I tried vacuums and floors and got some  threads.

Roberta 

I have an upright Oreck for large areas (carpets and floors) and  Riccar canister (without the electric carpet attachment) for stairs, blinds, bathrooms (gotta be dry) etc. Both vacs are light and easy to use. If you want just one cleaner you might want to consider a canister with the electric rollers attachment to clean carpets and rugs. I would consider a model with a hepa filter and an auto cord roller.  Good luck

Mrs. S 

PS  if you are looking for a bargain .... some places sell reconditioned vacs..

Hoover makes a self-propelled model.

If she is complaining about pushing the current one around, that would work.

I have one and it works great. And I'm the one that uses it.

Also have a Sears canister, Eureka Mighty Mite and shop vac and the Hoover is the one for carpeting and bare floors.  

Just my $0.02.

Jim

Rossby

Don't do the shop-vac without a Hepafilter....else you'll put more dust in the air than you'd really want to...not to mention the noise which the Crapsman Vacs are infamous for.

Have you considerred the expense of a central vac? We have them in both our houses, and wouldn't do it any other way.

BruceM

Thanks for the feedback.

I am thinking the best approach is to see what models are available to us in our limited market and then check Consumers Report (CR). My wife reminds me that the one she has now was rated at the top by CR when she bought it.

One of the problems we have found with CR is that they rate models A, B, and C but you can only buy an X, Y or Z locally.

The link Roberta provided had one post that confirmed my wife’s complaint about The Boss, too heavy. I wish Roberta would tell me how she pulled the rabbit out of the Search hat. How do you do that?

We are not looking for a bargain, just a Vac that does its job and is easy to use.

My reference to using a Shop Vac was an attempt at humor and yes a HEPA filter rating is a key feature.

We have talked about central vacuuming and it would be easy to install given our crawl space but the user is not enamored by that style. You play the cards dealt.

What are we missing here?

The wife even agrees that some of the best Vacs that she has had were canister types yet they seem to be in the minority in availability and reviews.

I checked our local WalMart, the only store that sells Vacs, and all they had were uprights.

Mrs. S mentioned you can get a canister with powered brushes, HEPA filter, etc, so why are we pushing, lugging around heavy Uprights that can not get the dust bunnies under the bed?

Rossby

Now if you don't want to push a vacuum cleaner around  how about checking out the little robot vac.... can't remember what it's called romba or something.  They now make a robotic cleaner that scrubs your floor too.  Far out tonight...

Mrs. S 

I have the Roomba and love it.  My son bought it for me, but I was already shopping for it based on what I had seen at his house; he has several.  I'm considering a Scooba ? - that's the one that washes the floor.  The Roomba is noisy, at least in terms of running it in here and trying to listen to the TV but it's not really "noisy".  In our clutter, I feel the need to be in the house and awake when I run it b/c it gets hung up on cords and shoes and other assorted junk but my son runs his while he's at work.

Search - I just did vacuum AND floors when vacuum alone didn't work

Roberta 

Rossby:

LUV my Oreck. Am on my second one (it was a gift). It's the upgraded version with the micro filter bags. I totally swear by these vacuums. They are not inexpensive, but are very much worth the price and last forever with proper maintenance. The weight of the vacuum sold me at first and I was skeptical that something so light would do the job, but boy was I proven wrong.

Go to an Oreck store and test drive one. You also get a cannister vac (also a very good product) and I think an iron as a free gift with purchase. 

Roberta  ... I am glad to hear that the little robots work.  I think I would like the Scooba for my kitchen floors. Unfortunately, I would need a little robot that could also wax and buff my floors.  Guess I expect too much.

Mrs. S 

Hi Rossby,
I have 2800 sq ft of tile so switching to a canister model was a no-brainer for me.  No matter what flooring I may have in the future, I will never go back to an upright.

I don't know about your area of the  state but down here things get a little "breezy" this time of the year. (We call winds up to 35 mph breezy, anything more than that qualifies as windy) As a result I get a fair share of dust/sand unless I keep all my windows closed. I love using my canister wand to go around my house just once, vacuuming floors (including under heavy furniture and the piano), window sills, screens, the adobe room dividers, shelves, cabinets and art.

Pulling, pushing, sometimes kicking the canister around can be irritating  but I consider it to be a minor inconvenience compared to wrestling with an upright and dragging furniture around. The key for your wife would be to find one with a good power head for the carpets. Another key factor for me is a long cord. Previously, I had a self-propelled Hoover - I hated it!  Changing direction required a hard yank.
Bobbi

Bobbi,

The cool thing about the Oreck is that the handle adjusts completely down (horizontally) so that you can sweep under tables/couches/chairs/beds.