Eureka they've done it again.

I first found out about the Eureka Boss Lite 96 Upright Vacuum while dining at a Friendly's restaurant in Pennsylvania. Instead of sweeping the carpeted floors with one of those old powerless sweepers, the waiter was using one of these cordless brooms and it was love at first sight. We had to have one. I bought this Eureka 4 years ago (when I originally wrote this review which could no longer been seen because the category it was listed under was inactive (only took me a few years to realize that)) So I figured this was a good time to update an old review and put it in its proper place :)

The waiter was nice enough to tell us that Sears had them on sale for about $45.00, (the price we paid 4 years ago) so off to Sears we went and we now how are new little baby. We adopted a 2nd one about a year ago when we adopted a couple of little critters. The 2nd one was only $30.

This vacuum is fantastic, although I haven't given up my Dust Vac, this cordless vacuum is a lot easier on your back - it comes with a long handle that is detachable if you prefer using it as a dust vac. The head of the vacuum is shaped like a regular vacuum cleaner and has a motor driven brush roll. There is a switch on the body of the unit with 2 settings, for either carpets or floors - both work fantastically. I have several small carpets in my home where you can wipe your feet and this vacuum when set to carpets cleans them almost as well as my regular vacuum. It may not get the deep down, ground in dirt but if it's for a quick cleanup before surprise company comes in it works great.

We also use this on the furntiure in the tv room for those "kid and hubby crumbs". The brush doesn't damage the material on the sofas. It also picks up dog hairs very well (although we have a short haired dog). I don't know how well it would pick up long dog hairs, as I have noticed that with string it tends to wrap around the brush roll. I don't have to clean the brush roll too often, but I do about every 2 or 3 months to maintain maximum efficiency of this vacuum.

We also use this a lot in my sons bedroom where we have wood floors and 2 very, very active guinea pigs. They pop around a lot and their cedar shavings and some of the piggie droppings (I know YUCK) do get on the floor. It works great on the cedar shavings and does pick up the droppings, which are heavier (they eat a lot). But, I find that I get better results using it on the brush setting to get all the droppings. (This is why we got the 2nd one - I thought it would be too unsanitary to use the same cordless vacuum that was picking up droppings, on the same sofas we sit on!)

The 2nd button on this unit is to release the dirt cup when you empty it. We do this everytime my son cleans up in his room and about once a week in the tv room.

There are no filters to buy, you just empty the plastic container into the garbage and clean it with a damp cloth as needed. It has a removable filter screen which is easy to clean by pulling it out of the dust cup and vacuuming it quickly with a regular vacuum. It has a recharging unit which you can mount on the wall and you can also buy an additional rechargeable battery that can be charged at the same time as the vacuum, therefore there is no chance of running out of a charged broom.

I keep this cordless broom in my TV room, which has bare floors and it is great at picking up "crumbs", anything from popcorn to tiny pieces of paper and dried up pieces of playdoh. The suction on this cordless broom is not powerfull enough to pick up pennies (something our regular dust vac can do). I don't suggest picking up anything wet with this unit. For $45, at the time, it was a great buy.

Having owned one of these vacuums for the last 4 years, we will have to get the additional battery, as we have noticed that the charge no longer holds - it used to keep going going strong after 20 minutes of constant use - it's now down to about 3 or 4 minutes before it needs to be recharged so it's time for a new battery.

If you do need to get additional parts, they can be purchased by calling: 1-800-282-2886 or by going to the following link where a pdf order form will open up:

http://www.eureka.com/service/manuals/59814.pdf

This is considered the 96A cordless vacuum. The replacement part numbers are as follows:

Filter 60777 $ 2.99
Charging Stand with Charger: 60778-2 $14.99
Battery Pack: 60776-1 $16.99

Hope you find this review helpful.

You can read my review on my Dustbuster that really sucks at:

http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-review-6378-D4A9ABE-394CF787-prod5

UPDATE - 7/7/05 - Well, This Eureka lasted 5 years, we had to lay it to rest this week as the battery wouldn't charge anymore. Found it extremely useful while I had it and hope to be able to replace it with a similar model.