<p>I have a 15 yr old sears upright canister with HEPA filter. I have replaced the belts a few times and replaced the roll brush just recently. I removed the Hepa filter and never replaced it (expensive). It continues to do the job. No complaints.</p>
<p>At first I read the post from sax and thought he/she was using the vacuum without the bag. Wondered about that… .but ha, it says “Hepa filter”. </p>
<p>Per another thread, we are looking at dishwashers, and I’ve really appreciated the various inputs. So to provide similar help on vacuums I’m bumping this thread to say that the canister model that we recently purchased and described in prior threads is on sale again. The Kenmore Progressive bagged canister (#02021613, the “purple” one) is $269 / regular $369. </p>
<p>We got ours on a Sunday night special where there was another 10% off on all appliances. Although we rarely do so, we added extended warranty coverage too. </p>
<p>Sears has other uprights on sale too.</p>
<p>The bride and I swear by Oreck</p>
<p>We would have liked to check out the Oreck vacuums. But we didn’t see them at our local stores. </p>
<p>Originally we had considered Dyson upright vacuum. But I read a lot of complaints about part breakage. My friend loves hers for Dyson for pet hair pickup, but she wishes she had purchased the Best Buy extended coverage. She’s had to mail it back to the factory twice.</p>
<p>Oreck’s are only sold at their stores. They are expensive, but you get what you pay for. One drawback is the bar attached to the handle. It’s two pieces and where they come together is a weak spot. They know it because they’ve made a piece to correct the problem (doesn’t correct that well) otherwise the vacuum is good as well as their service.</p>
<p>Oops, they are sold in Costco as well, but the Oreck stores say that the one’s sold at Costco and the like are not the same. I dunno, I have one and it works. What else can I tell you?</p>
<p>We now have three Dyson Animal vacuums, one for home and one for each store. They appear to be indestructible. That is not true of the smaller one, which I managed to kill in less than two months. Returned it to Amazon for a full refund.</p>
<p>Our 5 yr old Dyson is still going strong…</p>
<p>Dyson Animal DC25…AWESOME!!! The only vac I’ll ever own!!!</p>