imreasztar's Full Review: Rowenta DX9800 Iron with Auto Shut-off
The thing is with irons, that when you buy one, you probably won't buy another one in the next 10 or 20 years. So if I buy one, it must serve for long, there is no second bet - this is why I chose the Rowenta DX-9300 (DX-9800 in the USA). Here you are my experiences after 6 months of use.
Rowenta is a German manufacturer, producing household equipment from vacuum cleaners to coffee machines. (http://www.rowenta.com) They are known here in Europe to be a leader in innovation for irons, as they always made the fanciest irons ever. The Rowenta Perfect DX9300 (9800) is no exception, it excels in several fields: powerful steam, big water tank, excellent manual controls and safety features.
Powerful Steam Engine
The difference between today's irons lies in the amount of steam they can produce, and this is a feature which comes at a cost if you want to increase it. More steam means more wrinkle free clothes, so stronger is better. Industrial irons which have the separate steam engine (not integrated into the iron itself) work at an average steam pressure of 100 g/m2, which makes your clothes perfect instantly.
Commercial irons are not able to provide such a strong steam pressure; instead they have a softer average steam and a stronger steam shot function. Average irons range from 15 to 30 g/m2 average steam pressure and can give a shot of 70-90 g/m2. The Rowenta Perfect shows the main difference here, as it provides you 40 g/m2 average steam pressure, which is the highest you can find, and a steam shot of 100 g/m2.
In use, the difference really shows, the +25% of average steam pressure makes clothes much easier to iron. The steam shot is not so useful to me, as there must be a 15-20 second wait between shots, and the anti calc system pushes the calc out from the iron (onto the clothes). However, this is annoying anti-calc thing is the same for every iron on the market; manufacturers could really come it with a solution for this.
The heat up time is very fast: 45 secs after plugging in, the irons is ready for work (highest temperature + steam) from room temperature. The control LEDs give you feedback over the temperature - Yellow: wait, heating up; Green: ok; Red: wait, cooling down.
The power consumption is of 2400 W (strong), but I don’t care about electrical power, what counts to me is the heat up time and the power of the steam.
To ease your work, the iron is also of considerable weight, this saves you from pressing the iron on your clothes and ironing is less tiring.
The sole plate is made of platinum and is anti-scratch, but all irons have today some kind of a fancy called anti-scratch sole plate.
Big Water Tank
Another nice part of this iron is the water tank. First, it has one of the biggest water tank ever, 400 ml; usually it ranges between 200-300 ml. However you do need the bigger tank because of the stronger steam, which consumes the water up faster. Also, the bigger tank means heavier iron, which makes ironing easier.
Then, the lid works like an on-off button, very easy to operate, I really like it. I don't like those 'door' designs of the Philips irons for example, or those irons that have a hole (open tank) for the water. Here the water tank is perfectly closed, there is no water leaking out.
Excellent Manual Controls
What makes this iron excellent to use are the controls - you have every switch under the touch of your thumb:
- temperature (synthetic, silk, wool, cotton or linen)
- steam volume (0 to max)
- steam shot
- cool water shot
I also love that it has fully manual switches. I do think that these kinds of machines around the house should have big manual switches, instead of fancy small buttons with a tiny LCD screen and menus. What I love is an ‘electronic brain' inside the machine controlled with manual buttons. I think these new washing machines and digital cameras with the LCD screen and the menu system is not the right direction, a 'working horse' should be very clear and easy to use, with a dedicated switch/button/dial for every important feature.
The advantages of manual switches over LCD/menu like interfaces:
- it never forgets settings when you switch it off
- you can see settings from a distance (ex. temperature)
- easy to operate; when I work, I don't want to lose time looking for buttons or wondering in the menu system, what I want is set&go!
So, Rowenta did something very well here, big-big kudos!
Safety/Control Features (copied from the manual):
* Anti-Drip System: Prevents spitting or leaking when the thermostat is on a low temperature setting.
* 3-Way Auto-Off: Turns the iron off in 8 minutes if vertical and 30 seconds if horizontal or tipped over.
* Vertical Steam: Allows iron to be used in upright position to remove wrinkles from drapes and hanging garments.
* Variable Steam: Allows for greater flexibility when ironing a variety of fabrics such as wool, silk and thick layers at the seams and waistbands.
In fact, I think these shouldn’t be extra comfort features, but had to be integrated into all irons on the market, especially the Auto-Off feature for security. What is more, I’d go further and I’d love to hear a warning beep when the iron is left alone.
The Auto-Off has however a double effect – on one it makes my iron safer to use, however, on the other hand I am less vigilant during use. With my old iron, it never happened that I left it alone, with the Rowenta, it happened a couple of times. The Auto-Off has one negative effect. If you don’t move the iron for 30 seconds, it turns the heating off. However, if you iron very softly and slowly (delicate clothes), it detects ‘no move’ and turns off, and I have to ‘shake’ the iron a bit to turn it on again. But I rather shake my iron if it saves me from my apartment burning down.
What I liked:
- 40 g/m2 average steam pressure (strongest on the market)
- 100 g/m2 steam shot (strongest on the market)
- 400 ml water tank (one of the biggest on the market)
- heavy weight
- yellow-green-red leds showing too low, correct or too high tempratures
- all buttons under thumb control
- very fast heat-up phase
- auto-off
- excellent price/performance ratio
What I missed/disliked:
- no warning beep when left alone
- strong sound of steam when turning up into vertical parking position
- instead of continuous/automatic calc removal, I'd prefer one-time calc removal, with a button to start the anti-calc function
Summary
Because average steam pressure is the most important factor for an iron, the Rowenta Perfect DX-9300 (9800) is a very good choice being the most powerful on the market (Apr 2005). However, other features are also excellent and makes this iron a very good value for your money. If you have the bucks, go for it!
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