Vacuum Reviews

I had wonderful expectations for the use of this wet/dry, pumping Shop Vac. Even after spending an additional $45.00 on added accessories,I still was positive about the unit. My problem,I made the mistake of turning it on. From that point on it has been a pain. The main power switch has a mind of it's own, and likes to turn itself off when it feels like it. I decided after trying to compete with it, I would simply take it in for factory service. Well after being refused service at two different "factory authorized service center's" even though they were listed in the owner's manual, I finally on the third try got one to accept the machine. The diagnosis was " a bad switch", and it would have to be ordered and take 10 days to two weeks to get. Well 2 1/2 weeks later I finally got the call to pick it up. I took it home, and it ran like a charm for all of three minute's. I called the place up and was told to "bring it back again!". I never did, and now the thing sits in the basement collecting dust. I use my trusty $70.00 upright Hoover to do the cleaning this "macho machine was bought for. Oh by the way when you have to change from wet/dry to pumping, be very careful. The plumbing you have to install to pump, can break quite easily. This "innovative idea" still needs some work!

I bought one to help clean up around my pond. The first time out it worked like a charm, however the 2nd time out the thing kept turning itself off. Since my husband "worked" on the switch I was unwilling to return it or get it repaired. I was all ready to order a relacement, however upon reading one review I am hesitant to have another go at it. The thing is the one I bought is sitting in the barn looking brand new but it won't even turn on.

As far as the shop vac goes, it performs like all the other shop vacs I have used, a little loud, but plenty of power. What makes this model stand out is built in pump. With a minimum amount of preparation, you are ready to vacum water and once full, automatically pump the unit out. Self priming and top mounted controls make this super convenient - I would highly recommend it to anyone that will be picking up more than one or two gallons of liquid

So we finally break down during the summer and bought a new vacuum. I was using an old canister put together with masking tape so you'd think that I'd be grateful for just about anything. Not so.

We got the Eureka Whirlwind model 5197A after much consideration and a fabulous sale. We made the switch to bagless a bit unsure about it but figured why not.

Here's what I liked about it;

1) The look of it; very mod looking
2) The suction; it's amazing what you can get out of your carpets, even in a house without pets.

Here's what I don't like about it;

1) The self propelled feature kicks in on it's own even when you don't want it; annoying that the switch between manual and self propelled is right on the handle and the very act of pushing the vacuum jars it into self propelled from manual. Usually just 3-4 pushes and it's back on self propelled. I personally don't like this feature and prefer to go slowly over my carpets and rugs to get ALL the dirt, rather than whizzing over them quickly and missing the dirt.

2) IT'S HEAVY; not only is this thing too heavy but if you're not careful the upright handle can fall. Which it did to me and landed on my foot...set me out of commission for half a day. I mean this thing is HEAVY. What a pain for lifting all the way to our 2nd floor to vacuum. Also...you can't do carpeted steps with it. I seem to recall reading that you are not supposed to but it's not like you can anyhow with the weight of the darn thing. I'm afraid to have my kids around it because it literally could hurt them if the upright part slams down on them.

3) It is eating my floors; so we just pulled up carpet and are waiting to redo our floors so right now I don't care but this is a major problem to me. When I vacuum my area rugs, the floor all around the rugs are scuffed and scraped by this vacuum. How are you supposed to do the edges of the rugs???

4) You can't push the thing when it's off. You have to either carry it or pull it. Just a minor annoyance.

5) I guess I don't like bagless....it's messy and you have to change the canister every time or every other time you vacuum. Maybe it's not as good on the sinuses but I prefer a bag that I can put in and forget about for a few weeks or so.

I just wish I never bought it. SO...what we're going to do when we get some spare $$$ is buy a new vacuum for the first floor and move this monster up to the 2nd floor where it's wall to wall carpet. I do like the suction but that's about all I like.

It's a great vacuum. The cup is easy to empty. The vacuum does a great job of cleaning and really picks up a lot. It is self-propelled, thus easy to push. My only complaint is that there is no switch to turn of the beater bar especially when using the accessories.

