Jim E Mac—August 13, 2024
ASIN# B07KG2X2GZ Black+Decker dustbuster QuickClean Cordless Handheld Vacuum (HNVC215B10) I've been looking for an inexpensive rechargeable hand vac for a while now. I had a hard time justifying the money, since I have several corded hand vacs that I don't use. They all come with attachments that I have to break out every time I use them, and they also have to be plugged in which negates the reason I need them - for quick and easy pick ups. This Dust Buster has been on my shopping list for quite some time. I had an unexpected refund in the form of an Amazon gift card and it was more than enough to cover the cost of this, so I decided to finally pull the trigger. I checked out YouTube reviews about this hand vac and some others before I purchased it. I find most product manufacturers make videos that seem quite useless to me, as they're more focused on showing me how cool their stuff , and how cool I'd be if I purchased it, with with overly loud music in the background that has nothing to do with anything, and NOT what the product features or how it works. And most downloadable owners manuals that I can find with the products being sold today seem to be smaller than a Bazooka bubble gum comic strip, so looking those up online beforehand isn't much help either. Reviews are only guidelines, and influence my purchasing decisions, not the final word by any shake of the stick. Unfortunately, the only thing I can truly trust is my own experience, so if a product looks good, I have to buy it to find out if it will suit my needs or not. I really dislike the time and hassle of returning products, so I do as much due diligence up front as possible. But still, there's always some things I miss. Everything is a learning curve I guess, even at my ripe old age. I really didn't do my due diligence on this purchase, I trusted the name, and I am proven wrong about such things a lot lately. Overall this Dust Buster looked like it would be a good purchase. I wanted something to use in the kitchen for crumbs, coffee grounds, on the floor around the edges which are under the cabinets overhang, and cobwebs around the house, corners at the carpet edges where dust seems to accumulate… etc. This seemed like it would do the trick. I am trading on the Dustbuster and Black & Decker names. But being a Black & Decker, and the product name of "Dust Buster", I didn't thoroughly scan the 1 star reviews for chronic issues, and I didn't thoroughly dissect the 10 most recent 5 star reviews for my "reality" test. And when I don't do these two simple things, I usually end up disappointed with the purchase, and sometimes even when I do. So is the case with this. I should know better, too many manufacturers live on a "name" reputation that is no longer valid. We all get played sometimes. I have a coffee press, it makes two cups. But I can't seem to make coffee without spilling some grounds on the countertops. Or popcorn salt either, or popcorn kernels, or powdered spices when cooking, or rice, quinoa, farro…etc… not to mention bread crumbs, and other assorted tidbits that seem to find their way to my kitchen counters from who knows where. That is truly the original intent of these rechargeable hand vacs, is for quick kitchen pickups and for your car. I also have, especially in the spring and summer, many little tiny spiders roaming around the house that I seldom actually see, but they leave their web trails up in my lights, along the ceilings, on walls and in corners. Pesky little critters that they are. And I thought this vacuum would be good for all of the above. I tried it out on that before the battery seemed to drain down, and it worked quite well at removing the web trails, but the battery drained very quickly. And to clarify a question I had, but could not find an accurate answer to among the many reviews, it does come with a small clip on brush attachment as well which worked OK, not great, nothing to write home about. For the record, in my household we have 4x upright home vacuums (one Shark, way overpriced and overrated) 3 handheld corded vacs and 2x wet/dry shop vacs. Don't ask me how or why we have so many. I used this one right out of the box to make sure it worked before I put it in the charger, and I am guessing that it didn't come from the factory with a full charge, because the vacuum started winding down within about 2 minutes. And that was not a constant drain, I turned it on and off, because you must hold the button down to keep it going, a feature I kind of like. It is charging now, there is a red indicator on the charging transformer to tell me it is charging. (it took a total of 10 hours to charge, or 600 minutes as accurately stated in the specs - way too long imho) I will see how long it will last after a full charge. I've come across reviews saying it runs for 8 - 10 minutes on a full charge, but they don't tell me how long it takes for the vacuum to visibly get weaker, which affects the performance. It says in the specs that it takes 10 hours to charge this small battery fully. OMG AYKM? 10 hours to charge a 1.5 amp