Recommendations?

What are some good name brand items? 

Coffee maker
Iron
Vacuum
Washer/Dryer
TV

Basically anything that needs to be plugged into the wall.  We plan on just buying that stuff when we move over.

We are having to buy our white goods and are going with Samsung.  (Already own a Samsung television.)  We feel Samsung is a good balance of price and quality (and warranty!)  I'm sure others will have their own recommendations. 

Kenwood and Tefal have proved reliable, reasonably priced and are also stylish.

for a vacuum, definitely NOT a VAX. I bought a Henry, which I had years ago when I first lived in the UK, and I still love. Good all rounder,and now you can get a model with a beater bar. Far cheaper than a Dyson and many other models.

Tefal & Kenwood appliances are pretty decent. Coffee makers -  I have a DeLonghi...cheap and cheerful, but difficult to fill. Toasters are a pain; many don't actually accept a normal sized piece of bread. The best one we found was Morrison's own brand, and cheaper than the 'name brands'.

Samsung makes a great TV, but so does LG, Panasonic and many others. I personally don't think there's a lot to differentiate between brands once you decide what features you want.

Oh, now we bought one of those pet Vax models. I'm really happy with it.

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Iron

Philips

Vacuum

Dyson

TV

Panasonic

For a washer I'd go for Indesit, had 2 that have lasted ages and good price as well. Latest washer is a Beko and that seems good as well.

TV - I have a new Samsung which is excellent.

Morphy Richards are good for smaller kitchen appliances such as coffee maker, toaster, kettle

We have a Dualit espresso/cappuccino machine which is good. Also I love my KitchenAid toaster, blender and stand mixer more than all of my other possessions put together.

I suppose this stuff all depends on budget and features you want.  


I bought 4 years ago a Russel Hobbs coffee maker, it gets a lot of abuse, but still makes great coffee.  It's your bog standard run of the mill drip coffee machine.  

Washer/Dryer- my landlord just installed a Hoover brand, and its quite nice actually. I know he didn't spend a fortune on it.  (Your house/flat may have one already when you move?)

The flat has a Dyson animal and its brilliant.  

TV- Samsung
Vacuum- Dyson. I really wish we had the space to get an upright "american" vacuum, but we don't, so we have a Dyson that is made of like 4 different pieces! It drives me nuts but I think its probably the best for what it is.

If you're serious about wanting to choose specific brands, you may want to pay a bit for a Which? subscription.  They test brands and do reviews of the products across the board. It's a very good place for brand comparison.

If you're serious about wanting to choose specific brands, you may want to pay a bit for a Which? subscription.  They test brands and do reviews of the products across the board. It's a very good place for brand comparison.

I agree, and you can subscribe for short periods to do research rather than having to subscribe for a year at a time.

We went with Bosch for washing machine and dishwasher, Indesit for refrigerator/freezer, and Sony for our TV.

My father in law used to be an industrial vacuum cleaner salesman, and got us a Dakota, which is similar to a Henry, but bigger.  It looks a bit like a Black & Decker shop-vac, and it's awesome!

I have a dualit toaster, it's really awesome, but they have two "brands" basically so you need to do some research and buy one made in the factory in the UK and not one which is just made in china and not worth the money.

My kettle is by Bosch as the boy wanted one you could heat to different temperatures (For coffee) it is really neatly designed.

Coffee maker

Meh, we didn't have good luck (for one reason or another) with drip coffeemakers here. We use a cafetiere now with a little insulated jacket if we are having more than one cup each.

Iron

I think we might have a Philips but I'm not 100% sure. I find irons much of a muchness. YMMV.

Vacuum

We have an upright Dyson.

Washer/Dryer

Ours is a Miele, both in one unit. It works very well, but it was not cheap. We had a Hoover before that & it crapped out fairly early on us - after about 7 years.

Our dishwasher is a Bosch & we love it - we got it secondhand.

We have a matching set Russell Hobbs kettle & toaster.  I don't remember what our TV is.

Another vote for Which membership if you're that bothered about what's good now. It's like the UK counterpart to Consumer Reports in the US.

I sadly suggest you avoid Smeg - http://www.smeguk.com/products/

There products look REALLY great, but they are VERY overpriced, and they TOTALLY fall apart.

We have all of their products in our house in Worthing, and they give us nothing but trouble.