Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Eureka EasyClean Lightweight Handheld Vacuum Cleaner, Hand Vac Corded, 71B, EasyClean-Yellow

Top positive review

Lots of power in this

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2016

First, i want to state that i have only had this system for 1 week. I will alter my review if i come across issues in the future, but here are my notes so far. Also, i purchased this specifically for stairs and small crevices.

PROS:

1. Cord-
The cord was shorter than my old handvac so i was concerned it wouldnt reach up all my stairs but it did. I have 13 stairs (including very top step) and it reached slightly further than that top step.
2. Bagless Canister-
i am not a big fan of these mostly because i tend to make more of a mess trying to detach and shake it off in the trash, not to mention im a little weird about touching the dirt once its in the canister. I found this canister much easier to get off than my old one, easy to empty without getting my hands to gross. I think i did pick up a lot of carpet fuzz which really sticks to the filter so be sure to clear it out of the system with shut off to protect from overheating.
3. Power-
This was crazy awesome. This system (version) had more than enough power. I vacuumed with my upright vacuum and then went over the same area with hand vac and i picked up a lot. In fact if you have older carpet it tends to pick up a lot of carpet fuzz as well which can quickly clog filter.
4. Exhaust-
i have decorative greenery around the ballisters on half of the stairs and little soft pieces are constantly falling off. This was an issue with my old hand vac where the exhaust would blow them all over the exhaust came out the sides. This system blows toward the back and i didnt have any issue with that here.

CONS:
1. Weight-
This hand vac is heavier than my old one. However, i use this mainly for stairs and crevices so i won't be using it for extended time, making the weight not much of an issue for me. Also, it seemed that the weight of it aided in its pickup. My old hand vac i had to move it with one hand and stabilize-press down with another to really get the deep dirt. i don't need to do that with this system.
2. Power-
In a way, it actually had too much power in that it is hard to move the vacuum forward on carpet. But when using my old hand vac i always moved pulling back rather than pushing forward so i prefer this direction and it wasn't much of an issue for me. Also, on my living room, i realized i can easily move it forward if i let the system hover very slightly above the carpet rather than letting it ride down in the carpet. Basically lifting it every slightly not letting the weight of the system press it down.
3. The Handle-
The handle is rounded on the bottom but square edges on the top. Though the square edges could hurt or feel uncomfortable after a while, i have smaller hands and i think the bulkiness was more of an issue than it being square.
4. Noise-
Yes, this hand vac is loud, but it didn't seem louder than my old one. If you have sensitive ears like mine a simple set of ear plugs is a good idea.

ADDRESSING Some Issues Stated in low reviews
1. Hose Suction-
i have found this very strong, not weak at all.
There was a comment that if the hose gets clogged there is no way to clear this out. First suggestion would be to have caution when using this to not accidently pick up things like paper or kleenex as this could very easily clog it. If you think it is clogged try to straighten out the hose so its trajectory is straight in direction to the angle of the base of hose, sometimes things get clogged because the hose is bent. Though i'd really like to add that when the hose is at its shortest its probably about a foot and a half, so if you cant reach the clog from the free end just take off the canister which is where the other end of the hose is....
2. Cord wrap-
this was a great feature and works well. My 9 year old was able to use it and wrap it back up with no issues.
3. Exhaust-
the air does come out quite strong out of the back of the device. i have not had an issue of this since i use it primarily for the stairs. This could be an issue with hard floors.
4. Shutting off feature-
i made it up most of my stairs when the system shut itself off. I realized that the filter was covered with carpet fuzz. I dumped the canister and it started back up without any issue. (again i have only had this for 1 week)
5. Opening canister and filter-
This canister was much easier than my old hand vac to get on and off, yet secure enough there were no leaks. Filter also came off with no issue for myself.

As i use this vac i will update if there are any issues. Though one could look at it and say "it was only $40" for me $40 is still an investment and it shouldn't only last a year or less. It should last longer. I hope others have as good of luck as i have had.

15 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Cuauhtémoc

Quality has gone way low! UPDATED review. Eureka EasyClean Corded Hand-Held Vacuum, 71B

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2014

Update April 7, 2019 :

Review Gone from 5 to 1 Star. Poor Quality on recently bought replacement!
We bought this product the first time in May 2014 and the second time on February 2018.
The Quality has gone deep low, the plastic looks cheap, the hose broke about three months after first use, the brush roll is no longer working. Only consistent thing is the suction power. The sad thing is that I would have happily paid an extra $20 for a premium quality product! I do not understand the complaints about Chinese products quality if USA manufacturers keep doing the same, specially in the consumer goods products.

