10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Finally, a cleaning TOOL
Date of Review: Jan 25, 2008
The Bottom Line: HEAVY, but effective. Vacuums are about suction, and this has got suction. It picks up dirt I didn't know was there! An unbeatable unit.
Well, I guess I should begin with the Tim the Tool Man comment... Grunt, grunt, grunt, MORE POWER, grunt grunt!
Finally, a vacuum that actually cleans. It's not pink, it's not feather light, and it's not stylish. At the risk of sounding sexist, this is a MAN'S vacuum cleaner. It is, by far, the best cleaning tool I've ever had the good fortune to use. Yes, I said tool...not toy. This, in every sense of the word, is a TOOL.
The first time I used it, I vacuumed the living room with our previous vacuum, a Eureka Maxima series. The floor was as clean as I could make it. Then, I used the Healthy Home vacuum.
From a single room, it pulled out the accumulated dust from the carpet, and deposited 1 full inch of it into the bagless chamber. If I wasn't so disturbed, I'd be impressed. Apparently, I only THOUGHT my carpets were clean. The suction on this thing is really amazing. And, it actually pulls the dirt OUT of the carpet.
And, unlike the Eureka, I can use this one on bare floors. The tiled kitchen floor is spotless, and this makes it easy to keep clean.
Now, the attachments. With most vacuums, the attachments are the weak link...they usually just don't work very well. Nothing could be farther from the truth on this one. It comes with a very long hose into which attaches a wand, made of a lightweight but very sturdy aluminum. VERY nice. It has a crevice tool, and a brush which both work well enough...but the really impressive part is the turbo brush. It actually works! The suction is so tremendous, that it drives the turbo brush at Dremel speeds, and it genuinely cleans where it's used. Never seen anything like it. My previous brush was a toy.
Finally, the ergonomics. It looks very nice and is finished in a multi-hued blue color. The overall appearance is generally balanced, and doesn't offend. The power switch is on the very comfortable handle, as is the roller-brush switch...I've accidentally hit the buttons a few times during use, but a slight shift of my hand corrects that problem. It's a non-issue, practically speaking.
The carpet height adjustment is manual, and works quite well. Takes about 2 seconds to change it, as you change rooms. One warning, though...if you set it too low, on a higher carpet, it will practically "glue" the vacuum to the floor. Did I mention that this thing has incredible suction?
The two changes I would make to the design (negatives) are as follows. I would make the carpet height adjustment automatic, and I would do something about the weight of the vacuum...either balancing the weight better, or making it self-propelled.
Its weight is this unit's one genuine negative. It's heavy. Very heavy. And, most of the weight appears to be in the handle-unit, so it feels as if it's top heavy. You have to hold up that weight while using it, and that can be slightly tiring when vacuuming the whole house.
I don't find it deters me from using the vacuum, though, and it does force me to slow down slightly...picks up even more dust, that way.
Overall, I'd say it's a winning design. It works as advertised...and according to several reviews, it works better than a Dyson. That's saying a lot!
Did I mention the incredible suction?
