<p>Criteria:</p>
<p>Lightweight
Handles stairs
Handles carpet
Handles hardwood floors
Hose attachments so you can vacuum the ceiling
Easy to empty
No bags to buy
Strong, strong, strong suction
Won’t break after just a few years
Doesn’t need constant (or frequent) servicing</p>
<p>Dyson? Electrolux? Dirt Devil? Hoover? Eureka?</p>
<p>Or – heresy – is there no difference at all?</p>
<p>I’ve been married almost 30 years and I’ve never figured out the answer to this question.</p>
<p>I’m tired of any vacuum that won’t handle long hair (i.e. it gets tangled up in the rotating brush heads). I’m ready to try a Dyson.</p>
<p>I like my Miele.</p>
<p>A large dog, or, perhaps a family of possums?</p>
<p>Why do you like your Miele??</p>
<p>LTS: You mean that a large dog or a family of possums can effectively act like a vacuum cleaner? We have discussed getting sheep so we don’t have to get a lawn mower, but i hadn’t heard about the possums before. :)</p>
<p>I have an electrolux canister type and like it. My sister has an Electrolux central vac. and she claims that it is the best because it VENTS OUTSIDE. I don’t know the answer to the hair problem. The Dyson has a rotary brush doesn’t it?</p>
<p>Well, I can tell you it’s NOT the Hoover widepath…my most recent vacuum purchase.</p>
<p>Here’s what you do want…a bagged vacuum cleaner…these canisters are the nastiest things to empty out…dirt and dust flying everywhere! You know you have made the wrong coice when you have to use your husbands Shop-Vac to clean out your own canister. You also want metal parts, not the plastic junk that they replaced our mother’s workhorses with.</p>
<p>My girlfriend has a Oreck and loves it. I think they are pretty steep in price but it does come with a great guarantee. I read a consumer reports or a good housekeeping article rating the various choices out there and they were not particularly impressed with the Dyson…so it will be interesting to see what others who have it think of it.</p>
<p>How hard could it be to come up with an excellent vacuum cleaner? We send people into space every year and we’re still stuck with cruddy dust suckers!</p>
<p>I have a central vac (NuTone) and recommend one if it’s workable in your house. A central vac vents to the outside so there’s no issue of dust particles flying around in the house (good for asthmatics). They also have larger motors for more powerful suction and have a much larger bag that needs to be changed infrequently. Because you’re not carrying around a motor the piece you hold is lightweight. Central vacuums aren’t cheap though and need to be ‘built-in’ to the house but it’s possible to retrofit some houses depending on access.</p>
<p>Seems like just yesterday we were talking about this - but I see this thread is from 2005! It’s still interesting though. I’d love to hear from some of the old posters - do they still like their Dysons?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=65465[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=65465</a></p>
<p>We had a Dyson which we replaced with a Simplicity model 7. The problem with a Dyson is that repairs are ridiculous. Need a new belt - it is a modular unit that costs $125 to replace. As the machine is used, suction power is compromised as the canister fills. Also, without a bag, the motor ends up with a lot of dirt in it (a problem with all “bagless” machines). The Simplicity 7 works great ans we can see a noticeable difference in the cleanliness of our carpets and upholstery. The model 7 is heavy but Simplicity makes lighter units.</p>
<p>It’s three years later and we still love our Dyson. No repairs yet and the suction is still very strong. The best part of it, however, is the fact that my husband bought the vacuum and is VERY attached to it. I didn’t vacuum for three months after he bought it because he really enjoyed seeing all the dirt being pulled from our carpets. He still does more than his fair share (greater than 50%) of the vacuuming!</p>
<p>My husband runs technology for a large company that has, from time to time, tried its hand in the vacuum business. He says there are no good ones. In head-to-head testing the Dyson and Oreck are particularly bad. We own a Hoover, because Consumer Reports rates it highest (or did when we bought it). It surely is not lightweight and I can’t otherwise rave either–my current one is about three years old and has been serviced once. The one before it, also a Hoover, only lasted about 5 years. I also have a NuTone central vac which I choose not to use. I don’t think it does a good job, but my neighbor loves hers. It doesn’t leave “swishes” on my carpet, which makes me doubt that it’s picking up much. Conventional wisdom says the canister vacs are better than the uprights. If you find one you love, let me know!</p>
<p>I also love my Miele. It is an engineering marvel. All the attachments fit inside it and I bought an extra metal hose so I can vacuum way up on my 11 ft. ceilings and picture rails. In 10 years I’ve had to get small problems repaired and the repairs were done quickly and inexpensively in the shop where I bought it. It was very expensive but the salesman said that I would own it for 20 years and I think he is probably right. The salesman demonstrated its durability by swinging it around above his head by its hose which greatly impressed my husband! I do have to buy bags for it but that doesn’t bother me at all.
