Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Overall I'm very pleased with this vacuum. It excels in the areas that are most important in a vacuum - it picks up dirt very well and it is solidly built. I find the second factor (build quality) to be something that's becoming harder to find these days. For example, I had a Hoover bagless canister that performed very well, but lasted less than 3 years before calling it quits. Along the way it started shedding pieces, such as a cracked hose, an on-again, off-again working status for the power head, and so forth. The Panasonic, however, feels very substantial, especially the hose. I know you're not supposed to pull it along by the hose connection, but I do (and I suspect that many others do as well). The hose is made of thick plastic and the end connectors seem very well up to the task of being stressed now and again. This is my second Panasonic vac - the other one is about 2 or 3 years old and works (and looks) as good as it did on day one (albeit some scuffing here and there). Given my past good experience with the brand I expect this model to have a decent life span as well. The power head works very well on all types of carpet that I've tried it on, ranging from a very thin throw rug to a thick pile. The height adjustment is easy to do, and I had no problems finding a setting that cleaned a thin throw rug without having the vac try to consume the rug. This is a bagged unit which I normally don't care for due to the ongoing replacement costs. But, the bag is substantial and holds a lot. Most important, the suction power keeps on going even when the bag is very full. On the plus side, bagged vacs are less messy than bagless, and the exhaust is cleaner due to more filtration. While I don't like having to spend on bags, the pros offset the cons. I've had no problems at all with it picking up pet hair, which for me is 90% of what I use a vac for. Noise levels are decent. It's loud, but not excessive. The main downside for me is that the wand. While it is adjustable, it is just a bit too short for my comfort. It's not a huge problem, but I do feel it in my lower back after using this for a while and having to stoop a bit. (As a comparison point, I'm 6' 2".) The wand grip is solid and comfortable to use. I also find it irksome that the wand with the power head attached is not all the stable - tends to fall over rather than stay in place. It does have a "docking" ability so it stays clipped onto the base when you're not using it (very helpful for minimizing storage space), but if you take a break while using it you need to take care that it does not fall over. Neither of these issues are significant, however, and I see this as easily being a 4.5 star product (rounded up to 5). Highly recommend.