Argos Value Hairdryer

 I have slightly-longer-than-shoulder-length layered hair that I do very little with, other than washing a couple of times a week. I prefer to leave it to dry naturally as it develops a gentle kind of wave that I quite like, and (most importantly) requires minimal effort. But I also have a fringe, and experience has taught me that if I leave that to dry on its own, even if I attempt to comb it into shape, it looks rather wild, and develops kinks in odd places.

So I use a hair dryer and a round plastic bristled brush just to dry my fringe.  It takes a total of about five minutes each week.

 

SAD DEMISE OF PREVIOUS HAIR DRYER

Unfortunately, a few months ago, I could tell that the inexpensive hair dryer which I had been using for the past five or six years was on its last legs. It didn’t always come on at once when I turned it on, and there were some slightly odd smells emanating from it. Not wanting the risk of a fire, I knew I would have to buy a new one soon - but hair dryers are quite expensive in Cyprus. So I waited until we were visiting the UK at the end of August, and took the first opportunity I had to pop into Argos.

CHEAP HAIRDRYERS AT ARGOS

I looked first at a branded hairdryer that was a little under £8, on special offer. Seemed like a good deal. 

Unfortunately, when I typed in the code to see if it was available, I was told that it was out of stock.  

However, the automated system suggested I look instead at the Argos Value compact dryer, model CHD211, which cost £3.97.  I found the page in the catalogue - it wasn’t with the main hair dryer section - and it looked as if it would do the job. 

THREE POUNDS NINETY-SEVEN

Yes, that’s right. Under four pounds. It somehow didn’t seem right to pay such a low price - I wondered if it would be complete junk. Yet Argos guarantees their products, with a no-quibble refund, if necessary, within the first couple of weeks. So... I shrugged, and decided to buy it. I figured that even if it only lasted a few months, I wouldn’t have lost much.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND USE

Once I had extracted it from the box, the hair dryer was bigger than I had expected. It was, however, lighter in weight than my previous one. It had a nozzle to allow for styling, a fairly short cord, and a 1200 watt motor. There are two speed settings labelled 1 and 2, with 0 being the ‘off’ default.  

So, after I washed my hair, I plugged the hair dryer in and switched it on. My first impression was that it was surprisingly quiet. Perhaps it was just by comparison with my previous one, which had become quite noisy in its old age. 

My second impression was that it didn’t seem to be doing much... the low setting was a lot lower than I was used to.  I tried the high setting and it seemed to work well: my fringe dried nicely, in about the same time as it used to take with the low setting on my old hair dryer. If anything, it was easier, since the nozzle allowed the air to be more focused in one direction. 

A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER

So here we are, at the start of November, and my hairdryer is now an established part of the household. I have continued to use it in my low key way, and it has continued to work in its gentle style. I am now regularly using the lower setting after all: the lack of strong power or heat has to be a good thing from the perspective of my hair, even if it takes a little longer than it does on the high setting. 

WHAT ELSE CAN A HAIRDRYER BE USED FOR?

When I wrote on Facebook - as you do - that I’d just paid a massive £3.97 for a new hairdryer, a relative who has virtually no hair left commented ironically, asking what a hairdryer was. 

A good friend, who never uses one for her hair either, responded: 'It’s a machine that blows out hot air for various purposes, such as drying socks in the winter, drying a painting of an impatient artist, re-melting a wax coating to smooth it out, etc.'

On a slightly less pleasant note, I know from my own experience that a hairdryer is also a useful device in the battle against Athlete’s Foot, ensuring that the gaps between toes are completely dried before donning socks. I’m told, too, that a hot hairdryer  held close to the crown for a few seconds can also stun head lice and may possibly destroy any lingering eggs. 

So... even if you don’t have hair that requires a dryer, you may find that this is still a vital gadget in your home. 

NOT SO GOOD FOR LONG HAIR

Reviews of this hair dryer at the Argos site are almost unanimously positive for everyone who just wants to dry short hair or a fringe. However, there are complaints from people with long hair, saying that the device tends to overheat after about five minutes of continuous use, and that with the relatively low power, it can take an extremely long time. 

CONCLUSIONS

This hairdryer is, undoubtedly, excellent value. If you style your hair extensively or have lengthy locks requiring a lot of drying, you would probably do better with something more powerful than this. However, if you only use a hair ryer for a couple of minutes at a time, or want an extra inexpensive one for travelling, this is ideal. It suits me perfectly, and I look forward to a long and happy relationship with my value dryer. 

