And the Winner (?) Is?

There's probably nothing much more mundane than vacuuming... yet if you have animals and children, you usually have to do it more than once a week, unless of course you have help, in which case, I slightly envy you. But I like not having to work right now - so springing for help for stuff that I can do is not in the budget.. Not when there are geeky things to buy like cameras and lenses, and photoshop plugins, and Australian Shepherd puppies (non geeky thing).. but I digress..

A couple of weeks ago I emailed some friends who have animals and/or kids and asked for their recommendations. Three came back with Miele.. of which I am so out of it, I had never heard of before, and others came back with the usual suspects... we looked at all recommendations and chose NONE of them... well Cap'n Steve chose none of them. I have gone through several vacuums over the last several years (all while my oldie but goodie Bissel upright managed to hang in there). Having two homes necessitates two vacuums, I went to war with a Hoover upright and currently have a bagless Bissell upright in Florida that I am not stoked about..So after reading the reviews on consumer reports and taking into consideration friends recommendations I left the final decision up to Cap'n Steve, who vacuums maybe twice a year, more if I am traveling for a contract... I secretly wanted the Miele, but at 800 bucks I wanted a new lens or camera more.



We chose this Hoover based on consumer reviews (not on consumer reports). We will see how long it is before I can tear this one up..Any bets? Cap'n Steve says I am hard on equipment... I beg to differ..It seems good at this point.. It is much quieter than the uprights, so Lass doesn't go into a tizzy when I am vacuuming now. The suction and pulling up dog hair seems very good and I like the fact that I can control the suction.. The power head seems a bit heavy - but it is definitely livable. I always wait and reserve judgment for 6 months to a year down the road.. I didn't mention to Steve that one of my friends who has a Miele had a Hoover and had to have the motor rebuilt 3 times before they finally got their Miele...