Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Inside Consumer Reports Test Labs: Reviews of new vacuums from Eureka, Miele, Panasonic, and Electrolux

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/10/eureka-envirovac-3041-eureka-pet-pal-4716-panasonic-mcug775-electrolux-ultra-silencer-miele-s-7580.html


The top scorer of our latest tests was the Miele S 7580 upright, $800. This Miele was among the best at cleaning carpets, and its pet-hair pickup and low emissions were excellent as well. Its swivel-neck design allows for tighter turning, a plus since the 22-pound Miele is among the heavier uprights in our ratings. And its electronic suction control, with a choice between manual and automatic, adapts the motor speed for the surface you're cleaning.
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Severus wrote:

SEVERUS:

We've talked on other threads about the future of the vacuum industry and what we should expect to see in advances.  You and CR hit on two.  Lighter and quieter vacuums that perform as well as their old heavy ancestors.  Look at the HOOVER Floormate, a topic on another thread.  It vacuums in dry and wet mode, cleans and dries floors.  Around really since the late 50's in two differnt forms with the most recent out in 2001.  The deluxe Floormate with 6 brushes is 18 pounds.  It's quiet.  All vacuums made and sold today should have the same standard.  Instead, 16 pounds for a vacuum and less is considered a lightweight category.  ORECK's 8 pounder has been around since the early 60's.  Where is the rest of the industry?  Still playing catch up after almost 50 years.  Simpler is smarter. 

Carmine D.

Severus wrote:

Actually I think older vacuum buyers identify with a little weight in the sense that it lends to a sense of solidness.  Baby boomers, now in itheir 60s and 70s grew up with old, easily repairable and long-lasting war horses like Hoover, Electrolux, Eureka, etc., but were weaned off the idea with the introduction of units primarily made of plastic.Even the older generation has become accustomed to disposability.

Yet, when you consider mature persons living on fixed incomes and with less disposable income who have to maintian bigger financial obigations -- housing, transportation and medical expendirures -- they to my mind don't necessarily figure into the bigger business picture as much as people from about 20-years-old to 50 with more spending change do.  It is expected that a large part of "seniors" will end up in assisted living facilities where there's no need for peronal outlays as regards fridges, washing machines and vacuums.  Staff at the facilities handle food prep, laundry and the tidying of their residence's environment. Thus I'd argue that  younger crowd probably is equally interested in matters regarding weight and are probably more the market companies are striving to please.

The development of the power drive made a cool idea like the Dial-A-Matic more convenient.  Nonetheless, the Hoover vacuum was always a work in progress.  It should be also noted that Hoover did not make the power drive for a must for all its models.  Apparently there is a market that can manage without it.  On the other hand, although I do in some small way admire the company's constancy, Kirby had to do something.  Despite its cleaning ability, besides high prices it has maintained very dated design ideas for years and has been heavy and $#%*bersome for just as long.  I think employing a rather modern component like power drive was more a way to romance the younger public.

Venson

Hello Venson:

Panasonic's uprights impressed me in the early 70's with their lightweight, quietness, tools on board and power.  I sold them for many years.  Their appeal crossed age groups from young to old.  This when HOOVER and other brands still used metal for their bases.  Panasonic even had baby and full size models at very affordable prices.  As we mentioned here before, pano's one fan motor, used for its least expensive and smallest upright model, ended up in the dyson DC07.  A motor that was introed by pano in the vacuum industry many years ago.

Carmine D.

I had a Panasonic MCE 51N vacuum cleaner for many years, a brilliant basic upright vacuum cleaner that didn't use Panasonic's silly idea of fitting two drive belts either. Bought it in the late 1980's and didnt get rid of it until something like 1998! Dont know if you got them in the States but it was a squarish old thing, 800 watts clean fan design with a blanking plate at the front where more expensive models had headlights and variable suction controls up by the main bin housing.