battery? I have 10,000mAh battery power banks that charge fully in 8 hours, and they are not fast charge. I don't want to use this handheld vac for a few minutes and then have to wait till the next day to use it again. I also didn't realize that I'd have to take out the filter and clean it frequently during use as stated in the sparse owners manual. I'm not thrilled about that. It is also a cheap, flimsy filter, made with material that is very thin and seems like it might be prone to ripping and tearing. So right now what I am seeing is a hand vac with a fast battery drain and a very slow charge. Not what I am looking for. I also didn't realize that this HAS TO BE PLACED in its charging stand to charge, what year is this again? And I don't really have anywhere good in my kitchen to hang this, and it needs the weight of the vac to make contact with the charging terminals. Or I can just lay it on a counter and hold the vac snuggly to it with rubber bands, which is what I ended up doing for its first full 10 hour charge. And that might be the deal breaker right there. I'd like a more traditional USB C charger, or even an induction charger for this type of device. Once again, I should have examined the details, specs, images and reviews more thoroughly. The vacuum is long enough that I could reach my bedroom ceiling and get those little spider web trails that the ceiling fan blows all over, and the dust that sticks to the smooth wallpaper, without using a step stool or ladder. It doesn't take long for my home ceiling fans to accumulate large quantities of unsightly and sneeze-inducing dust build up along the leading edges of the fan blades. Most of the summer here the temps are routinely over 100 degrees with little relief in the night and most of the household ceiling fans are going pretty much 24/7 throughout the season. And it can be quite the task to get out the regular upright vacs and hold onto them with one hand, with my other hand is using the hose and extension tubes to reach those places. For major cleanings I break out one of our shop vacs with its long hoses and extensions & attachments and some damp rags, get out the ladders and step stools, and have at it. I just did that a few days ago, another major project, and that is when I decided it was time to step up to a cordless rechargeable mini-vac that I can use to make more frequent quick cleanings, so the 'major' cleanings are less of a task. I believe the term here is 'regular maintenance', something I'm remiss about doing on many of my household chores. I just wait until it becomes a big project and then do it, and gripe about it. {I'm also one of those guys, who waits until I completely run out of underwear to toss them in the laundry. A total 'guy thing' or so I've been informed} I will mainly be using this for quick kitchen dry spills, pesky cobwebs, and fast dust removal on my ceiling fans, corners around the floors, and for sawdust and other assorted particles on my garage work bench. But as it stands right now, I'll most likely send this back and opt for the next model up. Or another brand entirely. (I opted for another brand, I am paying for performance and practicality, not a name) As it stands, l'm not all that impressed, I can go 2 stars overall, because it takes 10 hours to recharge a simple low capacity 1.5 amp battery? (there are no specs here or on B&D website stating the battery capacity, if I find that odd and sneaky - I will include an image - the 1500mAh I am quoting is from a customer review and could be incorrect, but I know that there's no way this is more than a 2 amp battery which is still way small for this type of home mini-appliance) And I just can't recommend it, there are plenty of other hand vacs out there for about the same price that might be a better value. Dust Buster's just another product making bank on its name, but using ancient tech. [Think the special FXin the original Star Trek TV show, compared to Star Trek movies now.] But as for me, after using it, I wouldn't buy it again. It doesn't live up to its hype. I might upgrade to the next model DustBuster above this one, but Amazon has many good deals on other brands of hand held vacs. I am going to return this one and have already ordered the other brand. I can't recommend it either. The charging tech is archaic. Hope this review helped you out a bit. Let me know below. It takes a while to create honest, real and comprehensive reviews, and I'd like to know if it's worth it.to continue to create these. FOOTNOTE: I just now noticed that in the images, 2nd and 3rd panels. It states and shows that this comes with a "Pre-filter and a filter" NOPE! it doesn't. Just one flimsy piece of toilet tissue type of material that has to be frequently cleaned held in place by cheap silicone band. DOWN TO ONE STAR. Don't buy this. And I forgot to talk about the performance, because it wasn't impressive. Picked up coffee grounds OK, popcorn kernels. But on spider webs stuck to my ceiling, not so good. The brush attachment bristles are sparce, and only cover a small area. see ya next time peace out, Read more