I bought a similar model (Eureka 6983A/D) on Amazon and am totally disatisfied with it. The machine came without a model number sticker on it, which I didn't notice until I tried to get service covered under warranty. The vacuum broke brush roll belts from the second time I used it. The repairman told me I would have to clean the brush roll every time I use it to avoid having it melt solid again because the brush roll does not have a shield to protect it from dog hair and other materials one normally vacuums up. Eureka refused to replace the brush roll ($25.95) because I couldn't supply the model number sticker that they didn't put on my particular machine. I will never buy another Eureka vacuum!

I recently purchased the Eureka Canister Vacuum Model #6982D to replace another Eureka vacuum that was about 10 years old. The new vacuum has a much better powerhead than the original one and comes with power nozzle for the stairs as a bonus, no extra charge. The vacuum is so quiet and cleans my hardwood floors with ease. The floorhead seems to go in its own direction until you get the hang of the new swivel head. The new one also has suction adjusting that makes a big difference. This vaccum has been such a great change to the old version. The only drawback is that the electrical cord could be longer to keep from changing from room to room, also all of the vacuum is plastic not like the old one with the metal poles. I would rate this vacuum with 4 stars and a great buy, all other places had this for over $220.00. This was a great bargin. I feel that Eureka has always come through for me and I have had other brands. I vacuum every day because of our two dogs and this is so light and easy to use. The tools are on board except the floor noozle this you have to find a place for, the old one had a place for all of the other tools.. But over all a great vacuum.....

There is little to no power on this vacuum cleaner. It barely picks up holiday tinsel.

Very nice, easy to use machine. It does have one major problem - there is no provision to store the cord - there is no hook to wrap the cord on so you end up with 20' of cord with no place to put it.

Wish I had read some of the reviews before I bought this- They are right, what a piece of junk!!!! The unit does get quite hot after very little use and blows hot air all the while. The hose is awkward and there are no small attachments to allow you to get into small spaces. VERY LOUD too. Shoulder strap is useless since you have to get on your hands and knees to use the vac or the hose. Filter is a pain to clean every time (who needs the bother and mess) and the dirt cup holds very little. Don't waste your money.

This is an over-hyped piece of junk. It does not have much suction and does not hold but a thimbleful of debris.

This was given as a gift, and while it seems to have a lot of sucking power, the compartment is small and fills up quickly. I think I need another vacuum just to suck the filter clean.

It runs hot and loud.

I use it to clean dog hair off the couch, and the machine doesnt do the work, the brush and I do the work. I have to keep cleaning off the brush and putting it in the vacuum.

There's gotta be something better out there for small cleanups. I definately dont recommend whole room cleaning!

I don't know why everyone is saying this vacuum shuts off after 5 minutes. I have never had that happen with mine. compared to our upright vacuum, this vacuum was wonderful! It sucked up stuff our other vacuums wouldn't. My only complaint is, I lost a part to it and there doesn't seem to be a replacement for it so now I can't use it anymore.

Maybe I don't know what else is out there (I bought this to replace a 10 year old vacuum) but I LOVE MY SHARK ROADSTER! The strap allows you to carry it on your shoulder so you don't have to trip over the canister and get tangled in the cord. I love the fact that it has a HEPA filter and that it's bagless. I must admit that the cord is unusually short but have you ever heard of this great new invention called an extension cord? Maybe I'm just easy to please but I think it's a great buy.