By the way, the hose is not covered by the warranty because it is considered a "consumable" part, and it is super difficult to replace due to silly design. You basically, have to open the vacuum in half axially and risk losing other parts. There is NO EASY WAY to replace the hose in this little vacuum. Totally inacceptable design, done to cause pain and discomfort on regular mortals trying to replace a "consumable" part that breaks in 4 to 6 weeks.

Can anybody point me in the right direction to replace these Eureka vacuums? Any suggestions? I do not mind about the price, I want unchanged over the years high QUALITY!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Update Dec 04, 2016:

Still working perfectly!!! I have bought a couple of Eureka DCF11 62558A original filters https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009L9CMI4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and got rid of original one that was very, very used.

This is our favorite vacuum cleaner (over the Shark and the Ridgid). We will surely keep recommending and buying Eureka if they keep this quality!!!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Update Nov 09, 2014:

It has more suction power than my Dirt Devil 12 Amp Upright Breeze bagless vacuum cleaner!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was doubtful about buying this corded vacuum cleaner because some reviews stated that it was too noisy or cord was too short.

What I found out is that it is a very powerful cleaner, not noisy at all (sound comparable to a blender) and the cord is more than enough for most typical applications.
In my case, we have 14 steps in our stairs and the electrical plug is about 6 feet away from the stairs, nevertheless the cord provided with the vacuum cleaner is almost long enough to vacuum the stairs completely. I have used it to vacuum the interior of my car with an extension cord without any power lost.

Regarding the suction, it is comparable to a regular size corded vacuum cleaner. And, for being honest, I will never buy a rechargeable battery vacuum cleaner. Their power only last for about 15 minutes and they do not have enough suction power to clean properly. Do not get me wrong, I have three cats, a toddler and a baby and they can really make a mess (especially the toddler)!

To get the most out of this vacuum, I recommend everyone to buy these additional items (found here at Amazon too):
+ Shop-vac 906-43-19 1-1/4" Household Cleaning Kit
+ Micro Vacuum Attachment Kit - 7 Piece
+ Some crevice extension (I did not need to buy one because I am using the one from my old regular size vacuum cleaner)

I will definitively recommend this vacuum cleaner to a friend and, whenever it breaks I will buy it again, or alternatively the newer model "Eureka RapidClean Step Handheld Corded Vacuum, 41A" that weights 1.5 lb more but has double filter bag (one metallic mesh and the regular one) and also because it has roll wheels to avoid scratching hard floors (but on the other hand does not have an adjustable visor to clean stairs vertically).

Very happy with performance and quality of this Eureka product. Try it, you won't regret it!!

5 people found this helpful

10,409 total ratings, 9,113 with reviews

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From the United States

cjhu8

Lots of power in this

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2016

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

LegoDad

Outstanding

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2011

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

I liked the reviews I had seen for this unit. I gave away my rechargeable hand vac to my mother since I was tired of a lack of power, lack of usable time, and always having to have it charged since i may not use it for a month or three, and half the time I'd go to use it and would have to charge it anyway. So I figured it was time to go back to a corded hand vac,

First off, I like that the discharge blows back, since so many have the air blowing in a direction that just blows around whatever it is you're trying to capture. But with the force of the air, if it's something light, like a powder spill, probably still best to come at it at an angle, since even though the air blows at a good angle, there's so much that it might still have some wash in front in some circumstances. But if it's really a problem, it's so easy to just flip the little visor down so that the inbound opening is the very front of the vac, not the underside, and pick it up that way, since then the discharge is all up in the air, nothing to hit the ground and spread out.

Kind of loud for its size, but when i held my hand up against the bottom and felt just how strong the suction is, I'm thinking there's no way to have this much power any quieter.

Brush works very well and it is nice to have the option to turn the brush on or off.

Only two things I've found that mar the perfection of the unit, but not enough to detract a star... The cord, when wound around the base of the handle for storage, REALLY wants to keep that shape, and ends up in a spiral, like the cord from a wired phone handset. The other one is that the little rubber flap in the filter doesn't close all the way when the vac is turned off, so things may not stay in the catch bin when it's powered off.

