Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Regardless of what any of us may think about bagless vacuums, it looks like they are here to stay.
I just gave a cursory glance to the Hoover, Dirt Devil, Bissell, and Eureka websites. None of the four brands has even 20% of their model offerings as bagged units.
Canisters are different. Eureka and Bissell have over 50% of their canister offerings as bagged units, Hoover less than 50%, and Dirt Devil, none. None offer a bagged stick vac, and only Dirt Devil offers a bagged hand vac. But uprights are the lion's share of the market.

The bagless units at the top of their price points are under the entry level Dysons.  Panasonic has almost left the bagless category.  So, it would seem, with the exception of Dyson, that the buying public has rejected all bagless vacuums above 300.00 with the noted exception of Dyson.  Are the BB manufacturers afraid to produce bagged units again for fear they will not sell?  Essentially we have a split in the market: low end = bagless, high end = bagged.  In terms of the respective consumer markets the only vacuum to be represented in both the specialty retailers and the BB superstores is Dyson. Not bad marketing.

Well Trebor the story is different in the UK. Currently most high street shops are all selling bagless uprights, cylinders and hand helds whilst bagged models are being limited in the availability. Panasonic in the UK still sell bagless and bagged models but it seems to be bagless which is cheaper to buy (Hoover UK produce the dreadful DustManager series to rip off consumers, evident on both consumer sites and Which? for example). At the end of the day given that hospitals still use bagged vacuums I'd go for what they are using in a healthy environment and that's one reason alone to why I prefer bagged vacuums. I have cheap bagged vacs that do a good job just as well as premium brands and as Carmine says, the bagless idea has been around far longer than Dyson.