2022 UPDATE

My value hairdryer lasted about eight years with regular - if infrequent - usage, as described above. Then, one day, it stopped working. It is no longer available at Argos or anywhere else, as far as I tell, but the general principle of the review still holds: for relatively low usage, a cheap hairdryer is likely to last as long as a more expensive one. Even if it only survives the two year warranty period, it can still be excellent value.

Ups and downs

The Christmas cake looks as though it turned out fine. I turned the oven off after four hours, but left the cake in as it cooled down. This morning I wrapped it in greaseproof paper and foil, and put it in an airtight container. Other than feeding a couple of times with more brandy (if I remember) I don't need to worry about it again until a few days before Christmas, when I'll do the marzipan and icing.

So that's one thing to cross off my list.

I also wrote three cards. That means there are only about 75 left to do.

I went to the PO Box this afternoon, expecting a few items I'd ordered from Play.com to have arrived. As I got there, I remembered that Richard's colleague still has my PO Box key, which we gave him while we were away so he could check for mail. Very irritating. But I did post a parcel to Daniel (a few music books we'd ordered that arrived just after we left, and a CD Tim has made for him).

Which reminds me, anyone who reads his blog, he's updated it a couple of times this week - not much text, but there are a couple of new photos. Not mentioned on his blog is that the Doulos is currently having lifeboat inspections by a company in Italy. The lifeboats are safe (ie they won't sink!), and the crew have been complimented on their hard work, good attitude, and extensive safety training. On the other hand, the lifeboats are very old and may well not pass the new international safety requirements.

On the way back, I popped into Argos. It was nearly three months ago that we ordered a pair of fluted lightshades from them. We were told they would take 4-6 weeks to arrive. Well, I suppose this IS Cyprus. We were just wondering if the order had got lost or forgotten, when I had a phone call yesterday (asking for 'Mrs Shoe') telling me they had arrived. And indeed they had, packed nicely in a carrier bag, for someone called 'Richard-Sue'. I didn't need any identification, and as soon as I said Richard's name they produced it. That's a good side of life in Cyprus: tust and friendliness.

I also started uploading photos this afternoon, to DirectFoto, so I could order some prints, something I intend to do every couple of months, but keep forgetting. Unfortunately I got in a muddle as I apparently uploaded some before, which I didn't order. And my computer started complaining that it was low on virtual memory - something that happens relatively often when I have Picasa open. Bah. I left the rest till tomorrow.

I wrote the Christmas family newsletter, complete with photographs, about a week ago. Tim set up the colour deskjet printer on the 'guest' computer which runs Windows 98. My computer runs Windows 2000, and for some reason the deskjet printer won't work with that, so I have the black only laserjet printer on my desk.

But no problem, I emailed the newsletter to myself on gmail, then retrieved it on the guest computer.

I could probably have got hold of it somehow through the network. But it seemed easier to do something I understood, and I wanted to see what it looked like as an email attachment anyway.

When I printed it, the black ink looked smudgy. Tim installed a cleaning/setup thingy - the printer hadn't been used since we moved in July - but it made no difference. Indeed, each test print was slightly worse than the previous one. Evidently we needed a new black cartridge. We've had one refilled for the past few years, but I recalled that it wasn't very good last time, and it clearly hasn't lasted well, so it's probably at the end of its life.

But a new cartridge for this rather old printer costs over £20 in Cyprus. If they're even still available. The colour one will probably run out before long, too, and it costs even more to replace new. Which is totally ridiculous, since we can buy a new deskjet printer, complete with new cartridges, for under £40. Truly we live in a disposable society.

Tim suggested I take the file to the photocopy shop and have it printed there. But last time I asked about colour copies, they quoted me 50c per page. 80 copies at 50c each... that too would cost more than a new printer.

But we don't WANT a new colour printer. We only use it once a year. It was an impasse...

However Richard and his colleague have been discussing buying a colour laser printer for the office, for publicity (among other things). They were given a good price, and decided to order one so we can all print our Christmas newsletters on them. Assuming it arrives tomorrow. I might even get our cards and newsletters posted before the 'last posting date', which would be unusual.

