Any advice on vacum cleaners?

[jess_g]

My Hoover wind tunnel does a pretty good job but I have been thiniking of replacing it with something with more power and suction. Does anyone have one they would recemend? I need something that works on different types of carpet and can pick up things in corners and next to walls. Any suggestions? I know a little about Dysons and would consider one if they realy are great. Are there any other brands like Dyson to consider?

Thanks,

Jessica.

[BillK]

Love our Dyson DC14 for carpets - and our Miele Carina canister for our hardwood and area rugs.

[brittone2]

We got a great deal on a Dyson and went w/ that. I like it a lot. I would still like a Miele one day...our current house doesn't have a ton of hardwood, but if we move or redo our floors w/ hardwood, I'd like a Miele canister.

[infomama]

Another vote for Dyson. I have pretty bad allergies and I would always have an attack when I used our old vac but ever since I started using the Dyson, I can vacuum with no worries. I love it. We have the animal one (purple) but I am sure they are all wonderful. Our first floor is all Pergo with a few area rugs and the upstairs is carpeted.

[wendibird22]

We have a cheepy Hoover Tempo (http://www.hoover.com/product.aspx?model=U5140900&ds=true). We bought it a few years ago because it was very highly rated in CR...rated much better than the Dysons and other higher end brands. Does a great job with dog hair and the attachments work great. I'd definitely buy it again and for the price it can't be beat IMO. It also has almost a perfect 5 star rating on Amazon with 1200 rating it.

[jmeyer23]

Another vote for Dyson. We have the D14 animal (purple) and it's awesome. If you have a Kohl's near you, the best time to get one is with one of their 30% coupons. My neighbor had a (what she thought was a great) vacuum, and vacuumed with hers, then came and got my Dyson to do a "test", and it was disgusting (but amazing) how much more the Dyson picked up. I couldn't live without it.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

Another Dyson fan!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Mieles are harder to find since I think they're primarily sold by vacuum cleaner shops, but you should try one out. We don't have carpet like you describe, but WOW, I LOVE this thing! There are different heads (which determine the color of the machine you get) for different applications. Mine is a combination head for our hardwoods and area rugs, but I thought the carpet head was nice too.

I thought MIL's Oreck was nice an light (therefore I was more willing to use it!), but it was definitely more of a "carpet" vacuum than one for hardwoods.

If you visit a local vacuum shop, they probably have a "take it home and try it out" program/procedure so you can actually compare how different ones do in your home as opposed to buying it at a great big store, trying it out, wondering if there is something better for your application.

My mom has a Wind Tunnel and I can.not.move the thing. Maybe the self-propelled feature is broken or something, but I feel like it is a tank. Is your pretty smooth?

[ltmommy]

One thing to consider, if you are going to go bagless, is the ease of emptying the container and cost of filters. My first bagless was a Hoover that was HORRIBLE. Every time I emptied the canister I ended up with a huge mess - there were 3 or 4 parts to empty, and the filter never did look (or smell) clean. The whole vaccuum started to stink, and then I found out that replacement filters were like $30!

I finally bought a Dyson DC14. I kind of wish sometimes I had paid extra for the feature that allows you to use the tools more easily (with mine you have to pretty much disassemble everything to use the tools), but it empties so, so, easily - just hold it over the trash, pull the lever, and it all falls in. And the lifetime filter is washable, so when it starts to smell, a quick wash takes care of it.

[brittone2]

In comparison, we also have an old Oreck (hand me down from a family member). That thing is OLD, but still works well on carpet and is very light. THe downside is that IMO it doesn't do great at getting dog hair that accumulates along the baseboards (the Dyson has a little brush on the edges to help grab that better. Maybe Oreck has changed this too by now...).

The other thing w/ Oreck is at leasat until recently they didn't have any attachments. They have a hand held vac, but I've used MIL's (much newer than our actual upright Oreck) and it was not very impressive. I personally have yet to find a decent hand-held vac of any type (that can deal w/ kid messes, dog hair, etc.). So while I like our Oreck, for us it doesn't work great at a stand alone vac because I *need* attachments.

[MCsMom]

Dyson!
I have the original huge yellow one. It still works like a dream and we have 2 cats.
Currently lusting for the new smaller ball one...:bowdown:

[mommylamb]

We've got a dyson animal. DH does the vacuuming, but going off him, it's excellent. The only problem is that it's too strong for area rugs, so he still uses our old Oreck on those. But, wow, it is soooo nasty to see all the crap on your carpets that the dyson picks up.

[jess_g]

Thanks, It sounds like everyone likes their dyson. Can anyone recemend which model to get and which features you use the most? And can someone explain why that Dysons don't have suction? I have never understood that but they always point it out on their tv commercials.

Thanks,

Jessica.