Upright Reviews

This is a horrible vaccum. Avoid at all costs. It won't pick up anything unless you use the hose. Extremely dissapointed in this "product." Had to buy another vaccum a month later this one was so bad... and it blows this thing away. ...

I spent more years selling cleaners than I care to admit. (20) I was a rep for Hoover, so, I've been around the block. This cleaner sells at a retail level for [$$$]. It cleans very well and the filtration is magnificant. East to use, clean and exceptionally quiet. I've recomended it to friends...and yes, they're still friends :)

I have only used this vaccume 3-4 times but on carpet and hard wood floors and it seems to work fine. I also bought it NEW not USED so that might make a difference.

After receiving and assembling my NEW vacuum cleaner, I tested it on my brand NEW wall-to-wall carpeting. After a few seconds, I noticed the motor sounded slightly different. As per the manual's instruction, I checked for obstructions, there were none. I then tested it on my kitchen floor and saw with horror that it was leaving greasy black streaks on the floor. I went into the living room to retrieve the manual and AHHHHH! there was a big black greasy stain on my NEW wall-to-wall carpeting, which will probably never be completely clean. I went back into the kitchen to turn on the vacuum and the motor wouldn't come on! I waited overnight (not just 30 minutes) before trying it again and it still won't come on, but the light is on. I'm currently wandering through the maze of website options and phone options to reach a human being.

I purchased this vacuum from a local dealer (and spent way too much,[$]). Chief complaint is that in order to use the tools, you have to connect BOTH ends of the hose... one to the vacuum and one to the tool you want to attach. You also have to change the bare floors pedal on the nozzle (floor thingy) with your hands. My thumb is sore and I have only had the vacuum 5 days...
It picks up dirt very good, but be careful on rugs with fringes.

This is a very good mid-priced vacuum. We replaced a 3 year old Hoover, and this is definitely a step up. The suction is great, and it's much easier to maneuver than the other vacuums I've used. It's also highly rated by consumer reports. The only real drawback is that the tools are a little bothersome to use, but that's easy to get used to.

This vacuum is very lightweight and looks nice, but it is very weak. I got this to replace my dirt devil hand vac and it seems my hand vac was about 5 times stronger. Where I would only have had to make one stroke with the hand vac to pick something up, I have to run this thing over it 5 times. It won't pick up anything minutely stuck to the carpet (a string). It picks up makes clumps of hair, but doesn't suck them in, so it gathers on the rim and I have to pull it out. There is no bag so when you open up the lid it's very messy and dust goes everywhere. This vacuum would probably work best to pick up little crumbs, but if you plan on using it for anything else, get something else! I recommend a hand vac.

Nice looking product, worked OK for awhile. Rather quickly started falling apart. Burned through many belts, seems to clog really quickly (and is a pain to take apart to unclog). Probably fine for very light work.

This vacuum is more than it's worth! I just got mine today and vacuumed my whole apartment and picked up everything! That is very impressive since I haven't vacuumed in months! Not only is it powerful, the bagless feature is perfect for easy clean-up. It's lightweight and yet gives a heavyweight performance. Excellent!!

You know the saying "You get what you pay for"? Well its true, especially when it comes to this vacuum. It actually wasn't too bad the first couple weeks that I had it. I have short carpeting and it worked rather well on that. However, the bare floor setting is a joke on bare floors- it just sends the dirt flying everywhere. Also, the settings for the accessories (like the extension hose, duster, etc.) is as powerful as a dustbuster. It's next to impossible to maneuver under a coffee table, and if you leave it standing in one place too long you start smelling something, like carpet burning. The worst part is is that 3 months into owning this, I turned it on and it started making a loud cracking noise- I tried to see what was wrong and flicked the switch a couple of times, and black smoke started coming out of it! That was the last time I tried to use it, and I'll never buy a Hoover again!

Do not buy this vacuum- you'll end up like me, looking for another one 3 months later. Pay a little more and get something that will last.

Hoover has hit the mark for the average consumer. This vacuum has the main features you want for a good price. One of my requirements was a bare floor setting because I had carpeting and hardwood floors both. This unit had a wide range of cleaning settings. The weight was very reasonable and the washable alergenic filter was what I was looking for, not Heppa filters as the cost for those is too high. Great unit for the price!
Dave Gacke

I bought the vacuum cleaner last night and assembled it this morning. The instructions were easy to follow (trilingual!)and the unit fitted together easily. It ran the first time time I started it. It is very powerful, much more so than the upright AND canister cleaners it replaced. I like the combination of upright with the flexible hose because less storage space is required. The cleaner performs well to the side, a feature I've not had before. The ON OFF switch seems backward, having to push it down to turn the cleaner off. The unit didn't come with an Allergen Filtration bag and should have. A coupon to buy a package of those bags for a dollar less was included with the documentation. I don't suppose there's a way to have an automatic rewind of the power cord.The unit was purchased at Best Buy as a clearance (not "open box")item.

