Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Had about 2 weeks. We have a 1500 sq.ft. house with mostly hardwood floors, some carpet. I was a little concerned it might not be "enough" vacuum for us, but it works out just fine. Replaced a Riccar RSL4. This Shark is VERY light (about 9 pounds). It's very versatile – it's easy to use as a hand vacuum (which is the vacuum power element) with many supplied tools, and then use as a stand up vacuum for carpets and hardwood floors. Excellent on both, especially hardwood floors; gets the little stuff with 2 motor settings. Great for cars and boats, etc. It is relatively quiet - you can talk on the phone if it is near. CONS-- If you are sensitive to dust you probably won't like this vacuum. The stuff that gets vacuumed goes into a "cup" (their term), you unsnap it, take it to a garbage can, open it up and dump it. There is no bag. For me, it's okay, but some will not like this dusty procedure. You easily attach (snap in) the motor at the top of the power floor (rug) attachment. It's very easy to take on and off, but when it's attached it cannot stand upright by itself like a regular floor vacuum. The weight of motor head tips it over. If you leave it attached you have to lay it down. However, it's not as bad as it sounds. You can disconnect the motor head and they have a way to attach it just above the floor power head so that it will holster and stand compactly. It's a little hard to describe, much simpler to see it. Another thing, if you have a bad back and can't bend over a lot, this probably isn't the best vac for you; it requires more bending than a typical upright vacuum. Overall, we're very pleased and recommend it highly. Consumer Reports says the frequency of repair is very low compared to others. They rated the Shark highly which is why we bought it. Frankly, I'm glad I don't have to keep buying vacuum bags anymore and I like the versatility and light weight. It comes with a bunch of tools to use for narrow suction, vacuuming drapes, a brush head, etc. Get the model that comes with the POWER brush head for the hand vacuum. That means when you vacuum your car you actually have a powered spinning vacuum head #2 - one for the floor standup vac and the other for use with the hand vac.