Home Interior

We went through our second Dyson, and decided to switch just for the sake of doing so. Aside from the really high end European models, we opted for this new “prestige” line from Hoover, figuring it would be interesting to see what’s the best they can do at a higher price point.

The machine itself looks really good, and when you turn it on, it’s like starting a nice car, it almost purrs. The electronic start/stop and the electronic height adjustments are fabulous, very refined. And the machine seems to pick up everything in site.

Now, here are a few things to keep in mind, none of which are deal-breakers, but believe me, this thing is not perfect.

First and foremost, emptying the dirt chamber. At first we thought it was like most other bagless machines, you flick a lever and let the stuff fall in your garbage. But after about a week, we noticed the machine not picking up nearly as well, and we couldn’t figure out a thing.

Then we looked carefully and saw that a huge collection of hair and debris had collected inside an inner cup, wrapped around the so-called cyclonic device. Once we got rid of that stuff, the vacuum was like new again. Still, it is hardly referred to in the manual, and it is rather a messy task.

Finally is the “dirt” indicator. It works on some sort of audio principle, sending out sounds which come back distored if they run in to dirt. I find that this works most of the time, but sometimes, it just stays red, and even after going over the area five times, it stays red.

I guess one could beef about the extension cord, why they didn’t come up with some better way to unreel it and attach it to the machine. This is just like every other vacuum in that respect, but the cord seems longer.

I think I would buy it again, but the bag emptying procedure is sloppy and very unsophisticated. I’d be looking for machines that might do that job better.
Rating: 4 / 5

I just purchased this vacuum so this is from the perspective of the first 48 hours. I read quite a bit about different versions looking for a HEPA filter bagless model. In the end, the choice was between this unit and a DYSON 14. The DYSON had many more positive reviews and, to me, was considered the standard. However, I do not plan to use the vacumm often so I let my wife may the final decision. She handled both vacuums and selected this unit. As I understand it, she selected this one because of the conventional look as well as the perception that the Hoover will go under some furniture and will clean baseboards. The DYSON will not.

A small glitch occurred when we got the unit home. There are only two screws to finish the vacuum and Hoover forgot to include them. So, I had to drive a 1hr round trip to obtain the screws. Thanks Hoover.

Back home, the vacuum went together and we tested it in areas where we typically vacuum with our old sears craftsman model. In all areas, lots of dirt and carpet lint were recovered. Inspecting the debris both then and after another repeat indicates that most of what is picked up is carpet lint. The beater brushes appear to work carpet hard.

The dirty/clean indicator is sonic based. From what I see, if anything is ‘seen’ in the airstream, the light is red. This means that carpet lint triggers the dirty indication as well. This seems to work but repeats over the same patch of “clean” carpet will likely have reoccurrences of “dirty”. I think we are going to think in terms of average rather than looking too closely at the light.

What I notice is that the extension wand is short as in very short. The DYSON, though difficult to get on and off, was better in this regard. One good thing about the vacuum is that the brushes turn off when the vacuum is on and upright. This is something that the craftsman didn’t do.

I gave this unit 4 stars for the completely useless canister bottom lid clip. The canister comes off perfectly. It dumps easily but not as easliy as the DYSON. Closing the bottom cover is a pain. The manual says “press firmly”. Yeah, a gorilla could press firmly but everyone else is going to try banging or slamming the lid close. This is not good long-term. I eventually showed my wife that by pressing the release button again, you can actually close the bottom without risking damage to the unit or your hand. Unfortunately, this will get both hands completely dusty. This is a complete failure by Hoover. If anyone can simply press down and get this to close I would like to know how. I have to wonder if the engineer even tried this contraption.

One last item is noise. This unit is quiet. It is quieter than the DYSON or our old craftsman. Both my wife and I commented on this.

In the end, this vacuum appears better than older models. It appears to be sturdier than the DYSON. This unit has three filters all of which are permanent (cyclone, primary, hepa). This is what I was looking for and expect it not to disappoint.

Here’s to hope…..
Rating: 4 / 5