Thursday, December 29, 2016

Miele vacuum cleaners, extreme vs "non-extreme"

Currys has two types of Miele Compact C2 Vacuum Cleaners: "Compact C2 Extreme PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner" and "Compact C2 PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner". The difference is in the word "Extreme". They look very similar, so I only discovered when trying to get John Lewis to price match and JL told me:
The MIELE Compact C2 Extreme PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - Blue Product code: 146058 showing on Curry's website is £119.99. The MIELE Compact C2 PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - Marine Blue Product code: 152450 showing on Curry's website (which is the model you purchased from John Lewis) is showing on Curry's website at £199.99.
I have put together a side-by-side of the specs on Currys website. Highlighted in green things that are listed with different wording but should actually be the same. Highlighted in yellow items that are different. Main difference seems to be maximum power 1.6kW vs 1.2kW and size. So the "Extreme" model looks on paper smaller and more powerful.

Since the "Extreme" version is not on the Miele website, it's hard to compare specs exactly. This picked my interest so I called Miele. They told me the "Extreme" is a special version made exclusively for Dixons Currys PC World in the UK.

The size of the vacuum cleaner, although listed differently by Currys, should be the exactly the same across the two models.

The maximum power however is different. I am not sure whether it is actually a different motor (would have to buy both, open it up and look inside) and Miele could not confirm. But I am told by Miele that both motors would run at a similar power (around 1.1kW) in normal circumstances, however when they encounter "resistance" the extreme model goes up to 1.6kW while the non-extreme model only to 1.2kW.

Also note that several other retailers (e.g. Tesco) don't sell the non-extreme version but still list the Compact C2 as 1.6kW maxium power, which according to the above, is incorrect.

This is as far as I got - posting here for posterity.


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

ABC

Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed. We will rigorously handle capital allocation and work to make sure each business is executing well.
abc.xyz
Charlie and I mainly attend to capital allocation and the care and feeding of our key managers. Most of these managers are happiest when they are left alone to run their businesses, and that is customarily just how we leave them.
www.berkshirehathaway.com/owners.html

Sunday, July 05, 2015

Openhab alsa/amplifier link

A simple openhab script that monitors the ALSA sound device and switches on an amplifier if there is something playing. If there isn't anything playing, wait 10 minutes and then turn off.
.items
Switch WemoAmp "Amplifier" { wemo="WemoAmplifier" }


.rules


rule "Switch off amplifier if alsa not playing for 10min"
when
    Item Alsa_State changed or
    System started
then
     logInfo("alsaMonitor", "state changed: " + Alsa_State.state)

    if(Alsa_State.state=='STOPPED') {
       logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Start timer for amp switch off")
        timer = createTimer(now.plusMinutes(10)) [|
              logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Switch off amp")
              sendCommand(WemoAmp,OFF)
        ]   
    } else if(Alsa_State.state=='RUNNING') {
    if(timer!=null) {
        logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Cancel amp switch off")
        timer.cancel
        timer = null
        }   
    logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Turn on amp")
    sendCommand(WemoAmp,ON)
    }   
end


Tuesday, June 25, 2013