(I should mention that I have a dog who sheds like crazy and the Miele keeps up with the hair just fine.)</p>
<p>Our Eureka was a gift from my MIL when we were newlyweds. That makes it about 28 years old, and it still works great. We did have to change the electrical cord about 10 years ago. Maybe it still works because it is so simple – no drapery cleaner, no real ability to vacuum hardwood floors, and a simple bag.</p>
<p>As a hobbyist woodworker, I do have some opinions and experience with dust collection. The Dyson works on the principle of a vortex, which is pretty good as a pre-separator that sorts out the larger particles, but they are lousy at getting rid of small particles. If you want to get rid of skin dust (most house dust is shed particles of human skin), mites, and mite feces, you will need a filter medium. In woodworking shops, the best dust collectors filter down to the one micron size. I would be really surprised if the Dyson gets particles smaller than 30-50 microns.</p>
<p>At least vacuum cleaner filter bags are usually cheap. The replacement dust canisters for my shop vac (5 micron) are about $10 each.</p>
<p>Sister’s advice Bissell- bagless
About $50 Walmart</p>
<p>Sister had long haired St Bernard (a small pony) for years, and she was a fanatic about dog hair- bought many, many MANY vacuums over the years, and this is her “experienced” opinion.
Just bought one for my mother last week at Walmart :)</p>
<p>Gave up on all the bagless, etc. Hoover, and all those. Just went back to the old reliable sears canister. Love it. It has a spot on the handle for carpet or off or wood floor. Cord sucks back into it when you push the button. Has a separate little attachment if you have stairs, and it has an option for removing the brush and just using the tube.<br>
Prior to this one I had a hoover wind tunnel (hated it) and an industrial hotel housekeeping model that you can’t normally buy. The hotel one was great but it didn’t have a separate tube attachment.</p>
<p>I’ve had my Dyson for a couple of years now and love it. I am still amazed at how much dirt it gets out of my carpets. With 4 Ds (lots of hair!), even though not all of them are here all the time anymore, and 4 dogs, I’ve never had a vacuum that worked as well. I also have a central vac system and it doesn’t compare to the Dyson, so I never use it anymore.</p>
<p>my goodness. I thought I was the only one who worried about this. Now I see the perfect vacuum is elusive. I have three; don’t like any of them. H was gotten so frustrating that he kneels with the little hand held.</p>
<p>My h vacuums. He swears by “his” dyson b/c our kids have allergies. It really is excellent and leaves everything so much cleaner.</p>
<p>Now, if you are talking about SUCKING POWER, you want to go get yourself a Fein Turbo III (<a href=“http://www.feinus.com/p/newdustfree/New-977.htm)%5B/url%5D”>http://www.feinus.com/p/newdustfree/New-977.htm)</a>. It might actually suck the varnish off an oak floor.</p>
<p>Of course, if you want to stop goofing around, you want an Oneida XXK150300 15hp system: <a href=“http://www.oneida-air.com/products/systems/15_direct_drive/15hp_direct_drive.htm[/url]”>http://www.oneida-air.com/products/systems/15_direct_drive/15hp_direct_drive.htm</a>.</p>