It's sad to see that people who buy products don't read the manuals. If you had read the manual before using this vacuum you would have noted that it has three filters. The main filter is a HEPA filter that catches every particle that the vacuum sucks up. The other two are there to catch anything the HEPA didn't before blowing the air back out. It states in the manual that because of the filters the vacuum must be emptied out on a regualr basis. And also that the HEPA filter needs to be tapped out before being replacing in the vacuum - if you do this you will see how much dust it catches. It also says that you should wash out the HEPA filter after a heavy vacuum (I do it once a week). This will improve the suction power and the life of the filter (It took about a minute to clean). If however you are one of those people who doesn't read the instructions you will run into problems. The vacuum will overheat because the filter is jammed with so much dirt that air cannot pass through the motor to cool it off. It does have a safety feature that stops the machine before it burns out. This vacuum is the best one I have ever owned. It is lightweight and has great suction power. It also comes with lots of attachments. People need to learn to read manuals before using a product. Just because it's a vacuum doesn't mean you just plug it in and go. It was designed to capture all of the dirt, dust and whatever else you are vacuuming and not blow it back into the air. READ PEOPLE! -It's a great little machine!

I bought this item for vacuuming the stairs and it doesn't pick up any visible dirt. It's noisy too.

This vacuum proved too loud, heavy and bulky. I almost never used the Devil as a normal handheld vac, instead opting to attach and use the included hose when cleaning carpet debris in my car. However, the hose is not long enough to comfortably vacuum your car without either holding the vacuum in one hand and vacuuming with the other, or placing the vacuum down inside your car as you vacuum (excruciatingly loud, and it seemed to effectively swirl/spew dust around my already dirty car interior -- disqualification, on both counts.) Running the unit for 20 minutes or so caused it to get very hot around the motor, and occasionally you could smell rubber. Also, the intake seemed to get clogged fairly easily when there was a lot of debris like cat hair, carpet fibers or string.

All in all, not a desirable unit to own... (I don't own mine, any longer, for these reasons!)

This vaccum is excellent. This is the only vaccum that has rotar brush which is not rotating by air, instead via the motor of vaccum. it uses belt for rotating the brush. i have self propel wind tunnel and the brush attachment stop if you press hard on the carpet, but his vaccum brush rotates no matter how hard you press on carpet floor. It uses bags which i love, since cleaning bagless is painful. especially watching all the dirt coming out---- what a mess. it has powerfull engine. Also very affordable.

We bought this vacuum because we thought Hoover had a good reputation. What a mistake! The first time we used it, the motor burned out. Hoover replaced the motor. It worked okay for a year (nothing spectacular) and then the suction stopped working. We got it in to be repaired just before the warranty expired. We used it twice after the repair and now it smells like it's burning when we use it. Our cheapo Eureka that is 10 years old works better than this vacuum. I wish I had read the reviews on here before wasting my money.

I bought this vacuum couple of weeks back and the unit will not turn on for some reason. So I returned it for a replacement, the other unit failed the very second day yielding extremely poor vacuum. Amazon denied replacment of the same again stating that this problem seems to be more widespread than expected so they cannot give another`replacement but I wonder` why they are still selling it especially for such a high price! But I must say, amazon has a great customer service since they have paid for shipping the item 4 times considering the fact that this item is heavy and weighs 30 pounds!

BUY anything from amazon BUT this Hoover!

This vacuum really does a good job of getting up dust and pet hair. We have a large dog who sheds like crazy and 2 cats who do the same. It really cleans up the hair and the onboard tool is pretty cool - it also sucks up hair from the couch in no time. That eliminated my need to use a separate small vac on the furniture. But it IS extremely heavy and I'm surprised it doesn't have the "easy-push" feature most new vacuums come with. We bought this vacuum in March and by December (just as one other reviewer commented) one side of the brushes stopped working. Part of the problem (with this, and most vac's, I've noticed) is that my long hair gets tangled around the brush heads and then burn out the whole thing. Can they NOT come up with a way to fix this? There's no way to avoid vacuuming up your own hair! I was hoping the beltless feature would mean less hassle but we still have problems with this vac. And it's pretty expensive. The noise really isn't an issue for us as I expect a vacuum to be loud. We also like that you can turn off the rotating brushes to vacuum floors and small rugs. But there's just too much room for improvement to justify spending this much on a vacuum. We're just glad that the store we bought it from (Kohl's) has such a great return policy. If it breaks, we take it back. So I don't even mess with trying ot fix it - we just replaced the whole thing when it DID break down. Bottom line - look for a bagless w/HEPA that's easy push for a lower price and you'll probably be happier.

