On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:33:11 +0100, Lobster wrote
(in article ):

Ours has conked out again and we've decided this time it needs replacing
(preferably before the laundry bin is full again!)

Can anyone point me at a decent, unbiased "Which?"-type site where I can
read reviews to help me decide which model to go for? All those I've
found through google so far seem very much dealer-led.

Right now we haven't even decided between condensing and vented - from
reading around this it's not clear to me which, if any, is the more
economical to run? Given that I already have a ventilation hole through
the wall, is there any justification for a condensing model?

Then maybe I should be thinking about a gas one - how much cheaper are
the running costs (given that presumably they need CORGI'ing every year
for safety?

Thanks
David

(who probably has about 48 hours to hum and ha over this before he's
told to get his arse out to Comet and not to come back without a new
drier...)

I had a similar distress purchase decision to make about 15 years ago.
There had been an Italian and a "British" product which between them had
lasted 5 years before becoming uneconomic to repair.

The Miele that replaced the last one came with a ten year warranty. During
its 15 year hard life so far it has worked daily, often several times, had
one service call early on to replace a faulty switch. It still looks
brand new and still performs faultlessly.

I have in idle moments looked at reviews from Which etc. but they seem to
have become a lot more subjective than they used to be.

I don't see any reason to mess about with the cheap brands. By the time
once has gone backwards and forwards, hung around for service calls etc. etc.
any possible saving has been eaten up.