Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As the title says, I'm very picky when it comes to vacuums. I find it hard to understand why vacuum manufacturers can't design a great vacuum - surely they use their products in their own homes ??? And if not, why don't they listen to customer feedback and design accordingly? Ok on to the review. Firstly, note that I've gone back to bagged vacuums. Why? Because I got fed up of emptying bagless canisters into the trash only to have the dust fly everywhere. Irrespective of what bagless manufacturers say - dust DOES fly around - on your clothing, your hands, around you - and it makes a terrible mess. So I'm back to bags - and loving it. Take the bag out (use the bags with the tabs on the end and there no dust at all) and throw them away - simple and no mess. I like this vacumm for many reasons (although there are some shortcomings as we'll see later). 1. It is easy to assemble out of the box- it took about 2 minutes so no big deal for anyone. Attach the attachments in their various positions, place the bag (it comes with one free bag) in the holder and away you go. The body is plastic - but what isn't these days - and it seems sturdy enough. 2. The attachements are basic - hand crevice, air powered roller brush, and hand brush (for curtains etc). They work well - especially the air powered brush (which is good for stairs etc). They attach in various [positions on the front, side, and rear. But see below. 3. There is an on/off switch on the handle which is conveniently placed - as opposed to foot operated switches which can be hard to operate. There is also a brushroll on/off switch which is foot operated and I find my foot slips off sometimes. I wish this was also controlled by a swicth on the handle. 4. There is a bag full indicator - see later -and a height dial on the front of the base - see below. The bag has a so-called 'clean-drop' bag release whereby you don't need to touch the bag when discarding it. I haven't yet got it to drop that easily but I think that's just me. 5. The most important thing in a vacuum is suction and this one doesn't disappoint. Even with the bag full to the pipe, it was sucking away nicely. Put a new bag in and it's very powerful (again). You can see the lines in the carpet as it cleans and you can feel the vacuum pull itself forward slightly as it cleans (although it's not self-propelled). Of course with a 12 amp motor, it will power through wherever and whenever. Full marks here. 6. The other thing I want is edge cleaning and again this comes very close to being great. It doesn't clean right up to the edge on one side but almost does so on the other side - so you may have to turn the vacuum around now and again. It can clean to within about a 1/2 inch of the baseboard (unlike another vacuum I had which left about 2 inches of dirt around the edges!) but I have yet to find a vacuum that does clean right up to the edge on both sides. There is no extendable little brush to pull out - it relies on suction paths within the brush housing. Not bad overall. 7. The vacuum itself is quite light - not too light to be ineffective but light enough that it's easy to push/pull, and carry up the stairs. I don't want a very light vacuum as I find they tend to have such weak suction either becuase the motor isn't powerful enough or because there's no weight on the motor/brush at the front and so the front brush housing keeps lighting off the carpet (as demonstrated by a terrible Kenmore model I have which is being relegated to the garage). You want a front that doesn't lift off the floor and that requires some weight on the front. This vacuum does well in this area. 8. I don't bother with the height adjustment at all on normal / low pile carpets (there are 5 heights). I can understand the need to adjust height if one has deep-pile / shaggy type carpets or rugs, but for 'normal' carpets, I want the brush to beat my carpet fibres as deep as possible and suck up as much as possible. So I keep it on LOW att the time. This works on carpets (helps with 'deep cleaning') and on floors where you want dust and particles to be sucked up and not spit out the back (of course you can also switch the brush off which helps not to 'spit' out). I've not found this to be detrimental to the carpet fibres at all and for 10 years I've generally not changed my setting from low. 9. Having a switching brushroll on or off is very handy as it allows the vacuum to be used for sucking up food particles on hard floors without spitting out the back. It also helps when you use the attachments by allowing all suction to go to the pipe instead of the main motor. And it also helps with preventing wear and tear on the belt when using attachments. I find this feature veryuseful and can't imagine using a vacuum without it now. 10. How long a bag will last depends on how dirty your home is. The first bag I used lasted about 3 months. So at about $1 a bag, it costs us $4 a year in bags - not bad at all - I can live with that considering the purchase price of around $120 for the vacuum, compared to over $200 for the some of the bagless types of vacuums. 11. It has a headlight for lighting up those dark shadowy corners - this may be a gimmick to some but for others, it helps to see under sofas etc. There's no harm in a headlight - at least not that I've ever seen! 12. It will get quite low under sofas etc but, like most vacuums, it will start lifting off the floor at the front when you try to push the handle almost parallel with the floor. But for getting under dining tables or chairs, this is not a problem. The color isn't bad either (mid-blue)! How reliable it will be in the long term only time will tell. Coming from a bagless vacuum that lasted almost 10 years (dirt devil platinum force that was heavy but great), this vacuum has a lot to live up to. But for now it has been 6 months and it's still going strong. The Negatives ? 1. The cable is too short - it should have been another 5-6 feet longer to prevent you having to unplug and replug more often. No big deal but for the cost of $1 or $2 of cable surely the manufacturer could make life much easier for consumers?! The cord isn't retractable but that's not a big deal as it takes all of about 5 seconds to wrap it manually around the handle. 2. As many has already mentioned, the attachment hose is too short. It needs to be able to open up longer as all it does is pull the vacuum when you try to extend it and makes the vacuum fall over if extended more than about 4 feet. Why not make it longer so that it opens easier and extends further. 3. It definitely needs another extention tube so that you don't have to bend down when using the crevice tools. Again, why skimp on what could have been a great vacuum by not including a $2 piece of plastic tube - seriously? - come on Hoover - THINK guys. This can be back-breaking if you're not young anymore! 4. Don't rely on the 'bag full' indicator as it doesn't work. My bag was full to the inlet pipe and the indicator didn't change color. So it's best to just open the front (with the press of one button) and check it manually every now and again. No big deal really. 5. It really could do with another handle towards the bottom of the upright part to allow easy lifting and control when using the vacuum on the stairs (if not using the attachements as I frequently do). 6. Finally I like vacuums where the brush housing doesn't stick out further than the rear wheels. This saves your furniture from damage when pulling the vacuum backwards by making sure the brush housing doesn't snag on chair legs etc. This one comes close but just misses the mark by having a housing that returns around the brush at a 45 degree angle. There is a rubber 'bumper' guard' but that doesn't help when pulling backwards. It would have been helpful if this edge had been rounded as it still has the potential to snag when pulling backwards. Ideally, there should be no corner and the housing should continue straight back around the rear wheels (ie like a square housing). This would prevent snags completely. In all, I reckon that the improvements would add about $5-10 in cost. Heck, I'd pay another $10 for such improvements as this would make this perhaps the best vacuum around. Is it really that hard?! Come on Hoover - listen to us consumers who use these things in the REAL WORLD !!! - it would make a difference for once. ***UPDATE*** 08/13/2013 Well you can cross negative #5 off the list. The bottom of the light on the vacuum is actually moulded into the shape of a handle - so if you grab the light at the bottom it acts as a handle. I found this out purely by accident when I went to grab the vacuum as it was slipping from my hand. Even more reason to like this vacuum !!!