I, too, loved this product when I first bought it but I'm having the same problem as others. After using it for a few months, I noticed that it didn't seem to have as much power as when it was new. Now it barely works at all. No matter how long it's charged, it only runs for a few seconds and then quits. Definitely would not purchase again.

When I first bought my Shark, it was wonderful. Powerful, convenient, balky assembly, but acceptable. The problem is that the battery becomes loses its ability to take a charge after only a few months. Now after literally only a few minutes, the vacuum needs recharging. Not cheap to begin with, the purchaser is now faced with what will be an undoubtedly expensive battery replacement. Frustration is compounded by the fact that Shark keeps the location and contact numbers for its service centers under tight security. Virtually imporssible to locate. The instructions do warn that replacing the battery is difficult. I suppose that is supposed to be fair warning.

The Shark that I purchased had the model number EP750M as opposed to the EP750ST featured here, which seems to be identical to my model. The model that I have seems to work just fine without any of the problems associated with the battery running down prematurely. Regardless, you can find the new improved model at Macy's forthe same price as advertised for the "old" model. As far as usefulness and performance of the "M" model, it does a very good job in picking up dirt, dust and debris around the house and in the car. The motor is pretty powerful for a small vacuum and works very well with the supplied attachements (crevice tool, extension tube, power brush, etc.) If you are looking for a small all around hand vacuum, The Shark Deluxe (Model EP750M) may be the choice for you.

The infomercials for the SHARK PORTABLE STEAMER were quite amazing. The chubby male cleaner blasted away dirt, scum, grime, and gunk in record time. He looked like a domestic gun slinger in a cleanup at the OK Corral. The idea of effortless steaming of a myriad of household items proved irresistable so I ordered it. At first, I loved it. It performed as advertised even if I were slightly wary of the steamer blowing up in my hand as some reviewers complained. The problem began after about a dozen uses. The 'on' switch simply refused to work. I called the listed number and I was unable to talk to a human being about either getting a replacement or a refund. Now I am stuck with a machine that used to work and there are no local repairshops that know how to fix it. I brought the steamer to several shops and I was told that I was far from the only consumer to get stuck. My advice to would be buyers: Avoid steam cleaners entirely. Go for a vapor cleaner from a store that gives personal service. AVOID THE SHARK!!

I saw this on TV and said to myself "I've got to have it." I did my research on the web, and stumbled upon mixed reviews -- some said they love it, others said they hate it. I ignored the bad reviews and decided that I'd seen too many "good" features not to try it -- and that decision has made the difference. High chairs, play saucers, kitchen tables, floors, cracks, crevices, bathrooms, faucets, doors, doorknobs ... if it's tough to clean, you can clean it. Read the directions. Make sure you follow up immediately with a terry cloth towel and you'll do great. Of course steam is hot, so don't do anything stupid. There's a lot of other products to compete with this one, but none that hold the amount of water the Shark does ... keep in mind if you don't want to make a lot of trips to the faucet. Happy Cleaning.

My 17 year career has been prototype design and mechanical evaluation, knowing thermodynamics and pressure vessels and .... and was sceptical as always - and noticed the solid heavy tank and relief valve heavy thread cap and thought "yes" this will provide the higher pressure and temperature - then I thought it will blow a fuse - nope - and it heats fast. Then I thought I'll burn myself - nope - no leaks - none. And I used the handle with my bare hands and was wiping the spots with a sponge in my other hand and rinsing it. If anyone wants a unit that can develop pressure and temperature and don't mind a couple of instructions - this unit delivers as promised - thanks for the info-mercial that is what convinced my scepticism and in real life - I can verify what I saw as true. I'll do the car engine in the spring, right now back to the baseboard fin-and-tube heaters and bathroom walls and floor yuck - you should have seen what came out of there - I'll wear a mask this round.