My husband bought me a Eureka at Walmart 2 years ago for Christmas. It did really well for me since I seem to feel the need to vacuum every day. We have 4 kids and lots of visitors. It had the hose and tools on the back of it with a button near the rollerbrush to disconnect it. The only thing that I didn't like was changing the bags, but it was nice to see how much junk was picked up compared to the Bissell we had before that.

Now that was the upright. This past year, I yielded to some fast talking home salespeople, and bought a Rainbow. If you have never heard of them, they are the ones that use water instead of a bag or canister. Honestly, I really do love how it cleans and from the dirty water I dump when I clean, it really does a great job. It also has a carpet shampooer attachment that we got to replace my old one that was on its last leg. It got used a lot because we are remodeling. The really bad part about it was that we ended up paying nearly full retail for it. Not the shampooer, but the original vacuum. Even after checking on the internet, and finding them cheaper, I still like mine. If I hadn't seen it work, I wouldn't have considered it even for the prices on ebay. But they are still very expensive, however you shake that rug. The only good thing is that I plan on using that thing until it is too old to suck up a dust bunny. (My revenge for the sticker shock.)

Good luck with what ever you choose to buy. Sometimes it is hard to decide what will work best for you.

A canister vacuum would be a better choice for the hard surfaces. I prefer an upright for wall-to-wall carpeting. You also need to factor in cleaning the staircase and the weight of the vacuum, since you will be carrying it up and down the stairs.

My favorite vacuum cleaner is a whole house vacuum system. Superior suction, the noise of the machine is outside, and all you a carry around is the hose and the attachments.

I know that people are happy with their Rainbow systems, but filling a water tank and then dumping the dirty water isn't something I would want to do on a regular basis. And filtration systems have come so far that water filtration doesn't seem worth the hassle.

Check Consumer Reports to give you a general idea of what's out there and the price range. That will help you to focus on the 3 or 4 machines you'll probably want to consider seriously. Most public libraries have Consumer Reports.

Whatever choice you make, give serious thought to getting one that has a HEPA filter. Otherwise, you'll be pumping some of the dust through the machine and out the other end.

We have a Miele and we're very satisfied with it. But there are many other vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters out there. Also make sure that the one you choose is comfortable for you to use. Otherwise, you'll resist using it. You have many options. Shop around. And try before you buy.

I hadn't thought about a whole house vacuum system. Sister has one, swears by it. I think I'll look into that!

Thanks, everyone.

Barbara

I have an Oreck and wouldn't trade it for anything. It goes from kitchen to carpet with no problem, picks up everything, and is light weight.

One thing I have noticed is that the term HEPA is almost generic with vacuums now. You see a ton of them out there that say Hepa filtration on them or they have what is called a Hepa filter. Yet most of them are not truly Hepa vacuum cleaners. I saw a demonstration awhile back where the guy had a particle scanner and could measure the particles coming out of the exhaust. He used it on various models that had a hepa filter and some were worse than machines with no filter, only a quality high filtration bag. I remember Miele doing very well on this and even saw one Dyson model that did pretty good.
Having said that, I know a couple that I have been friends with for a long time. They have had a Rainbow for many years. When faced with a pretty high repair/rebuild estimate, they chose to buy a Dyson instead.
They have inside dogs and never noticed any odor when vacuuming with the Rainbow. After about 6 months of owning the Dyson, they could barely stand to run the vacuum because of the odor.
Needless to say, they took their Rainbow back and got it rebuilt and that is what they are using today

Whole house systems are nice if you dont mind dragging 30 ft of hose out each time you vacuum and they have very good suction. They do lack the air flow that some good uprights have but would be ideal for someone with allergies because they actually remove the dirt from the house, exhaust is in the garage in most cases

The quality of HEPA filters varies from model to model. Some made MUCH better than others. However the real key is is the HEPA used in conjunction with a SEALED system that doesn't let dust escape from some area before it gets to the HEPA filter. I own and use a Particle Scanner at my store and can verify the Miele S5 and S4 series read 0 on the meter.

I Know that there are some good vacuum that are really very good to use and there are some other cleaning equipments that are specially made for cleaning carpets and are so designed for proper cleaning.

Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: dry carpet cleaning equipment

I just bought this: Hoover Linx a few weeks ago after reading a bunch of reviews for different lightweight vacs on Amazon. I love this thing so much!

I wanted a light, cordless stick vac that I could use on hard surface as well as carpet. The Linx has a battery pack you take out and dock in a recharger. It has 2 settings - with or without the rotating brush for carpet use.

Most stick vacs only do well on hard surfaces, but the linx got good reviews for carpet use as well and I can attest to it too. It's light enough for me to carry with one hand up and down the stairs. Skinny enough to stow in a crowded closet and get under tables.

I did purchase a subscription to Consumer Reports online but find that they cannot review all the different products out there - they only review a fraction. I found Amazon user reviews to be far more helpful and accurate - also CR only reviews new products - they can't keep the products and review them for a longer period of time. User reviews can tell you how long people had their product for.