Rated 5 out of 5 by happysouls from Viva Ironing! First time user of a steam iron, I've always had a really basic cheap iron, just enough to do the job and since its never broken I've just carried on using it, but glaring at it often. The Philips PerfectCare Viva iron is a complete refreshing change! The Philips PerfectCare Viva is mid range price and features wise. It seems a suprisingly large unit on taking it out of the box and I was concerned it would not fit on the ironing board however no problem there and it seemed quite secure. I unpacked all the pieces and sat and looked at all the instructions, some on the box, some on the Quick Start Guide and some in the user manual. Never having used or even seen something like this before I wanted to be sure of what I was doing before introducing steam into the equation! Okay, easy enough. So here are my points of observation as the ironing progressed! The cords to plug in the iron and attach the iron to the water tank are a good length and I wouldn't anticipate any problems with that. I like the velcro attached to the mains cord for wrapping it away and the supply hose that connects the iron to the water tank tidys away into the base of the water tank unit. The water tank is a very generous size and easy to fill (and empty afterwards) with a very large opening. Compared to the little pinhole on my basic iron this is lovely and very quick. The tank can be refilled any time as well without interrupting the ironing. The iron ready light is clear to see and the unit is ready to use incredibly quickly. I like that it automatically sets to the eco function (which you can switch off if required) as you might forget to use it otherwise and it saves energy. I love that you can use it on all ironable fabrics without any adjustment necessary! Fantastic feature! With the old iron I had to wait for it to heat up or cool down between garments and check labels for the right settings so this is a great time saver! Strange to use an iron that can be left face down on the ironing board in between use rather than standing up on its end. Safety features have come a long way! From this to the Smart Calc-Clean system for descaling (and the iron telling you when it needs to be done) it seems designed to help you avoid disaster! The trouble shooting guide in the user manual seems to cover any eventuality or concern. I found the iron easy to use and manoeuvre, managing the fiddly bits of collars and sleeves no problem. Strange to get used to the constant steam but it did produce excellent results. Overall very quick and easy and good results, I would recommend it. Whether you do your ironing in a massive batch or a couple of items here and there this iron would be good for getting the job done quickly and easily.

Rated 5 out of 5 by CharlieMouse from Effortless Ironing I had never used a steam generator iron before putting the Philips PerfectCare Viva through its paces and I am impressed with how easy it is use, and how much difference continuous high performance steam makes to powering through a family-sized pile of ironing. The large 1.7 litre capacity water tank is easy to fill via the extra-wide filling hole and the water level is easy to see in the tank. The tank can be topped up at any time which is useful because it does use a lot of water. The iron heats up in two minutes and beeps to let you know it is ready to use. The continuous high performance steam is where the iron really comes into its own. It makes light work of even difficult fabrics. I found it particularly good at ironing cottons that had been over-dried or where creases had been dried in to scrunched-up fabrics. The smooth sole plate means it glides over fabrics effortlessly. It is much quieter than I expected too. The pump noise is barely audible. I found the 1.6 metre hose length more than adequate and the hose storage compartment keeps it tidy when not in use. The optimalTEMP technology is very impressive. There is no temperature dial to adjust, the iron is safe to use on all fabrics, even delicates such as silk. It took me a while to get used to leaving the hot iron directly on the ironing board cover, rather than returning it to the base station, but it is perfectly safe to do so because of the optimalTEMP technology. I live in a medium-hard water area and after four weeks the Calc-Clean button flashed and beeped indicating the Calc-Clean process needed to be performed. This took a couple of minutes and I was amazed how much limescale was produced. The regular prompts to perform the Calc-Clean process will be helpful in prolonging the life of the iron and optimising its performance. The iron has been designed to be used with tap water but distilled or demineralised water is recommended in areas with particularly hard water. The iron uses such a lot of water however that I suspect most people would find the cost of buying such large quantities of distilled/demineralised water prohibitive. The only real fault I can find with the PerfectCare Viva is related to the quantity of steam it produces. I found that the underside of my metal ironing board drips with a build-up of condensation. I have two covers and a layer of felt but even so I have to wipe down the underside of the ironing board after use. I would have liked to see a carry lock to secure the iron to the base station because it is a bit unwieldy to manoeuvre, particularly if there is water in the water tank but this is a minor quibble and I’m very happy with the performance and ease of use of the PerfectCare Viva steam generator iron. The PerfectCare Viva steam generator iron was supplied for the purpose of the review.