Just to round off a rather mixed day, Tim was finishing the last few words of the third assignments for his theology degree course when his ibook notebook computer failed. Dramatically. The mouse ball thing refused to work at first, and when he tried to save his latest version using the keyboard, he got a grey screen (apparently the Apple equivalent of 'Blue Screen of Death') and couldn't do anything other than switch off. When he switched on again, the same thing happened. And again.

Richard thinks it's a hard drive problem. But, alas, the computer is just one month out of warranty. Even worse, there's no Apple repair centre in Cyprus. If it had gone a few weeks ago we could have taken it to the excellent Apple centre in Singapore...

So now Tim's downloading something (on my computer) to enable him to save all his data. Then he'll try reformatting and see if that helps. But he's very frustrated, particularly as he was within about an hour of emailing his essay to the course tutor. It's due tomorrow, though he may be able to get an extension if he has to work on the computer all day.

General updates

Richard's been away for a week, with a heavy round of meetings in Cairo and Tunis. He got back this morning, pretty tired but otherwise fine. He's brought some rather bright material from Cairo to use in the studio room downstairs, which he's going to soundproof. Possibly this weekend since there's a stack of fibreglass padding lying in the kitchen, and a load of other clutter, and we have someone coming to stay next week...

We told him about the new Argos and decided to go and peruse the catalogue in the shop itself. It really looks nothing like a British Argos store - no little booth things to check catalogues, no obvious system for ordering or for products to be produced. Just a table in the corner with a couple of ladies chatting in Greek, and a friendly dog roaming around the store. Then there were a few stacks of merchandise, some of which didn't look at all like Argos products.

But the catalogues were the new Autumn/Winter 2006 ones, and they said we were welcome to sit at another table and browse. We asked if they could get all the products easily, and they said that they had some here, and there are more at their main store in Nicosia. But if we want items that aren't already in Cyprus, it will be a 4-6 week wait, and if we want furniture it will be a two-month wait.

Ok....

We found some lightshades we liked, and decided to order those. We looked at mirrors but didn't see any we really liked. We browsed various other things - the catalogue is so much nicer than the online search facility - but decided in the end just to start with the one small order, and see how long it really does take.

Having made the order, we were given a free catalogue to bring home, so we can browse more at our leisure. They also gave us a free sunshade thing for the car windscreen (something we'd been looking out for but hadn't found) - advertising some completely different company.

I'm not sure that Argos will catch on at all in Cyprus .. but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Next we went to the Thrift Store to see if there was a suitable bedside table for Tim. We'd seen several last time we were there. This time there were only a couple of possibilities, and he didn't really like either of them. He says he doesn't really need a bedside table. However we did find a nice mirror and also a much better watering can than the one we had already. That's how shopping often seems to work here: we go looking for one thing, and find something completely different that we couldn't find when we were looking for it.

Argos in Cyprus!

Note: I see that this post is still getting results from search engines. So I should mention, perhaps, that the Argos in Larnaka apparently closed down at least a year ago. It probably wasn't economically viable in Cyprus.  The notice on the window says 'Enoikazetai' - to let. 

I went to the Post Office this morning, and on the way back walked on the shady side of the main road. I noticed a newish shop, one I'd glanced at before, with a sign outside saying 'Argos'. A Greek-sounding name, so I hadn't thought too much about it, but today I realised that the sign is exactly the same as that of the British Argos stores.

I noticed, moreoever, that behind the smoked glass windows there was a variety of merchandise - kitchen appliances, garden equipment, and other random bits and pieces that looked remarkably like the kinds of things sold in the familiar Argos.

Intrigued, I went and had a closer look. There, by one of the windows, was a whole pile of green catalogues. And yes, printed on them was the Argos UK web-site address!

Alas, the store didn't open until 8.30am and it was only eight o'clock. So I came home and told Tim about it. He decided to go and look for himself - it's only about ten minutes' walk from our house - and set off. He hoped to pick up a catalogue, but when he returned half an hour later he had only a single sheet of paper. The catalogues, apparently, cost £4 each although a discount of the same amount is then given on the first purchase from the store. He didn't take any money with him, and we don't know if we want to use it anyway. But he had a chat with the lady in charge, and she told him that the prices will be related to the catalogue prices - only we'll have to pay in Cyprus pounds rather than sterling. An increase of about 20% on current exchange rates, but that takes into account the shipping from the UK.