I bought the Hoover Windtunnel in Sept. of 2003 when we moved to Texas. What a mistake. (Guess I was suckered in by the ads). Anyway, while assembling it (with the assistance of the painters who were painting the interior of our house before we moved in) - I was immediately struck at how cheap it looked. Everything was made of plastic and didn't quite fit right. (Even the painters commented on that.) Since then, I've been extremely disappointed by the fact that the hose keeps coming off. Also, the clip that holds the pipe in place has been broken off by a minor collision with a door. Hair is continually stuck in the brushes and needs to be cut with scissors and drawn out manually (yuck). Also, the suction is way less than desirable. All in all this is without question the WORST vacuum cleaner I've ever owned. (I'm 50 years old and have owned quite a few in my life!)

I love the design and power of this cleaner (only used it once so far). It works and rolls like a charm -- despite reports that it has a loud motor, it is no louder than my old Hoover Dimension.

However, I'm not entirely happy with the bagless design.
After one usage, admittedly dirt-heavy since it was the first time with the more powerful new vac and I have two cats worth of pet hair in the house, the HEPA filter looks pretty dirty. I had to take it out of the assembly and work at getting some fuzz and such off the filter that had made it through the settling chamber and pre-screen. Better now, but I'm unclear on how often I will need to replace that HEPA filter for my usage. The filter is not that expensive (about the same as 3 packs of allergen filtration bags for the equivalent with-bag model) but if I have to replace it every 3 months, that will really add up.

I'm going to try it a couple more times, but if I have to
manually handle the HEPA filter (not just dump out the bin) after each vacuuming, which is tedious and kind of defeats the
purpose of a filter designed to keep allergens away from contact with me, I will take it back and get one with a bag. I would rather throw away a bag more frequently than deal with cleaning out the filter and assembly after each cleaning...

I do like the bagless design in theory and it certainly is cool to watch how much dirt you have collected...

I just bought this vacuum cleaner a couple of weeks ago. Actually I bought the U5761-900 which is the same thing just with an additional extension hose. Proir to this we had the basic Hoover upright that simply got the job done, or so I thought. For years we have been living with two dogs and what we thought was clean carpet. Boy were we wrong! The day we brought this vacuum home, we ran the vacuum quickly over the floor. I immediately saw dirt and pet hair starting to swirl in the chamber. The odd part is, we just vacuumed the floor the day before with our old vacuum. (By the way keep a firm grip on the cleaner when you turn it on, it'l take off on you). As I went to remove the canister from the vacuum I could not believe my eyes. This thing was loaded with dirt and hair. I wondered how my dogs could have any hair left. This vacuum is absolutely amazing! It took me a while to bring myself to fork over that much cash for this unit but I thank God I did. As for the reiview that mentioned he couldn't find the filters anywhere. I shopped around my local stores and asked if they carried all the supplies that would ever be needed for this vacuum (in particular the filters). EVERY SINGLE ONE who sold the vacuum, had them in stock.... For pet owners or baby "owners" this vacuum is a dream! And Im a GUY who doesn't mind to vacuum now...But we won't mention that to the wife! Good luck in your vacuuming adventures!! I would also recommend the Hoover Steam Vac! Its just as amazing!

The Good, Bad and the Ugly...Replacing an ancient Hoover was not too hard to do. Decided on the Dirt Devil Featherlite, for several reasons: Has a Powerful 12 Amp motor, Easy to manuever, Light-weight, Scuff guard, etc... It does the job well until it starts to fall apart. It goes through belts at a steady pace due in part to the belt drive assembly. The metal pin attached to the motor drive gets very hot and will melt the rubber belt till it breaks. In order to replace the belt you will need to a hire a contortionist to help you while you're holding the Featherlite upside-down. After six months of use and several belts later, a piece of plastic suddenly deposited itself on the carpet as I was vacuuming. What was once a purrring machine now sounded like a garbage disposal on steroids. Now the Ugly... a couple of uses later, it was emanating a burning rubber smell. The roller brush had froze as it had welded itself to the drive guide which is made of plastic.(It should be incased in Metal) To sum up... There are some parts that are in conflict with one another and greatly reduce the life of the vacuum. FRICTION is the DEVIL in this case. If 'ROYAL' the actual manufacturer did the necessary tweaks, it probably would last a couple of years!

