Well, what can I say? This is my forth vac in the last 6 years, my latest being a Dyson upright (over twice the price of this), which was too heavy and tended to chew up my carpet. Don't fall for Dyson, that's all I'm going to say.As for this little corker, where do I start? I'd known about Henry before as he's appeared in most offices I've worked in and shops I've shopped in. Surely that meant something I thought? Absolutely right.
Don't be fooled by his size, colour and kid like grin - Henry means business! Believe everything you read about him.
After much deliberation over which type to get (having 2 very hairy cats) I opted for the regular HVR200-22. The '-22' is important as this is the latest 1200w version with Hi/Lo switch. ...And I've just tried it out.
First, my solid wood floors, it worked effortlessly, taking up everything. The great thing is that the main floor tool/brush sucks from every side so room corners are handled quickly.
Next, the stairs and carpets. OK, a little more hard work now but this is because a have quite a deep pile. Still, I thought this might be an issue and I did consider both the HenryXtra (with the air driven 'Airo' brush) and the Henry Hound (with the electic Turbo brush), but I prefered to stick with the basic model (I wanted it Red with nothing more than the word 'Henry' on it, my god, I've been more particular about this than the last car I bought!) however I have ordered seperately an 'Airo' brush (also in red with a cute smile) which apparently is suitable for most Henry types, so remember you can always add an extra at a later date if you find you need to.
Cat hair - no problem, went over it once, not a trace left!
And finally, I tried it quickly on the lino in my bathroom, and just as with the wood floors, no problem!
As for noise levels, I'm amazed. It's so quiet (even more so on the 70% 'Lo' setting) - the cats don't run away. In fact, at one point I thought it'd lost it's suction because there wasn't much noise coming from the end of the hose.
I haven't tried all the tools, but I quickly tried the crevice tool for clearing up some cat litter. Once you've taken the main hose off, blimey, then you feel it's power! (I wouldn't put it anywhere near your face though!)
This is a superb all rounder and I think he's gonna be with me for a long long time. He is British made. All parts of him feel sturdy, somewhat heavy duty (although he's not heavy) and are of quality. When you take him out of his box, he's all set to go. Fantastic!
So go for it, you definitely won't regret it. And remember to get the latest -22 version with the green Hi/Lo switch because some high street retailers don't mention this in their descriptions and you may end up one with an earlier/lower wattage. Great!
