuum – despite how it looks on the video, I was really disappointed at how difficult it is to turn the normal vacuum into a hand held ‘dust buster’ type vacuum (it is quite stiff and difficult to pull apart – you have to wrestle with it and use quite a bit of force) and then how poorly it performs when you do. I have tried it around the house a few times (to get the collecting dust off bit of carpet next to skirting board that the vax with brush bar doesn’t seem to get) and in the end I find it easier to lug out the Hetty than use the Vax for this. Also when buying this I had one eye on being to easily and quickly vacuum the car – tried it a few times but reverted back to our Hetty vacuum because it was so difficult to do and didn’t do a very good job
3. High power drains charge. Battery life is excellent on normal power, but if you use it on high power then it drains very quickly – high power is really great in terms of suction but you would have to move quickly to vacuum a whole house on this setting
4. Constant emptying – we have had to get in the habit of emptying the vacuum every time we use it as it does not have much capacity at all and soon gets full. The dust collector unit is quite easy to remove but the dust and debris doesn’t often simply ‘fall out’ so you need to be prepared to pull at the fluff etc or take the top bit off and remove the centre section which then gets a bit faffy. Replacing the dust collector can be a bit tricky at first but once you get the hang of it usually happens quite easily.
As I say, we are generally pleased but be aware of those issues before you buy