I have several pets, so I spent a lot of time trying to find the right vacuum. I eventually found what I feel is the perfect vacuum (Dyson Cyclone!).. this is definitely not it!

While this is a decent vacuum, it just doesn't hold up well compared to others. The suction is average at best, you will get MUCH better suction from the Dyson. The price is very good though, and when you're talking 4-5 times more cost for a Dyson, this might work for those who need decent vacuum and can't afford the Dyson.

Some pros:
-Fairly powerful
-Decent suction
-Very lightweight
-Bagless (saves lots of money!)

Some cons:
-Attachment hose is WAY too short
-Very noisy
-Easily tips over
-Bagless bin is messy and a pain to clean
-Vacuum head is big, making it difficult to vacuum underneath furniture

If you live in a small apartment and/or have no pets, this will probably be more than enough vacuum. I live in a house with 3 dogs and 2 cats, so I needed a more heavy duty and reliable vacuum - which I got with the Dyson. The dirt devil is probably the best vacuum in its price range though, so I do recommend it for those who don't need the super heavy duty vacuum.

THIS VACUUM SUCKS! AND I DO MEAN THAT. YES, IT IS A POWERFUL SUCKER AND WILL GET THE DIRT OFF YOUR FLOOR. YES, THE CONTAINER WILL BE DIRTY, DID YOU WANT IT LEFT ON THE FLOOR? YES YOU MUST DUMP IT INTO A GARBAGE BAG AND YOU CAN SEE ALL THE SCUM THAT WAS ON YOUR FLOOR. THIS SHOULD PLEASE YOU, AND PROVE THAT IT REALLY DOES WORK! IT HAS WONDERFUL CASTERS SO IT CAN ROLL ALL AROUND IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS-SIDE TO SIDE, NOT JUST BACK & FORTH. YOU CAN NOT COMPARE THIS TO A $500.00 DYSON CYCLONE. THAT IS LIKE COMPARING A FORD PINTO WITH A LEXUS! WERE TALKING UNDER $80.00 HERE! NO IT PROBABLY WONT LAST 5 YEARS LIKE OTHER EXPENSIVE BRANDS THAT IS WHY IT IS LESS THAN 80.00. BUT FOR A FEW YEARS AND BEING LIGHT WEIGHT ETC. ETC. I HAVE 2 AND CAN ACTUALLY STAND TO VACUUM WHEN I MUST! A GOOD DEAL FOR THE PRICE, AND PERFORMS BETTER THAN A VAC OF THIS PRICE RANGE SHOULD. HAPPY CLEANING!

I bought this machine in Nov. of 2003. It broke in April of 2004. The cleaning solution stopped flowing through the vacuum. I have 3 children including 2 infants, which is why I bought it in the first place. I am extremely dissappointed. I admit I got some good use out of the machine, but for it to break after not even owning it for a year, thats poor craftsmanship.
Its like I rented for 5 months for $214.00. Do not believe the good reviews or else 5 months later you be looking for the warranty or buying another vacuum. I saw a several of these in a big name closeout store REFURBISHED for $119.00!!! So what does that say about this vaccum? That many consumers returned it because it was defective and had to be fixed!!! Do not buy this machine!!!!

I only borrowed this steam cleaner from a friend (thank goodness) and cleaned my carpets, which worked well. I then tried to clean my couch. The brush on the attachment promptly fell off.

Disappointed, I then tried using the unit on my bathroom tile floor, with the Bissell-recommended floor cleaner. I used the "bare floor attachment" that came with the vacuum. After I spent a good twenty minutes or so to figure how to attach the bare floor cleaner attachment to the front of the vacuum, I proceeded to clean my bathroom floor. Good I thought! The nightmare ensued. The attachment fell off after about three passes. Repeatedly I tried to reattach it (engineering anyone?). At one point, I tipped the vacuum backward to try to get a better angle to once again, reattach it. To my horror, water dumped from the unit. I found myself standing in water, the vacuum cord, soaked, the electrical cord plugged into the wall. Not a good moment.

I finally gave up. Any fantasies about cleaning the grout between the tiles faded. I gave the unit back to my friend. I'll be looking elsewhere to buy.

