EEVblog #132 - Delusional Dyson Marketing

[Zyvek]

Bringing up Dyson has hit one of my hot buttons.

The thing that has always pissed me off about their ads are that they either say or strongly imply that he actually invented these technologies.

This reminds me so much of Apple. They do a great job of marketing (technologies) to sheep that aren't really new. I know the technologist in me can't see past that, otherwise I'd also subscribe to the notation that Harley Davidson's motorcycles are worth what people pay for them.

[PeterG]

Regardless of there Marketing, Dyson do make very nice vacuum cleaners. The DC31 Dave has is awesome for cleaning the car mats.  I got the Dyson ball uprite and the DC31 and my wife loves them. I don't have anything bad to say about Dyson but we have only had them for just over a year so far.

Just my 2 cents

[cybergibbons]

Dyson vacuums are strange. They really seem to polarise people. I think they are badly performing, fragile, expensive, and hard to repair. I can't see why people think they are more powerful or clog less easily - you start off with less power than a conventional vacuum, and it reduces more quickly than a normal vacuum! They are also very poor at filtering dust.

Also, every time you empty them, you need to be careful because half of the finer dust ends up airbourne! I much prefer removing a bag and binning it whole.

There's so many parts in them that if you need to repair one it will take a while working out what to order. Compare to a Numatic Henry, where I can call them up and describe the part (the black plastic thingamy that holds the final filter etc.) and they can send it out!

I think the reason is the high cost - and I see people do this all the time. They spend a lot of money on a product and believe it HAS to be good. It doesn't matter that it isn't, it's all in the mind. People do the same with cars as well - overlook fairly significant issues because after all, it's a BMW/VW/Mercedes...

[the_raptor]

Air Multipliers (their new insanely priced fan)?

I have been at a hotel for most of the past week and so have been watching broadcast TV and seen the ads for these things. The marketing gimmick here is "conventional fans chop the air and produce micro-gusts, our air multiplier doesn't!". Which left me thinking who actually gives a shit about the gusts from a fan? I actually like them because they don't let my skin sensitise to the air flow and so I feel I am being cooled more. Also most wind (at least around here) isn't constant velocity anyway so a fan IMO gives a more "natural" air flow.

[E.L.Brown]

I remember reading an article in a industrial electronics design magazine a couple of month ago - they had some brand new motor design using a PIC to control a brushless DC motor rated for 100.000+ rpm and the pictures in the magazine were almost identical to the pictures shown on the Dyson package .   

So i guess it's true what they say about this "Digital Motor"

If you got no "real" use for this product - 100.000 rpm is the right choice for a PCB drill . . . 

[Lance]

I remember reading an article in a industrial electronics design magazine a couple of month ago - they had some brand new motor design using a PIC to control a brushless DC motor rated for 100.000+ rpm and the pictures in the magazine were almost identical to the pictures shown on the Dyson package .   

So i guess it's true what they say about this "Digital Motor"

If you got no "real" use for this product - 100.000 rpm is the right choice for a PCB drill . . . 

Didn't Dave talk about a Spank-O-Matic in one blog? I wonder how well that product would work with a 100K RPM motor...

[E.L.Brown]

Think about the wide range of applications where this motor could be used - just by reprogramming the PIC . . .

Remote control to change the RPM setting at any time may also be possible .

[openground]

Dyson quote 4.4w/dry.I think it is reasonable to then multiply the total no of drys /day to get a KWhr figure but the bottom line is that the power requirements are small.The specs quote a power requirement of 1600w.This would equate to 360 drys /hr or 4.4w at a 10 second dry (typical figures).This is a Total power requirement PER DAY for the 14 units not 20 kw hrs per unit per hour.About 1250 watts per day per unit.

     My thought was ~500 people 10 times a shift,  is about 14 hours of drying time (@10sec per,) I think?  thats about a hour per unit, so I assume these people do not have set break lunch times or they would spend it waiting in line to use the dryer- albeit with already dry hands... just a thought