Unit is a bit larger than I had envisioned from the measurements, and definitely solid. no little wimpy thing here. But the handle is well positioned and it's very easy to use. And having such a long cord is the icing on the cake. I've had full sized vacuums that didn't have cords this long.

Hard to come by at times though, I purchased from three sellers at amazon, all of whom I had to cancel the order with when I found out later that they didn't have any in stock (despite showing in stock when I placed the order). And of course none of them told me it was not in stock when I placed the order or even up to 5 days after the order was placed. I wouldn't have found out had I not sent emails saying "any tracking information yet?" But it's not evidently their fault, since one of the places outside of Amazon I tried was Eureka itself, their online ordering. Even there, after not hearing anything for five days, when I called, they admitted it was not in stock, backordered. All in all, I purchased this unit seven times from seven different sources, and had to get my money refunded from the first six. Which I guess is a good testament to how popular this thing is, since it's hardly around anywhere to get.

So despite the month and a half I spent trying to get one, this was, no doubt, the best handheld vac purchase I could have made. Well worth the effort.

Helpful

John Cheng

Best Value Vacuum Cleaner

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2012

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

Owner's Special Reviews on Eureka Hand-Held 71B

Owner's Unique Reviews on this very Powerful vacuum Cleaner. This Eureka Hand-Hand 71B is one of the Best Value Vacuum Cleaners, Versatile and Powerful.

Curosity Kills The Cat.

After viewing all the Amazon Reviews, out of curosity and anxious to check it out, I finally purchased the Eureka Hand-Held 71B to give you the Satisfactory reviews of this product. It is indeed a very good product. In order to know the product well you must purchase one. This will give you the first hand information about this product. It also gives you in depth, personal valuation of the product, without second opinion. The first hand opinion of your own is the Best! No one will doubt you! Your review is yours.

Believe Me Or Not.

Delivery was quick and prompt. I received the item in a week's time. To receive the full features of the product you must purchase the full version, inclusive of the accessories which are optional, for your convenience and benefit.

Anyone Will Love It. I like it immediately, because it is light and portable for all your household chores.

Two Unique Features.

I love the two unique features which are unique for this Eureka Hand-Held 71B. Feature #1 is, it has a unique Roller Bush for Sofa, Bedsheets, Pillows, Cushions, Carpet Stairs, Carpets and Car Upholstery. It cleans thoroughly. The other feature is for the Floors and Tight Corners. It sucks dust, dirt and Pet's Hair fast, and easily. Getting to know the product well, you must own one yourself to utilize the amazing features of this product. Nobody can change your opinion about this product.

One and the Only One is good enough.

You only need to own this one to do all the house work and enjoy using these unique features. You will know when to clean the dust cover, and it is washable too. It is very easy to clean. At the flick of your finger, the dust cover is out for cleaning.

A Word of Caution!

Please specify the operating Mains Voltage in your country otherwise you will have problem of replacing the fuse, which I did. Luckily I could do it, and used a step down transformer or a voltage stablizer to 115Vac.

Lastly, I highly recommend this Eureka Hand-Held 71B and you can forget about the rest.

Helpful

Cuauhtémoc

Quality has gone way low! UPDATED review. Eureka EasyClean Corded Hand-Held Vacuum, 71B

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2014

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lee

Seems powerful but heavy

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2013

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

Received this in the mail a couple of days back and I got down to using it almost the entire day today. Here are the pros and cons of this vacuum.
Usage for:
- vacuum a queen mattress that's powdered with baking soda all over
- clean the cushions of my sofa (and insides of the cushion cover for those with down feathers all over)
Pros:
- Seems powerful enough, managed to suck up all those baking soda (had to empty it once) & feathers
- cord is extremely long; I could just plug it in once and use it all around the sofa bed!
- easy enough to clear out the dust cup and filter (I used a toothbrush to brush away any stuff that's stuck to the filter since you can't get it wet)
- I literally used it for long periods at a go and for the whole day; I went mad cleaning once I got this and it held up!
Cons:
- it's heavy for a handheld
- the hose is really short; would be good to have if there's an extension (although I know they do have another similar model that comes with the hose extension)
- the suction motor is powerful, so is the air that gets blown out the back side of the vacuum which could potentially blow away dust before you get to them so you really need to angle it properly and keep thinking about that air that comes out at the back else you'll be really frustrated
- the visor in front seems to collect a bit of dust (the underside of it that has a thin rubber attached), I used a toothbrush to clean this
- the dust cup isn't joined tightly to the main unit after you snap it shut because when I turned it over to clean the underside, some baking soda fell out. Then again, maybe you should be sucking such large amounts of baking soda into any vacuum!

