Any opinions on vacuums?

Looking for a modern(ish) bagless upright vacuum for my apartment, which is about 90% carpet. Current front-runners are this, or this, or this, or this, or maybe even this, or something along those lines. Note: I can't afford a non-fixit Dyson or Miele, or to buy something new for that matter.

I'm leaning towards the Bissell. Anyone have some opinions on how good these types of things are in a modern context? I don't care how good they were in the '70s or which one is "American made" (hint: none) - which one won't break or be a pain in the butt to use?

All vacuum cleaner shoppers need to start here. Extremely candid vacuum cleaner repair guy talking tech about brands and styles. I bought a Meile at his suggestion and I will never need to buy another vacuum cleaner for the rest of my life.

They suck.

(sorry)

I have a couple of Hoover Windtunnels, one bagged that I got new about 10 years ago, and one bagless that I got last year at a garage sale for $5 (+~$20 of new parts). The bagged one works better, but I'm not sure the garage sale one is performing at 100%. Anyway they seem fine to me.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: They suck. (sorry)

Get one made by Lucas. It won't suck.

We have a Hoover wind tunnel. It does OK. Not sure I would buy another. The vacuum repair shop I took it to had some real nice commercial quality ones. I think I would get one of those.

Oh, we have an Oreck at our other house. That thing weighs nothing and sucks major. I think it would suck start the Sportster. It uses a bag, but for an apartment, I think that would be just about right.

I had a bisell. It wasn't very good. And then it caught on fire.

My mom has a dyson and would spend $400 on it again in a heartbeat. I have a shark that was a copycat of the dyson, it is phenomenal. Probably as good as the dyson.

That's all I know.

I got a Dyson Animal Ball, same as the Multi Floor, but with an extra attachment. I got it refurbished off of Woot! a couple years ago. I thought our old Dirt Devil performed okay, I mean it had stuff in the canister to empty after using it. Then we got the Dyson, holy crap, are we ever disgusting people! The Dyson pulled stuff out of the carpet from people who lived here before us.

It costs a little more, they're plastic-y, and I'm sure some "professional" vacuum out performs it, but I'm completely satisfied.

I never had any luck with the Bissell uprights. Best bargain upright I'm aware of is that Eureka "the boss" smartvac. The hose isn't great and the attachments are pretty cheap.

The Dyson we bought to replace it when the plastic parts started breaking cleans miles better and is easier to use.

I will say that inexpensive bagless uprights are awful.

bigdaddylee82 wrote: I got a Dyson Animal Ball, same as the Multi Floor, but with an extra attachment. I got it refurbished off of Woot! a couple years ago. I thought our old Dirt Devil performed okay, I mean it had stuff in the canister to empty after using it. Then we got the Dyson, holy crap, are we ever disgusting people! The Dyson pulled stuff out of the carpet from people who lived here before us. It costs a little more, they're plastic-y, and I'm sure some "professional" vacuum out performs it, but I'm completely satisfied.

That's the same one I have. It is amazing. When we first got it I'd vacuum with our old crappy40 walmart one, then go right over it after with the dyson, it would pull out all kinds of more crap. I know people hate on them, but we've never had a problem , knock on wood

We have a cheapy eureka airspeed 1 from Wal-Mart that's good. Its so powerful it pulls itself along. Cost like $60 at Wal-Mart

I bought a factory-refurb Oreck for under $100. yes, it uses bags. yes, that's part of what makes them so good. Bagless vacuums are inherently a compromise.

There are dogs and cats and the dust of the desert. The thing never skips a beat.

I've had a Kirby Millenium for about 15 years. It's old school and HEAVY, but that just makes it more manly in my mind. As for cleaning power, I'd estimate it picks up more than any other vacuum going.

wetpossum wrote: All vacuum cleaner shoppers need to start here. Extremely candid vacuum cleaner repair guy talking tech about brands and styles. I bought a Meile at his suggestion and I will never need to buy another vacuum cleaner for the rest of my life.

Dammit. All this post does is make me feel like I've settled for less if I dont buy a Miele. And also think way too long and hard about vacuums.

failboat wrote:

wetpossum wrote: All vacuum cleaner shoppers need to start here. Extremely candid vacuum cleaner repair guy talking tech about brands and styles. I bought a Meile at his suggestion and I will never need to buy another vacuum cleaner for the rest of my life.

Dammit. All this post does is make me feel like I've settled for less if I dont buy a Miele. And also think way too long and hard about vacuums.

Moms dyson replaced a Miele. It was good, but they dyson is better.

Our shark is awesome!

Ask the guy who fixes them for a living

Seriously, never thought vacuums could be entertaining.

I have one of those! This

It really sucks. In the good way. We've had it for god knows how many years, and have done no repairs to it. It has worked very well for us.

Power cord is very long, hose is just a little shorter than I'd like.

I rigged up a deflector on the exhaust from a piece of packing tape to angle it up, so it doesn't blow things around as I vacuum.

In the spirit of always suspecting the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, I think about replacing it with an old fashioned canister vacuum, so I can more easily go under chairs and such.

All in all, it's been a perfectly fine vacuum cleaner for us.

We have an older version of this thing and it seems to work fine. Doesn't exactly get daily use as we have a Roomba taking care of that when it feels like it and doesn't need new parts.

psteav wrote: Ask the guy who fixes them for a living Seriously, never thought vacuums could be entertaining.

Meile should be paying that guy a commission, I bet he's sold more vacuums for them than any of their employees. And yes, we bought one, too.

We've got a Riccar and it's held up very well with lots of dog hair.

I'd find a good Bissell or Oreck.

We wanted a canister vacuum and after reading reviews about Kenmores we went for this one. It works great but it seems pretty cheaply made and I don't think it will last very long. Next one will be a Meile.

http://www.sears.com/kenmore-canister-vacuum-cleaner-lime/p-02029229000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3

I promise you that you will not regret the purchase of any Miele product. It's not hype.

ONLY ON GRM: "Off of work for the day, let's check GRM one more time before I head home"

30 minutes later - exits reddit

"Well that was a waste of time but I learned a lot about vaccums!"

!#$@!#$

Finished the other reddit page....hilarious but I really should be going home now.