Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

First upright from Miele

29 February 2008 This summer, Miele will launch its first range of upright vacuum cleaners – the S7.  It will consist of about six models, all of which feature ultra large dust bags and  “a unique swivel body, which makes it easy to manoeuvre in even the trickiest  of room layouts”. According to the company,  the decision was made following  numerous requests from customers that wanted to buy Miele  but would only use  an upright model. Text: courtesy ERTweekly.com Picture: courtesy Miele.co.uk, 2009 Edited 21st March 2009; reason: loss of original image.

I just bought a new Miele S7280 from my local Vac Shop on Saturday.  They got in 6 to sell under a testing phase.  I paid $599.99 for it. 
Pros:
It looks cool.  I have the black/red model.  My husband said it looks like a vacuum cleaner Spider Man or Iron Man would own.  I am hoping that it looks "cool" enough to make him want to use it.
It has a 40 foot cord.  I have a small house and I can vacuum my entire first floor without having to relocate the plug.
It swivels and it's self propelled.  That makes it super easy to maneuver around the house.
It leans all of the way down to the floor.  I haven't actually had to use that feature yet so I have no real opinion of it.  But it's nice to have in case I need to do that.
It has the suction control and switches from floor to carpet.  That has come in handy quite a bit for me as I vacuum carpet, linoleum, curtains, cat trees, and different pet toys.
The vacuum cleaner does an excellent job cleaning up my home.   I have 10 cats and 4 dogs so there is a constant battle with pet hair around here.  The Miele has made vacuuming it up easy and my carpets look better than they have in years.  I was previously using a Dirt Devil Reactor so there is a huge difference in the quality of vacuum I was using.  I expected to fill up the bag by now, but I the indicator is only half way over.  That's a plus for me.
It comes with 3 tools: a crevice tool, a dusting brush, and a upholstery tool.  The wand is telescopic and allows me to reach the corner of my ceilings where cob webs collect.  The vacuum hose disconnects from the wand allowing you to use the tools much easier.
The head lamp is all LEDs.
Also, I can reach the top of my steps with the hose, so no more pulling the vacuum up the steps as I clean them.


Cons:
I hate the dusting brush.  It's too small and gets all clogged up with pet hair since the bristles are too close together to allow for proper air flow into the hose.
The foot pedal to recline the vacuum is difficult to use.  I step on it and I have to move the vacuum around a bit to get it to lean back.  Usually is slams to the floor as I lean it back.
At the Vac Shop I asked them to test the air emissions of this model.  We first used the tester on the Miele Capricorn canister.  It went down to 0 in just about a minute. 
With this vacuum it stayed between 2 - 3000.  However when we tested the Sebo X4 (which is what I was going to buy), it was over a million.
It doesn't edge as well as the Sebo X4 when I compared them using clean cat litter from home at the Vac Shop.  My local Vac Shop let me bring down cat litter and my own pet hair to do some real tests to make sure I was getting the right vacuum cleaner for me.

I hope this review helps.  I really love this vacuum so far and my home looks and feels much  cleaner.  It has made vacuuming much easier for me.  With my old vacuum I usually had to go over things several times to get the pet hair off.  Now I only go over everything once and it's clean.  Even my cat tree looked brand new after a good vacuuming with the Miele.  I shaved my 2 long haired dogs down on Monday and the living room was covered in hair.  We picked up the big chunks and let the Miele do the rest.  We only ran it over the carpet 1 time and all of the hair disappeared.  It also does an excellent job vacuuming my cat litter (World's Best).  I would highly suggest this over the Sebo X4.

Thank you for the review. 

I hope you will post this on the review page here on the site under the Reviews Tab at the top of the page.  I'm sure readers will find your comments and analyses very useful.

Carmine D.

catlady,

Excellent review.  It is almost written too professionally.

With all due respect, what is you relationship with Miele?

Hi catlady,

Thanks for the news.  I've been waiting with bated breath to hear and I'm glad to learn the new upright is of some worth.

I'm only concerned about one thing you mentioned -- the bag gauge.  It is usually better not to put too much trust in it.  The more it shows means the airflow has been impeded.  The same airflow you clean with also is used to cool the motor.  It is best  to manually check dust bags and to dispose of them when they're around three-fourths full.  Anyway . . .

Enjoy the new machine and use it long and well.

Best,

Venson

I will go ahead and post my review in the Review section. 
An update,
The bag indicator has only been halfway over for the last few days.  However, I vacuum daily and was sure the bag should be full by now.  I checked it tonight and it still has some room in it.  The bag holds a lot more than I would ever give it credit for.

HARDSELL wrote:
LOL,
I have no relationship with Miele.  I have been researching vacuums for about 2 years now.  I was having a very difficult time justifying buying such an expensive vacuum cleaner.  Unfortunately, with as much as I vacuum, I was killing my vacuums and needed a new one every year or so anyway.  I began to research vacuums a couple of years ago and decided that with my economic stimulus check, I would finally take the plunge.  I was actually going to buy a Sebo X4 and I have been driving my local Vac Shop crazy over the last few weeks showing up with different things to vacuum up.  I think I tested every vacuum they have in the store.  When I went down that day to buy my Sebo, the guy showed me the new Miele he just got in and we tested it against the Sebo on everything.  I went home and got cat litter and brushed my dogs out and brought back the hair.  I'm sure they thought I was crazy.  But if I was going to pay that much for a vacuum, I wanted to make sure I was going to be happy with my purchase. 
The Miele sold itself to me.  I've been very happy with it ever since I brought it home.

Hello catlady:

You did all the right things before buying your Miele.  And your Miele will last 20 years [based on industry history].  When you amortize the original cost of your vacuum over it's lifetime, you see it is well worth the purchase price.  $30 a year plus bags and routine maintenance.  Very nice.

Thanks for posting the Miele review here on the discussion page and on the review page.  Makes me want to buy one too.  What is the warranty period on this Miele model?  You may want to add that info to your review on the review page too.

Enjoy your new Miele.

Carmine D.

catlady wrote:

catlady,
Thank you for the response.   I do not recall reading such a well written review.  And now you provide very valuable info that others should follow before purchasing a vacuum.To me , at least  daily vacuum simulations are better than any magazine articles.  Would you share with us what  brands you tested other than Sebo (if any).

You are one cool kitty.

CarmineD wrote:
At this time the warranty is "open ended".  I am not sure exactly what that means, but my local Vac Shop told me that since these are not officially released the warranty is open for any repairs until they actually release these on the market.  Then Miele will decide how long to warranty the vacuum.  However my manual states it is only a 2 year warranty.  My Vac Shop guy tells me that it is not official. 

HARDSELL wrote:
I tested every Miele Canister he sells.  They are all excellent, but I just didn't want a canister (maybe even a little better than my new upright).   I tested the Royals, which are just too heavy.  I tested the Sebo canister and upright (loved them, but the Miele outperformed them in every test except the edging).  I also tested a Filter Queen that he had in, but does not normally carry.  I felt that it was too awkward to use and clean out.  I tested an Oreck, but it was no comparison to the Sebo's or Miele's.  It just didn't clean as well.  I also tested another brand that he carries, but I can't remember what it was called.  I'll check on that the next time I'm in there to pick up bags. 
BTW, I did change out the bag today after vaccuming up the entire house.  It still wasn't full, but I followed the advice of Venson.  The vacuum does have overheating protection, but why take the chance.