I'll leave you to decide whether any of the cons are a deal breaker for you. For example, having a short hose isn't a deal breaker for me. But if I intended to use it for hard to reach places, then I wouldn't buy this. OR, you could simply improvised and duct tape a gift wrap tube to the hose as what one of the reviewers did (check it out under the photos). Good luck deciding!

Update: It seems like the rotary brush in front doesn't move at all! It states in the description that "1 motor powers the revolving brush, second motor for suction", but I've been observing it and it doesn't revolve! Still sucks but inaccurate product description. Either that or my vacuum's brush is spoilt...

Helpful

Kcorn

Saved my back when cleaning carpeted stairs even though I still have full size vacuum. You might get by with only this, love it!

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2011

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

I can't praise this enough. The power is amazing and it was brilliant of the manufacturers to add a flip top so that you can not only clean the tops of stair treads but also the sides, simply by one quick move. We have very few carpeted areas but do need a full size vac for a large carpeted second floor hallway/balcony area as well as a large study.

I have only one small quibble (and it certainly wouldn't stop me from buying this). The crevice tool isn't firmly attached to the vacuum (there is a holder on the vacuum). It isn't so loose that it falls out every time the vacuum is used but it never feels completely locked in place. Did I just get a slightly defective crevice tool holder? I wonder. But moving on...

This vac is just as wonderful on floors as stairways. If you have babies or small children, it will quickly get any spilled food (dry) and keep your counter tops crumb or dust free. I have mine in a nearby cabinet for easy access. Very simple to store as well.

Because of allergies, we keep carpeting to a minimum, mostly area rugs and some front hall runners...and then there are those stairs! The stairs were my main cleaning problem since the bulky full size vacuum was heavy enough to be a hazard, nearly causing me to fall down the stairs several times. Also, even the attachments (brush, crevice tool) didn't do a great job.

Somehow the Eureka seems to have the power of a larger vacuum compressed into a small and compact vac. I love it! Also, there is a crevice tool and a hose. We also have a white tiled floor in our bathroom and this gets up the grit that can scratch those floors. The white floors were a mistake but by using the vac daily, I can clean the floor in under 5 minutes.

I also used this to suck bugs and dirt from an open ceiling chandelier. First time it has been that clean! Until then, I used a hand hair dryer and simply blew the dirt from the chandelier onto a small tarp on the floor below. This saves the extra step of sweeping or vacuuming up the dirt from the floor area.

We have front entry runners which quickly get dirt on them, a good thing because the dirt ends up on those heavy duty runners and not our floors, especially in winter. Before guests arrive, I grab the Eureka and my hallway is clean again. Also great for a quick clean up of boot containers and air vents.

Some tips which I learned by using this:

1. Even though the manufacturer notes that you can use powdered carpet fresheners with this vac, I'd avoid those. Either use them with your full size vac or if you don't have one...then use a foam spray and let it dry first. I know some people don't like the residue from foam but we get our carpets cleaned regularly and there isn't a build-up because I use carpet fresheners very sparingly (we don't have pets now). And even if there is a build-up it isn't noticeable. The carpets never feel sticky or gummy from our carpet freshener.

2. Common sense goes a long way. May seem obvious but just check the hose regularly, don't forget to keep track of the dirt in and around the dust cup, etc. (it can fill up quickly, depending on how dirty the carpet or floor is).

3. If you have a few large pieces of paper or debris on your carpet or floor, grab a small bag and put those in the bag before using the Eureka. Odds are, that Eureka is going to suck up those pieces but anything easily grabbed or swept up lets the Eureka focus on tinier bits of dirt, including more dust than you would ever believe. It is incredible how quickly people - or just life - brings dust into rooms.

This also sucks up dust from books without harming them. Again, use the hose and some common sense. I don't touch my books with the hose (worried about stains).

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

K. P. Keber

Filter Cleaning Tip (edited 3/11/2013)

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2011

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

The media could not be loaded.

