Oreck BB870AD Bagged Canister Vacuum

The Oreck Super-Deluxe BB870AD Canister Vacuum is the most fabulous canister vacuum on the market. At first glance, the price may seem way too far up there, but this vacuum is hands down the best in its class and well worth more than the retail price. In this case, you definitely get what you pay for.

I've owned many vacuum cleaners in my time, simply because most of them seem to have "something" about them that I don't like. Small handheld vacuums usually have bags that are either very difficult to change or so flimsy that any dust that gets vacuumed in usually ends up getting blown out the other end. Or, they require belt changes that are almost impossible to do because you have to take the whole machine apart to even get to the belt installation, which usually leaves you with carpal tunnel from all the stretching and finger acrobatics involved.

NONE of this is so with the Oreck canister vac. The bags are very substantial and hypo-allergenic, with absolutely no dust leakage whatsoever. There is a small HEPA exhaust filter inside the cleaner which prevents any dust from entering the motor, so no dust comes out the blower end. And there has never been an easier-to-change bag on a canister vacuum. You simply turn a small lever, open the end, remove the used bag, insert the new bag, and close the cover again. There's no pulling or fighting to get the used bag out, so there's no big poof of dust in your face while changing the bag. The bags are large enough to hold a bit more than half of a 5 pound bag of sugar, so when used for small cleanup jobs, they don't need to be changed very often. Replacement bags are available at any Oreck store or on Oreck.com in a pack of 12 with one micro-filter for $9.95. For normal cleaning, the pack should last a year. And there's no belt to change, so you never need to go inside the machine for anything at all.

Easy bag changes are not the big plus of this vacuum cleaner though. At only 5 pounds, it comes with all the attachments you need to stop dust before it even has time to settle, and it has the power you need to keep your home clean, enough power to pick up and hold a 16 pound bowling ball while still running fairly quietly. An on-board caddy holds the following tools out of the way but in easy access, and all tools are sturdy and well-built to last a lifetime: crevice tool, dusting brush with very durable but soft fibers, upholstery brush, and floor tool.

The cleaning power is so wonderful on the machine that I go ahead and vacuum the floors with it from time to time instead of getting the big Oreck upright out of the closet. It vacuums very well on both hard floors and carpeted. I tested the vacuum when I got it by pouring a bag of sugar onto berber carpet and rubbing it in well, then vacuuming it up with the small machine. I then vacuumed again with my Oreck upright and checked the upright bag to see how much of the sugar the small vacuum had initially missed. There was none at all missed, so this vacuum is full of power.

Other features include a handy, comfortable shoulder strap and built-in carrying handle, a 25-foot power cord which stores easy on the unit on the provided cord wrap, long flexible hose which is great for reaching those hard-to-reach areas, two extension poles to for reaching high areas or for converting the machine to a powerful floor cleaner with the included floor tool (which converts from a hard floor tool to a carpet tool with the touch of a button).

If you want to stop the cycle of buying cheaper vacuum cleaners and then ending up getting rid of them before a year is up, only to have to buy a new one, this Oreck is for you. This one is built to last, easy to use, and comes with a full 10-year housing warranty and three-year motor warranty. Splurge on it, and you'll realize how much money you've wasted - on the cheaper vacuums you've been buying and disposing of year after year.