Vacuum cleaner

[Andy & Carol]

Our Dirt Devil upright is about to give up its ghost...Any advise on the new models out there ?

A lot of them lookes as though they came from Captain's Kirks Enterprise...

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Every brand has a new model every year.

[buffalobill]

[Mark Lloyd]

I use a 5-gallon ShopVac for everything. It's easier to handle than an upright.

[professorpaul]

We have a couple of Oreks. Bought one at store, the other refurbished over the Internet (for upstairs, so we don't have to cart it up and down). We live at the DE shore on the Atlantic ocean. LOTS of sand (small furry dog, grandchildren, etc.). Picks things up as nice as you please. However, on shag carpet (one bedroom), it is a trifle difficult to push, as there is no self-propel feature. On tighter carpets, floors, you can't beat it. Local outlet here, so no problem getting bags, a spare belt, etc. Have had it for about 5 years now, and no problems. Simple design is good...

[tnom]

Stay away from the bag less types. They can defeat their own purpose of cleaning because they can get messy when emptying the canister and cleaning the filter.

[Art]

Check Consumer Reports at your local library for their ratings.

[C & E]

Ditto that!! Even when emptying outside you can see a huge dust cloud all around the person. The filter folds get clogged with strings of compacted dust which have to be picked out or blown out with compressed air. I call them 'dust boogies' (as opposed to "dust bunnies"). We took it to the cabin for minimal use. Bought the sears top-end cannister and we are very happy with it. Never tought we'd care for a cannister - let alone a Sear - but it's very effective and self propelled. A small, handheld power head is great for furniture. About $425.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Ditto on that. Nothing but headaches with so called bagless. I tried two of different brand and spent lots of time, cleaning filters, unclogging, went back to bagged one. House has built-in system but I need another upright one for light occasional cleaning.

[CJT]

I thought their claim to fame is that they're super light so carting them around is easy.

We live at the DE shore on the Atlantic ocean. LOTS of sand

FWIW, I use a Hoover commercial model I bought for ten bucks at the bankruptcy sale of a local merchant, and it works just fine. I'm not convinced all the allegedly high tech models can beat old fashioned reliability.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

I've got a Dyson that is easy to empty... no cloud either. You guys must be doing it wrong.

[krw]

We have a Dyson for the downstairs. My wife loves it. A couple of months ago I found that Orec had a deal with my employer ($150 delivered) so I picked one up for the upstairs. It seemed kinda "cheap" (I suppose light has that feel ;) but it works quite well. We also have local stores (I think, one went out of business) so I wasn't worried about bags or belts. They're common enough that the consumables should be easy to find.

[hallerb]

note no one mentioned fixing old dirt devil:(

I have hoover elite, nice model works fine. pick up used working ones at flea markets garage sales for 5 to 10 bucks. canibalize for parts keeping mine and a bunch of friends working really cheap.

parts from dealer are costly this way parts are near free.

its easy to do sometimes the flea sweepers come with new paper bags.

I stick to one model so all parts are interchangeable and I am now a EXPERT at that one model.:)

sad few fix things these days, perhaps i enjoy the challenge

[Rich256]

A magazine (Money?) had something just a while ago and they said Eureka was the best even though it was about the cheapest.

[jd karnes]

go to a vacuum store and look at the supralite by riccar made in usa. it uses bags. a good upright