We have had this unit for just a couple of days. So far, I concur with the positive reviews even though we have already had to call customer service due to a loud, unsettling, brush-related rattling noise when vacuuming certain surfaces (velour couch and chair upholstery). Eureka customer service has been very forthcoming and responsive. I will edit this review when the issue is resolved.

The 71B certainly is powerful and it certainly does clean surfaces well. But I have noticed a common issue regarding cleaning the cloth filter. We have three vacuums including the 71B-- a bagless Hoover upright, a Eureka Mighty Mite Canister and this hand-held.

In the last 2 days, rattle notwithstanding, the 71B has sucked up a HUGE amount of dust and cat hair from our fabric-upholstered couch. It filled the dust cup and clogged the filter in no time flat.

The filter is sewed onto the supple rubber sealing gasket, so you cannot change only the filter, you have to change the entire assembly. It is not something you want to do often if you are frugal. Really the only time I would want to change this filter is when the gasket doesn't seal well anymore. So like other 71B owners, I decided to clean off the cloth filter.

Tapping the filter against the trash can did not work. At all. Serious fail.

Next I tried to clean it off with a paper towel. Very messy with a very poor cleaning result.

Then I resorted to picking at it with my fingers. A genuine YUK, and while the result was better than with the paper towel, the filter still had dirt and hair stuck to it and looked filthy. Unsatisfactory at best.

Finally, I used the MightyMite to vacuum off the 71B's filter. THAT worked great and now the 71B filter looks just like new.

Update, 06/01/11:

As I mentioned, the unit Amazon shipped was faulty, producing a terrible rattle when operating with the brush roller engaged. Amazon previously rejected a short video I produced displaying the problem. However, Eureka's customer support was marvelously responsive after hearing the rattle over the telephone. They led us through the replacement process, providing us with all necessary info. Nine days after the initial call to Eureka, we had a brand new unit (in addition to our faulty unit) delivered FedEx to our front door and it is flawless. I'm thinking of disassembling the first one to see if it is repairable.

Anyone interested in more detail of our experience with the company's customer service, feel free to message me. I will attempt to attach the video to this review once more. This video shows the problem with the unit that Amazon shipped to us. The unit in the video is about 3 days old, but the problem existed right out of the box.

[Edit, 03/11/2013]: A couple more months and we will have owned this vacuum for two years. It's still running strong, comes in very handy at the worst moments (think: broken light bulb when the wife is due home in minutes, LOL!). No problems at all since Eureka customer service replaced the first unit we received from Amazon. Still recommending this unit to friends and family (which is how I wound up with this edit). Also, never did try to repair the first unit, so I still don't know if it's possible. We still have it around though. Perhaps I can find the time someday.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

PowerShopper

Frustrating and virtually ineffective on stairs

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2013

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

I purchased this vacuum cleaner on August 12, 2012 because of its sterling reviews on Amazon.com. I purchased this mostly to clean carpeted stairs and sometimes to clean cat fur off of upholstered furniture; it replaced a hand-held Dirt Devil. I have used handheld Dirt Devils to vacuum stairs for about a decade and they were only marginally effective. The Eureka just doesn't work. Let me re-state - it works no better than the Dirt Devils! The cup shaped filter in the Eureka has to be cleaned at least 3 times if not more when vacuuming a single flight of carpeted stairs. I do have 2 long haired cats but still, I don't think I should have to stop 3 times to clean the filter just to kind of preserve suction which is really reduced when the filter is "clogged". The filter is clogged within 1 minute of being cleaned and I am not exaggerating. I have purchased a new filter cup for that vacuum thinking that the first one was just defective but I soon became resigned to buying a new one every month or two because the new filter clogged as quickly as the old filter. Since this vacuum is so inexpensive I was constantly perusing Amazon.com for a replacement but the Eureka still had the best reviews. However, I really hated this vacuum so I kept up the search on Amazon.com almost weekly. Using the Eureka was such an awful chore, the crevice tool was much more effective than the brush. I was constantly picking cat fur up with my hands that the vacuum left behind. I had to go over a single step 6 - 10 times while applying a lot of pressure to the step with the vacuum then I would poke at stuck hair with the crevice tool then I used my hand to pick up any remaining lint/fur. Since I hated vacuuming the stairs I didn't do it nearly as often as I should. The carpet nap was all matted down (the prior house owner spared all expense when selecting the carpet) and it looked awful and I started dreading having company because they would see my awful dirty stairs!