Here's the link the CR's comments about the quietness versus performance:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/february/appliances/quiet-vacs-come-at-a-price/overview/quiet-vacs-ov.htm

I don't think you have to be a subscriber to read.

Thanks Severus.  I kind of get it but am not quite accepting of CR's point of view regarding the Electrolux canister. Everything has its place. 

The Electrolux EL6986A is after all a "straight suction" machine and it has always been understood that the like is, in regard to rug cleaning, neither comparable to canisters with power nozzles or standard upright vacuums.  Straight suction canisters generally serve well enough in homes where there's lots of bare flooring and limited amounts of low or medium pile carpeting.  I think it was kind of dumb on CR's part to rank it with canisters with PNs and uprights when it past it was always their habit to rate the straight suction category separately.

CR however would have perfectly right to recommend a good performing straight suction vacuum at a better price with the same thinking in mind.

What I did like was that they saw fit to recommend some Kenmore models that more suit the budget of lots of people lately.

Venson

Thanks Severus.  I kind of get it but am not quite accepting of CR's point of view regarding the Electrolux canister. Everything has its place. 

The Electrolux EL6986A is after all a "straight suction" machine and it has always been understood that the like is, in regard to rug cleaning, neither comparable to canisters with power nozzles or standard upright vacuums.  Straight suction canisters generally serve well enough in homes where there's lots of bare flooring and limited amounts of low or medium pile carpeting.  I think it was kind of dumb on CR's part to rank it with canisters with PNs and uprights when it past it was always their habit to rate the straight suction category separately.

CR however would have perfectly right to recommend a good performing straight suction vacuum at a better price with the same thinking in mind.

What I did like was that they saw fit to recommend some Kenmore models that more suit the budget of lots of people lately.

Venson

Thanks Severus.  I kind of get it but am not quite accepting of CR's point of view regarding the Electrolux canister. Everything has its place. 

The Electrolux EL6986A is after all a "straight suction" machine and it has always been understood that the like is, in regard to rug cleaning, neither comparable to canisters with power nozzles or standard upright vacuums.  Straight suction canisters generally serve well enough in homes where there's lots of bare flooring and limited amounts of low or medium pile carpeting.  I think it was kind of dumb on CR's part to rank it with canisters with PNs and uprights when it past it was always their habit to rate the straight suction category separately.

CR however would have perfectly right to recommend a good performing straight suction vacuum at a better price with the same thinking in mind.

What I did like was that they saw fit to recommend some Kenmore models that more suit the budget of lots of people lately.

Venson

Venson wrote:

These vacuums are advertised as being extra quiet and come with a big price.  While it may not be fair to compare a canister with straight suction to one with a power nozzle, I wonder if they are comparing by price.  If you can get a Kenmore with a power nozzle that is nearly as quiet, why not buy the better equipped one?  I assume that your Miele canister is also very quiet.

Severus wrote:

Hi Severus,

How's it going?  For the money asked, I'd opt for a canister with power nozzle to cover all fronts.  Even if you don't have a lot of carpeting at the time of purchase, should you decide to go for more area rugs or wall-to-wall you're already good to go.  Normally, someone looking to save a few bucks would opt for a straight-suction canister which would be far lower in price than $300.

Possibly Electrolux priced this particular machine that high simply because they could.  Many of us give more weight to the name than current product is worth.

My Miele canister is wonderfully quiet and quite portable.  With the electronic speed/suction adjustment I am not required to run the machine at top speed, and volume, if the job doesn't call for it.  There's a middle speed that does well for bare floors and above the floor tasks and that I even use for quick clean ups of carpeting since I have the power nozzle too.  Kenmore and many other brands offer the thing for less money however.

Getting back to the Electrolux, price was definitely an issue but  CR did take up the matter of rug cleaning ability, I left wondering what it was they were expecting from that kind of machine.  Might as well, start comparing had vacs to full-sized ones.

Best,

Venson