The Bissell ProHeat is an excellent steam cleaner. It even removed a month-old coffee stain! It's extremely easy to use and easy on the back. The smart mix features mixes the cleaning solution and water for you at the proper ratio, so all you do is press a button and push the machine back and forth. It's incredible suction removes most of the water from the carpet, so the carpets dry within 1-2 hours. The only complaint I have about this machine is the two belts. They comes lose rather easily when cleaning up the machine, so you need to check them every now and then to make sure they are working properly. All things considered, this cleaner is well worth the investment. I like it so much, I'm planning to buy a Bissell vacuum as well!

I purchased the original self-propelled Wind Tunnel about 2 years ago. I must say that I was thrilled with the power and ease of operation. I have cats and this vacuum cleaner was great at picking up cat hair. However, today, the motor burned up. At this price, I certainly expected it to last much, much longer than 2 years. (And I must say that I am NOT a frequent vacuumer!!) I took it to a repair shop and the man pointed to 4 (out of 10 or 12) Wind Tunnels waiting for repair or pick-up...I haven't decided yet whether to repair or put it down to a bad decision and buy something else. But I am very disappointed in my Hoover experience.

We have had our Hoover U6430-900 WindTunnel for almost a year now. It has proven to be a very reliable and worthy vacuum. It has excellent suction power and does a 1st rate job of getting the dirt out of our carpets. I especially like the attached hose w/ provided tools. It does a great job of cleaning up the ashes from around our wood stove as well as hair from haircuts. The self propelled feature works flawlessly also and is very nice since this is a heavy vacuum. The weight of this vacuum spells "quality".

I spent the last 8 months or so with a Eureka Victory, and I had two major complaints: 1) it refused to pick up pet hair from the carpet, and 2) it had a strong, undiffused vent on the side near the floor, so that it would blow pet hair up into the air when vacuuming on hard floor.

I chose this Hoover not for all of the features, but because I was hoping that it would pick up pet hair and it really does, and very very well--on all the different carpet types and hard wood in my house.

Now some comments on the features: I really like the powered hand-tool, (powered is an understatement)--my stairs have never been so clean. However it is a real pain to use with the short and very springy hose; I'll need to get an extension. The self-propelled thing is definitely strange as others have mentioned. I think the problem is that it expects me to go slower than my normal pace. But it really isn't so hard to push with that feature turned off. I also like being able to switch the main brush roller on and off (my Eureka did it automatically when it was pushed into upright position, which makes it difficult to clean stairs and throwrugs). As for other features on this and some of the other Eureka models, like dirt indicator lights and filter full indicators, I'm not sure I care about that. It's way heavier than that old Eureka, but the fact that it actually works makes this easy to forgive.

It was worth every penny, especially with free shipping. I was actually thinking about not having furry pets in the future after my dog kicks the bucket. All because of that... Eureka.

I can't believe all of the negative reviews this product got, so I had to defend it some. It is a much better product than others I've used in this price range. IT IS GREAT ON HARDWOOD OR BARE FLOORS FOR SUCKING UP DOG AND/OR CAT HAIR AND DUST, BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR HEAVY USE ON DIRTY CARPETS. I have a short-haired indoor dog that sheds a lot, and it sucks the dog hair up much better than heavier vacuums I've used. It is very light in weight, so it's pretty easy to maneuver or use hand held. The only thing I don't like about it is that it takes a few minutes to effectively clean the dust filter. You must clean this filter every time you use it because it gets nasty from all the small particles it will pick up. As long as you use it with a clean filter it will work good for LIGHT use. If you try to use it in place of a heavy vacuum, it will overheat and shut itself off. It's a lot better than the Dirt Devil models I've used in the past. I think most of the people who trashed this product were expecting a heavy duty vacuum cleaner for $60?

I recently purchased a home with 85% of the house having hardwood floors. Coming from an all carpet apartment I already had a excellent vacuum, but on wood it just made the floor vibrate so hard it didn't do a good job. After months of sweeping and then using 2-3 swifter cloths per room I just got frustratd. My husband saw this "gadget" and had to have it. Well with 3 cats and lots of fur to spare I must say that this little gizmo works well. It does pick up hair, dirt, and even the small leaves that fall from my plants. It does need emptying after each room and the cord is a little on the short side but if you have at least two plugs in a room you should be fine. I also LOVE that it can be turned into a hand vac. I have severe allergies and dusting does no good. So after I vacuum a room I use it to get rid of all the dust in the room and since it has a HEPA filter I highly recommend it to other people with allergies. It is just so much better than trying to lug a huge vacuum around the house.