They have a warehouse at the back, but as they're relatively new, they won't hold all stock and so goods may need to be ordered. And they hope to give away free catalogues eventually, but at present can't afford to do so as they have to bring those from the UK too.

Argos isn't the cheapest place for many items in the UK, but it's considerably better value than many stores in Cyprus. Moreover, it has some things that simply can't be bought anywhere else. So we'll be having a good browse of the UK website, and may well return...

Considering Canon cameras....

Following the sad (and annoying) loss of our digital camera on holiday last week, I've been pondering replacing it. Thanks to generous relatives I have some birthday and Christmas money unspent, as well as some - unexpectedly - in honour of our 25th anniversary.

The choice is overwhelming. There are several well-known quality camera manufacturers - Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Canon, etc - who each seem to make a huge variety of digital cameras. I tried researching on Amazon UK, Ciao UK and Dooyoo UK, but they didn't help. It seems that most people are happy with whatever they've bought, and they all have similar features within any price range.

I asked on an online forum, and was directed to the excellent DPReview site. Here, up to ten cameras can be selected from a lengthy list, and compared side to side. Some of them have online galleries, most of them have brief reviews. There's also a way of selecting by features and price, to narrow down the selection.

However I was also advised to have a look at actual cameras, see what appealed, find out how easy they were for me to use. So this morning we went into the town and visited three or four camera shops. There aren't any huge electrical stores that sell dozens of options - instead each shop seemed to sell from just a couple of manufacturers, and only one or two models. Prices were much higher than in the UK, but we didn't expect to buy one here unless offered a considerable discount. I found in handling them that I didn't like the very light ones. They seemed fiddly, and I thought they would be difficult to hold still. My 35mm camera weighs about 250g, and the lost digital was about the same; I decided that was around the weight I was looking for.

We jotted down brands and prices, and came back to compare with Amazon UK. Most of the models here are no longer available in the UK, apparently, and if they are they're about 75% of the price.

So we went back to DPReview, and checked the galleries. I have a high-resolution flatscreen monitor on this computer, so differences in quality were quite amazing. Not that any of the photos in the galleries were bad - they were all at least as good as our old camera, mostly better.

But there were just a few cameras which stood out as being stunning - unbelievably sharp, excellent colour, a real delight on the screen. Every one of them was, to our surprise, a Canon. Even at the cheapest ranges and lowest megapixels, Canon stood out from the rest in photo quality.

So now we've narrowed the vast choice down to four, all of them by Canon: A85, A95, A510 and A520. The latter two are newer models, but they all look excellent. The A520 is a little beyond our expected price-range, but then again if it's good enough for enlarged prints, I wouldn't need to use my 35mm camera at all, and that would save costs over the next few years.

To my surprise, it seems as though Amazon UK has the best prices for these cameras. They won't deliver cameras outside the UK, but that's OK: we'll be back there in October, or may be able to get a delivery sent to someone coming out here. The only places cheaper are one or two online shops that only deliver within the UK to the registered credit card address. Even more surprisingly, Argos - supposedly the discount catalogue store - is significantly more expensive than anywhere else!

Any comments about these cameras, positive or negative, would be very welcome.

Food Processor

We didn't have a food processor until about six months ago. Well, we did when we lived in the UK, but I hardly ever used it. It seemed like such a hassle, somehow. But last year we saw a Moulinex Ovatio Duo  for £24 at the Thrift Store after noticing how useful they were to other people... 

On Sunday I first used it to squeeze our daily six oranges for early morning juice. Then I used it to squeeze five lemons, since I had the juicing attachments in place and only needed to give them a quick rinse from the orange juice. Tim needed one for some stuffing, I needed four for the lemon meringue pies I was making for lunch. Then I washed it out quickly and put in the plastic blade so I could make pastry. So easy in a food processor - none of that messy rubbing-in, just a quick whizz and a ball of pastry appears. 

 Then Tim used it to make two types of stuffing for the chicken. Breadcrumbs, lightly fried onions, lemon, mushrooms - just whizzed together. Then he did the same for some sage and onion stuffing. As Tim pointed out, I could also have used it for whisking the egg whites to make the meringue, but I actually used my little hand mixer for that as it's more controllable. 

 This morning I made orange juice as usual, then having been out to buy some pears I made our 'live porridge' for breakfast: nuts, seeds, raisins, pears. And a few strawberries to make it slightly more attractive, since strawberries are now in season in Cyprus. Yum!