Vacuum Cleaner has broken, Henry's any good?

[Kaged]

As above really, vacuum cleaners just this minute gone and we need a quick replacement without spending too much, are Henry's any good?

If it helps, we have a long haired cat.

Thanks!

[flearider]

get a vax off ebuyer pet6 .. £65 .. like it better than the old dyson ..

[Barry]

We have had plenty of types of vacuums from vax's to top end hover ones and our Henry is far better (imo)

[g8ina]

Hate Henry's. Love Vaxs. Dysons I can take or leave ...

[Spank]

Henry's are great on office carpet, but crap on home carpet.

[Whiternoise]

Yep, industrial love, but not great at home. We've got a Miele, cost a bit extra, but it's insanely good (and well built - circa 10 years and still going)... Don't waste money on a Dyson.

[Funkstar]

The thing i miss from my Dyson is the beater head on our rugs for lifting our dogs hair.

I cleaned our car out with the Henry when we first got him. Our car is usually completely minging because of the dog and four kids and regular trips to the beach. Henry does anamazing job at cleaning it up, even sucks up the odd chicken nugget

[Kaged]

Thanks all, I've passed this onto my wife

[Golden Dragoon]

Henrys are durable I'll give them that, I have bought my sister 3 vacums over the last few years and a hard life with her 3 monsterous offspring* and 2 american bulls killed them all in 9-12 months, then 2 years ago we got her a Henry instead of an upright and it has taken many knocks and been attacked by the monsters and the dogs, fallen down stairs and even had a pot of boiling water dropped on it and it is still going strong, it is missing an eye though.

*I may be exaggerating just a tiny bit with this bit

[Glent]

I wouldn't use one at home, we have one at work. It's lasted years very durable. Little OOT for home though

[AlexGTR]

My mum used Dysons for quite a few years and spent a fortune on them. She decided to get a Henry after the Dysons constantly breaking and he is still soldiering on after a good few years.

[vicar]

Henry.

[Agent]

My experience is:

Henry - Great for the work place. Reliable. Annoying for home carpet but fine on laminate. Average at picking up around the home compared to others.
Dyson - Really matters which model. Great CS if they go wrong, but expensive. Easy to clean out the different parts due to exposed clips. The 'pet' variations aren't as good as you'd expect. Day to day use they are fine, but they are being outclassed by other manufacturers for cheaper now.
Miele - Fantastic but bags are expensive. 3rd party bags will void your warranty and I've not seen any that match the official ones in terms of quality.
Vax - The new models are fantastic. Get one that has the motor attached to the head and they pick up almost anything, including all the pet hairs the Dyson misses!. Replacement parts are very cheap and easy to get. Easy to clean. Often on offer on the Vax website and Argos. Downside is that they can be heavy and even though easy to clean, messy. Filters are cheap

We have both a Vax and a Dyson. I'd go with the Vax if I had to pick one, which is surprising as it's a vastly cheaper model.

[Saracen]

I'd put in a vote for Sebo. They're not well-known (in the UK) but are very good (IMHO) quality. They're not especially cheap (think typical Dyson pricing, but certainly not Kirby) but well-built and work well.

[watercooled]

Much as everyone else has said really, it depends what surfaces you're looking to vacuum. Hard floor to thin carpets Henry would be hard to beat, but thick carpets you'd be better with the extra suction power and a motorised head. Our Vax upright has lasted for years but is quite heavy and IMO incredibly loud - I have to wear my ear defenders or the noise is very uncomfortable, especially in smaller rooms.

I'm not terribly keen on bagless (although my experience is limited to a couple of models TBF), while you save money on bags, you have to replace filters and they tend to be messy - we have a cheap second Tesco vacuum I use to clean out the fine dust which constantly clogs up the HEPA filter on about a weekly basis, especially if you overfill the dust container.

I think Dyson are quite overpriced for what they are now, I could probably justify it if they were still made in UK but based on current reliability (or lack thereof) and much cheaper competition, they're probably not worth it for most people.

Kirby are AFAIK horrendously/laughably overpriced chunks of iron with almost criminal marketing in USA and a pretty terribly company.

I'm also looking to get a new one, and ATM I'm leaning towards Henry, not perfect as we have a fairly thick carpet on stairs/landing, or a well-reviewed model from another company, Vax/Hoover or whatever.

[Saracen]

....

Kirby are AFAIK horrendously/laughably overpriced chunks of iron with almost criminal marketing in USA and a pretty terribly company.
....

Never had one personally, as I won't pay that for any vacuum cleaner. But a friend has had several (upgrading periodically) and he swears by them. And he is a discerning type of consumer that does his research, is a canny buyer that will save money where he can but pays for quality when needed, and whose opinion I trust.

And they do have advantages. They are very well built, are (apparently) best-suited for heavy-duty use (he has long-haired dogs), can be serviced and indeed, there's a regular service plan, and seem to maintain pretty good second-hand prices. A used one several years old is probably still dearer than a new Dyson.

I have trouble seeing the logic of paying that much (or anywhere near it), but if that friend rates them, I have to conclude he has a darn good reason to do so, as he's no-one's fool.