Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this vacuum 13 months ago now and I figured it's time for a short review. I'll start with the pros: 1) this thing is lightweight, about as much as a gallon of milk. My previous vacuum was a cheapo (by cheap I mean about the same price as this) dirt devil and it easily weighed 20 pounds. 2) the vacuum is easy to work on if you ever have to. You can have it apart in 10 or 15 minutes with nothing more than a #2 phillips, swapping the motor shouldn't be more than a 20 minute job but judging by the size of the thing it should last a while, the carbon brushes are also huge so I don't expect to have to shell out the $75 to replace those any time this decade. 3) it's powerful, the aforementioned beefy motor sucks up everything just fine, from stale cereal my 1 year old hid behind the couch for later to my wife's forgotten hair ties to every single cord I forget to get out of the way before I start vacuuming. I expect the belt would give out before the motor would if she ever jams up. I see folks talking about not being able to pick up stuff against the walls but if you go in front ways instead of sideways it'll suck it up good. 4) swapping the bags is easy, just hold on each side of the hole on the stiff cardboard part and push straight toward the port. 5) it's cheap! You don't get a lot of features but it's a vacuum for crying out loud! You get a lot of suck for the dollar. Cons: 1) No attachments but you should know that already. It's a vacuum and that's it. 2) loud as hell, but it isn't like you have to listen to it all day every day (unless you do, then get some earplugs) 3) those belts are a pain to swap but you only gotta do it once or twice a year, just swapped my first one today after 13 months of use. Be prepared to manhandle your vacuum to get the brush reseated once the belt is on it. In conclusion, you get what you pay for, Oreck compromises on features to give you a good vacuum for the price.