Wow - this is a great product, with some minor flaws that can be overlooked. This product is perfect for any type of hard surface, ie. hardwoods, vinyl, tile etc. This works some much better and faster than a broom and dust pan. We call it our "electric broom". The product has a lot of power - you can actually use it on a thin carpet and still get good suction, but it doesn't have any bristles like a tradtional vacuum, so it can't get deep into carpets. I think when you weigh the pros against the cons, you will decide to buy it. Here they are:

PROS:
- Very powerful suction, gets dust, hair and anything in its way
- Small, can be easily stored away
- Versatile, can be used like a vacuum or a handheld "dustbuster"
- Easily converts from the two different uses

CONS:
- The filter is a huge mess and is pretty hard to clean, although thats almost every bagless vacuum
- The air that blows out of the side is pretty powerful, so it tends to blow the dirt around before you vacuum it
- The product can get pretty hot (I hope that doesn't mean a bad motor - only time will tell)

As I said, I believe that the pros outweight the cons of this machine and it is very worthwhile to own. I think that you will be as pleased with the Shark as I am.

Save your time & money. I have Low to Low/Med Carpets and the motor would slow down and the brush would sometimes come to a complete stop. The light went out in the first month. To empty the container is a mess...you have to dig your hand into it and pull out the dirt or take the whole thing apart. It's very top heavy and will fall backwards...I could go on.
Believe it or not the best vacuum cleaner I ever had was the Thunder...that's why I bought the twister. Just returned from where I bought it (Thank God for their $20/4 yr policy) and they were very nice to exchange it...I just paid the difference. Don't even bother calling the Fantom company...you will go round and round with them. I now am the proud owner of a Hoover.

We got the fantom after our hoover upright stopped working. We loved the wand feature and knew the fantom name and felt it was a good price. We loved the fact that it came assembled, there was very little work for us to do. The first time we used it, it did an amazing job at getting deep into our wall to wall carpeting and I couldn't believe all the dirt and dog hair it pulled out. Although it is a bit heavy, we are very pleased with its performance. We even could use it on our hard floors because the brush roll can shut-off so we didn't have to worry about scratching the floor. The best part of the product is definitely the WAND! It is 100 times better than our old vacuum. You just press a button and the stretch wand comes out, it is great for the high places, corners, and behind things. It is also sort of fun too! Unlike the other reviews, we haven't had trouble with the twister dust compartment, instead we like not having to touch any of the dirt and dog hair that comes out of it. The knob that you turn really does loosen and gather all the dirt and then we just take it over to the garbage and pop the button open and shake it out. I really even like to see the dirt in the clear container so I know exactly when to empty it and i know its working. My only request would be a longer cord. Otherwise, we are very pleased with our new vacuum!

I first want to say that I dont work for Euro-pro. Many people are accused when they give this vacuum a good rating. I am only 14 years old. I have alergies so know everything about vacuums and which have hepa filters. I have owned a Fantom Thunder, Fantom Cyclone XT, and a Fantom Lightning. They were Dual cyclonic mechines that keep you from lossing suction. We bought this Twister at K-Mart for $159.99. I bought the Extended warrenty since I have herd such bad things about the Euro-pro Fantom Twisters. I got it home and had it asembeled within 2 minutes. I decided to use my Fantom Thunder first and then go back over it with the twister. I vacuumed and went to use The Twister. First couple passes nothing in the canister. I start thinking that I will return it but continue vacuuming. Eventually there is something in the canster. When I finished I realised the problem. The vacuum came out of the box in the high carpet possion. I have really low carpet so that explanes it. I lowered the setting, vacuum again and go to empty it. Not much cat hair but some. But WOW there was a ton of dust. The carpet I vacuumed is a 5 by 7 area rug. Then I vacuumed my doormat. First pass black soil. The Thunder only got the pet hair and dust out but never soil. Then I vacuumed the other area rugs and had enought cat hair to make another cat. I love the bottom empting canister, and the Twister technoligy is so cool. One of my friends came over as I was just vacuuming and is like, "Cool, what kind of vacuum is that?How much was it? Where did you buy it?" Also It comes with an extra belt and if you buy it from K-Mart you get the $30.00 air driven turbo brush for free and still pay $20.00 less that anywhere else. You get five attachments which are the air driven turbobrush, crevis tool, dusting brush, a furniture attachment, and a extention wand.This is the best vacuum and the hepa filter is wonderful. Thought the old Fantom were Dual cyclonic, the Twister Technoligy does the same thing as the Dual Cyclonic Technoligy, which is constent strong suction. By the way I bought the Professional seriese which is just like this one but is supposidly better built.Please buy this vacuum but being the bad reviews I suggest you buy an extended warrienty.