I bought my wife a new Philips steam iron from Clicks yesterday. They had 3 in stock, one on display and two more in torn open boxes. Two series 1900 irons had chipped soles so I took the unchipped item and put it in the Philips box which had the least amount of damage. The shop assistant was unable to re-pack the thing.
The previous iron was also a Philips steam iron and lasted for at least 10 or more years.
Here are the differences:
1) The old had an ac cord of 2.2m - the new iron's cord is 1.75m necessitating a re-arrangement of my wife's ironing room.
2) The old iron's water receptacle allowed water to be added from a small beaker with the iron in a vertical position and the maximum water level clearly marked horizontally. No cover over the water input orifice was required. The new iron's water input orifice is enormous - 'tap-sized' and vertical with the iron in the horizontal position. It has a cover which falls off each time one opens it. The maximum fill mark is almost invisible and orientated horizontally with the iron in the vertical position. So the damned thing must be filled 'under tap' as the handbook says, while holding the iron horizontally. To determine the water level, the iron must be turned vertically but this is not stated in the handbook.
3) The control legends for steam, more steam, no steam and 'de-calc' are almost illegible as the symbols are moulded into the rippled, poorly moulded white plastic surround without highlighting them in a contrasting colour.
4) The de-calc function on the old Philips - although used rarely - was simple to use. One twists the control knob to de-calc, pull upwards and pump it up and down a few times. The new 'improved' rubbish iron has a similar function but when you turn the control to that position the entire knob and tube comes out. The handbook says nothing about the de-calc function other than showing the knob position for this function.
Goodbye Philips iron. I'm taking the thing back as I'm not going to impose these irritations and plain stupid design on my wife.
mafioso
The previous iron was also a Philips steam iron and lasted for at least 10 or more years.
Here are the differences:
1) The old had an ac cord of 2.2m - the new iron's cord is 1.75m necessitating a re-arrangement of my wife's ironing room.
2) The old iron's water receptacle allowed water to be added from a small beaker with the iron in a vertical position and the maximum water level clearly marked horizontally. No cover over the water input orifice was required. The new iron's water input orifice is enormous - 'tap-sized' and vertical with the iron in the horizontal position. It has a cover which falls off each time one opens it. The maximum fill mark is almost invisible and orientated horizontally with the iron in the vertical position. So the damned thing must be filled 'under tap' as the handbook says, while holding the iron horizontally. To determine the water level, the iron must be turned vertically but this is not stated in the handbook.
3) The control legends for steam, more steam, no steam and 'de-calc' are almost illegible as the symbols are moulded into the rippled, poorly moulded white plastic surround without highlighting them in a contrasting colour.
4) The de-calc function on the old Philips - although used rarely - was simple to use. One twists the control knob to de-calc, pull upwards and pump it up and down a few times. The new 'improved' rubbish iron has a similar function but when you turn the control to that position the entire knob and tube comes out. The handbook says nothing about the de-calc function other than showing the knob position for this function.
Goodbye Philips iron. I'm taking the thing back as I'm not going to impose these irritations and plain stupid design on my wife.
mafioso
