Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update April 30, 2014: I can't believe this vacuum is almost two and a half years old already. It's holding up extremely well. Impressed with how clean it stays inside the canister--not a lot of dust and debris like we've had with some vacuums. I guess the bag seals well at the entry point, the filtration system is good. There have been no problems at all with this device. ---- My wife and I have been using the OptiFlow canister vacuum cleaner for a few weeks now, and we agree that it competes quite well with the CR-recommended Sears unit we also own. We like to keep two vacuums: one for upstairs and one for downstairs most of the year, and then we take one of them to our little summer cabin to use there during the summer. As mentioned elsewhere, there's lots of plastic in this device. Advantages: 1. Good sucking power--not as strong as the other device we have, but probably 90 or 95% as much. A close second. 2. Good power brush action, helping to pick up dirt/debris(?) from our carpeted rooms. 3. Good wood-floor action (i.e., the option to vacuum without the power brush on, scraping the floor) 4. Good placement of attachments. We're both undisciplined and often forget to put attachments back in their designated holders and then can't find them again--or, more precisely, we can't remember which one is the new one that fits the new vacuum and which ones are the old attachments from old vacuum cleaners we haven't had for years. We're trying to force ourselves to PUT THEM BACK in place when we finish with each attachment. 5. Nice long power plug that retracts easily with a wide foot pedal/retractor 6. HEPA filter and filtered bags 7. The bag is large and also easy to change Disadvantages: 1. It doesn't glide along the carpet as smoothly as does our Sears unit (and, who knows, Panasonic may even make the Sears unit--you never know these days; the vacuums seem remarkably similar in quite a few ways). 2. Can't think of another disadvantage!