Quote from old-timer on 04/23/07 at 3:45pm:


Absolutely ingenious.  Dear Wife loves it!  We ordered another for her Mother for her 85 birthday.  More details to come.

BTW, I received a frantic email one evening earlier this week from my dear [dyson loving] friend here in LV.  Seems the DC07 Animal got clogged with pet hair.  She removed the soleplate (she's an engineer) and cleared the hair and reinstalled.  She said that since the event she is constantly getting a grinding noise whenever she hits the vacuum against the wall or piece of furniture.  And on the throw rugs.  I presume she's describing the ratcheting noise.   She went back to the 1995 purchased Tri-Star until I can take a look at the DC07.  She is anxious to use the new Oreck which she initially judged as a vacuum only her Grandmother would use.  

I mentioned the new dyson DC18 Slim lightweight at 16 pounds.  Her response: 16 pounds is not lightweight.  Sounds like a definite future Oreck user.

Carmine D.  

I do not recall reading how you determined the performance of the Oreck in real life useage while cleaning the home.  Please direct me to the post.  Could you just be referring to the plastic peanuts?

Hi Carmine, In your Oreck/Dyson review,test, what parameters are you going to use,flat out carpet cleaning?.attachment use?[I know the XL doesnt have any],ease of use,are you going to judge company against company?.

You are comparing a 150.00 low buck upright against Dysons 470.00 latest.If you just look at the cost difference most people would say the dysons should win hands down.

Just give a good honest review.

 O.T.

Hello Jimmy P/OT:

Good questions and still in process of determining the benchmarks.  Some are very easy:  It's easy to see when the HOOVER WT is used on my wool carpets:  The pile is refreshed and not matted down.  Even the Eureka and RICCAR (with metal brush rollers and beater bars) don't have the same effect as the H-WT.  Curious to see how the Oreck does.  I have no doubt that the Oreck will perform marvelously on the bare ceramic floors (about 75 percent of the house).

Also, the HOOVER has an embedded dirt finder.  It was not uncommon after using the dyson DC07 pink, which was extremely difficult to push and pull and constantly gave me the ratcheting noises, to use the HOOVER and have the red light appear as I vacuumed the same areas just vacuumed with the dyson.  Not so with the Eureka and RICCAR (both old vacuums).  Curious to perform the same procedure with the Oreck and HOOVER and see what happens.

Then the other usual signs.  How much of the pet hair gets into the bag without wrapping around the brush roller and sticking to the underside of the vacuum.  THis is an excellent test on wool rugs, in particular.  Especially in the hot dry climate of the desert which is inclined to static electricity.  The dyson was miserable.  THe HOOVER better.  But the Eureka and RICCAR are the best because of the metal soleplates.

And the coup de grace.  A good and dear friend here in Vegas has the DC07 Animal.  She is married to a Brit.  She loves her dyson.  I have asked her to use the ORECK too and will want to get her reaction.  She has two floors, rugs and bare floors and two dogs.  Her dyson is slightly more than 2 years old.  

Attachments are out.  None on the Oreck.  And you're right this is the bottom of the line Oreck not the top of line XL21 hence the $149.  

If you have any suggestions, let me know.  

Carmine D.

Hi Carmine,are you going to try the popcorn test?.See if you can get your hands on kapoc.And try the confetti thing.And just for kicks start with the oreck bag half full.
And dont forget the scent tab............

 O.T.

Glad to know that you finally found a vacuum for Mohawk medium pile wool carpet.  Since that is in the minority of homes most buyers would be better off with a Dyson.  The Dyson was superior over the Oreck on MY carpets.  Also based on my personal experience with the XL21 (top of the line) and my DC07.

The Oreck was returned.