I would strongly suggest that you look into Miele canister vacuums. Yes they are expensive, but I believe that mine was worth every penny (have owned on for over 3 years). They have great suction, so should be able to handle any carpet. If you have a piece of your carpet left over that you could take in, it might be a good idea to take it to a dealer and try some of the models. Miele has a wide model range, built around 3 sizes of motors, if I recall. Different models are priced according to the attachments included. For your purposes, you would definitely want a powered carpet head. I don't find mine hard to push at all, and since you're only pushing the head, it doesn't have the weight of the whole machine on it. These canisters are very easy to pull around, not like the old heavy canister vacuums. Anyway, I hope you find something that works for you (I don't work for Miele!)

I second the Miele canister vacuum nomination. It sounds like you need something versatile. We did too and are very happy with our Miele. Adjusting the power head makes a big difference when vacuuming our dense orientals. If you can't take a piece of your carpet in, ask the dealer whether you can borrow a demo. Treat it like buying a car and taking a test-drive.

Don't want to sound like a broken record here but I third the recommendation for Miele. I own two models and the oldest one is about 10years old. They both work wonderfully and many of my friend borrow them to clean their homes and suddenly they own one too. Get the powerhead brush with the light and you will be okay!

Good luck!

Thank you for your responses, I am going to try them out. I have never used a canister vacuum before, and I am a little concerned about adjusting to one after years and years of upright use. Do they get easier to use as you go upwards in models?
I have just been reading about the new Miele S7 uprights. The only drawback to them seems to be their weight, but I don't know anyone who has one. My local (Miele-selling) store doesn't have them, and the store that does is a bit far, though I may still go to try it out.
Also, I mis-typed in my original post: I didn't bring home a Riccar Simplicity, I brought home a Simplicity Freedom. Sorry for any confusion.
Thanks again!

When it comes to uprights, the Sebo is considered a bit better than the Miele.

have you looked at any self-propelled vacuums? or don't they exist anymore?

Oh, and I would not bother with the Dyson on thick carpets. I gave mine to a friend after being frustrated with the results on my carpets. I went with the Miele with the 236 power head. Don't worry about the stated weight of the Miele, it is a canister that rolls along the floor.

To answer one of your questions, if you mean are the more expensive models easier to pull, then I'd say no. The ones with the top line motor may be a bit heavier (I'm not sure), but they should all pull very easily. The pushing effort on the carpet head would depend on the head; you'd have to try those. Other features that affect use are the type of hose and wand: The more expensive ones have the power cord built into the hose, which makes it easier to change from the carpet head to the floor brush, or other attachments. I have a telescoping wand, which I find to be a very good feature. It's so easy to adjust the length of the tool to make it easier on your back. However, I do not have the built-in cord. I'm not sure if those two features can exist together. Again, ask the dealer to show you all these differences.

We have a thick frise on our second floor and the Kenmore canister vacuum for $250-300 works well. It has lots of good attachments, too.

We have a central vac downstairs so I don't use it on the hardwoods, but it works well on the tiles in the upstairs bathrooms.

Steve_a,
On my Miele, I have the integrated cord and a telescoping wand on both my machines. I think the newer models only have the integrated cords now.

Good luck!

Thank you for all of your replies. I wanted to give an update in case anyone is searching the forums with the same problem I had.
I went yesterday and tried out Miele vacuums, both the canisters and the new S7 upright.
The canisters were really great and very lightweight and I came very close to choosing a canister. Ultimately, though, I didn't choose the canister. I am not a very careful vacuumer, and we all pictured me yanking the canister along and banging into everything in sight.
We wound up purchasing the Miele S7 Upright and so far I love it. We picked the fully automatic model. It has everything I wanted in a vacuum (works on our carpet(!), switch to turn off the beater bar on the handle, hepa filter , lay flat vacuuming) and a couple of things I didn't know I wanted but am really glad it has (swivel steering - a huge difference for the better in design, a great onboard tool system with a really long hose and the vacuum doesn't tip over when you use it).
The only negative is that it is heavy. It's definitely not lightweight like the Oreck, but since the Oreck didn't work well and you can't turn off the beater bar or adjust the height, the lightweights just weren't working for me. I am guessing that the heaviness is due to the two motors, and is also one of the things that keeps it from tipping when you use the tools. Regardless, I thought it was a fair trade off the get such good cleaning ability for a few extra pounds. One thing it has to help with the weight issue is a sturdy properly placed carry handle.
My mother (who is in her 70s and has back issues) needs a new vacuum also. This one is definitely too heavy for her. I want her to go try the miele canisters since they are so lightweight. For us, however, it's great.
Thanks again for all of your replies!

Congrats on your new purchase and happy vacuuming!
Homepro01

Bump! I thought I'd document my experience too. We installed very high pile (absolutely lovely to walk on, you feel like your'e sinking in) carpet in our living room. Our Hoover self propelled wind tunnel did the job but we had to pass it on to our daughter. We then tried the Sears upright, it didn't work at all. The Riccar Brilliance upright handled it fairly easily so we bought it. However the Riccar started having problems going through it too after a while. It was then that it dawned on us that humidity might have something to do with it. On humid days it was a lot harder.

Suction is not the key here but bar height and self propel would help.

Noticed a lot of positive reviews about the Miele on here. I've always had Miele and I love Miele, especially when it comes to how quiet they make every product (cant even hear my dishwasher when its on). But I'm disheartened, we did some renos on our house and in the attic rec room, we wanted extremely soft, thick/plush carpet. We got what we asked for, it's lovely, feels like your walking on a cloud. Many people comment on the fact that they could probably sleep on the floor it's so soft. I'm going into all this detail because I can BARELY push my, ever so loved, Miele canister vacuum on it! I'm looking for advice from anyone who has a super thick carpet like ours. I actually break a sweat trying to vacuum the attic space. I have to lean almost all my weight onto it. I'm nervous to get another vacuum because I feel that this one is really one of the best, we paid a lot for it and I dont want to spend money only to get the same problem, plus a lesser quality clean. We have the cat and dog canister model, I tried adjusting the settings but I just can't seem to get it to ease up. Do I have the wrong vacuum for this type of carpet???? Our cleaning lady has a shark that she brought over because she also couldn't push our Miele. Unfortunately, I need to vacuum this carpet more often than she's here to help. I'm not big on the shark. We have carpet on our stairs and it doesn't seem stair friendly. I'm also not into the 'bag-less' vacuums due to the extra cleaning of the containers. It sounds silly but I'm rather heartbroken because I absolutely love my vacuum in all other situations, and I love/trust Miele. Would the S7 line be a better fit? @sds333 how thick is your carpet? I think ours is at least an inch thick, it might be more. I'm having a hard time finding any other feedback on the issue we're having. This is the most similar, so thank you for any insight, it's very appreciated.

I believe there is a separate vacuum attachment you can buy that works better on carpeting than the one that comes with the Miele.

Note this thread is now 8 years old and you might have better luck starting a new thread.

Which Miele do you have and which head are you using? The Seb 236 is the head you need. It adjusts for height and is great for carpets. If you already have this head, there are adjustments based on the thickness of the carpet.