I have had a Miele for the last 13 years and it's a fabulous machine. It's a midsize model, and it's made to sit neatly on stairs while I vacuum. Even so, if I had two big levels and had the option to have a machine on each floor that was geared to the flooring on that level, that's the way I'd go, hands down. No lugging anything up and down the stairs, and if you have a 'spot mess' to vacuum up (ie, someone spilled corn flakes or dumped powder) you always have a machine handy.

Cj

We have two Riccars - one up and one down. I'm with Cj - I absolutely would not go back to hauling one around!

My downstairs Riccar is an older 8900. It's a workhorse for sure - with four cats and three dogs I vacuum every day. It picks up everything wonderfully, and since it's been run nearly every day for five years I can't say enough about its durability.

The upstairs Riccar is a Vibrance; we've only had it a few weeks but I'm in love with it! Our second and third floors don't get a lot of use except by the cats, and it picks up cat hair like a dream.

I've heard amazing things about Miele, too, so I'm not sure you can go wrong with the options before you.

I have a question. Is your Frieze carpet a deep pile?

I ended up purchasing yesterday the Neptune + Vibrance yesterday. Vacuumed carpet with Vibrance and NOT GOING TO WORK. My carpet + pad must be too thick. Had to pull back to lift stuff off carpet. Such a bummer.

I didn't even try the Neptune.

I'm going in today to return/exchange. Thinking I'll just do the Gemini?? Thanks for any help.

Trish

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the upright is "sticking" to the carpet, because your carpet is thick. You are having a hard time pushing the vacuum cleaner.

What you are going to need to do is purchase a vacuum cleaner that has a height adjustment. The Vibrance just sits on top of the carpet. The user can set the height so that it does not sit so low into the carpeting.

Using a suction-only vacuum cleaner, like the Neptune, will only clean the surface. You will need a vacuum cleaner with a revolving brushroll to groom the carpet and get at the deep down dirt.

What vacuum cleaner were you using before this purchase? You may need to use your old vacuum cleaner for the carpeting(depending upon what brand and model you have).