Sorry about the rant. My ordeal is finally over. I just purchased the Miele Titan canister and their mini handheld turbobruch which is a significant improvement over the $35 Eureka vacuum. However, the Miele is about 20 times more expensive - just wanted to get that out there. The carpet attachment that came with the Titan works well on stairs but the turbobrush works a little better. The carpet on my stairs now has nap!!! I have to say that I never heard of the Miele until recently. I was shopping for stick vacs on Amazon to replace the Eureka and just happened to get referred to a YouTube video by an Amazon reviewer that compared the Dyson animal stick vac vs. an Oreck stick vac vs. a Shark stick vac vs. a Hoover stick vac (the cordless one I believe). The Hoover won the demo by the way and the Dyson performed the worst. Anyway, between each vacuum cleaner demonstration, the demonstrator took a Miele canister to clean up the un-vacuumed sand, fake pet hair and other debris that had been worked into carpet for each vacuum cleaner's demo. At first, I thought that the demo convinced me to buy the Hoover for about $150 then I realized that I should just buy the Miele that was cleaning up the carpet between demonstrations instead. I decided that I didn't need to add another vacuum cleaner to my largish collection especially since I have no room to store another one; rather, I needed to free up space with one really good, versatile and small vacuum that did everything and I mean everything! The Miele kicks a$$ on hard floors as well as carpets and my baseboards and wide blinds are now beautifully dust free using Meile's dusting attachment with so little effort (at least in comparison to using a hand held dust cloth and a spray cleaner of some sort). After I got my vacuum and experienced the joy of clean baseboards throughout the house all at the same time (in the past, I would only clean 1 room at a time using my old labor-intensive method), I called up my mother and asked her why she never told me about the ease of cleaning baseboards with a vacuum using a dusting attachment and her response was that she had never owned a vacuum cleaner that had attachments that actually worked so she didn't think she was holding out any relevant information. I think my Mom is going to get a Miele for Christmas, she is almost 80 and is just too old to clean baseboards on her hands and knees!!!I have put the Eureka EasyClean Hand-Held vacuum out with the trash along with a Bissel power edge vac and an Oreck upright. I long ago trashed a Dyson Animal Upright. The Titan isn't even the top of the line for Miele but it is working excellently for my household with a variety of floor surfaces containing 2 long haired cats.

I have one last comment, if you look at Miele reviews on Amazon.com, one will see an array of 1 and 2 star reviews. Think of them as Ferrari owners complaining about not liking the grade of leather in their seats or preferring mahogany trim over walnut. These people are not rating the Miele with a Hoover, Eureka, Bissell or even a Dyson in mind. If you can afford a Dyson, don't do it - buy a Miele (but buy the correct one for the type of floors you have). If you can't, maybe you should stick with the old standby, Hoover.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Old Qwfwq

Sucking great!

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2012

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

'Caveat emptor' should be a caution against not just unscrupulous sellers, but misguided buyers as well, a self-warning of sorts. To that end, I read all ~1600 reviews of the Eureka, paying special heed to the three percent or so that awarded it one star. Call this a meta review. My conclusion after a complex and detailed statistical and psychological analysis of the complaints is that the hand-held vacuum was being misused, abused in some cases. After a few months of use, I agree with all the positives: Eureka is powerful & easy to use, the brush enhances cleaning power, the canister is a snap to empty, and the filter creates a nice, tight seal. As for the complaints...

"Vacuum stopped working after X uses/N years." That was the predominant complaint, sparks and smoke and vacuum broke. Many of the reviewers who sent their Eurekas to the Great Vacuum too soon seemed to be using them as replacements for full-sized vacuum cleaners: three flights of stairs, several area rugs, hotel lobbies, etc. I planned to use mine to clean up the occasional kitchen spill and kitty-litter dusting--no sucking marathons, just little sprints here and there. Could there have been honestly defective units among these? Sure! I mean, the FDA allows for up to 60 insect fragments per 3.5 oz of chocolate, so a defect in three out of every 1000 Eurekas is nothing to get all huffy and litigious about.

"Vacuum is too heavy." Again, an easy-to-dismiss complaint for me. Step 1: read product specs and ascertain that product weighs 7 pounds. Step 2: lift a bag of potatoes to get a feel for what 7 pounds is like. Step 3: conclude that I can hold seven pounds for the thirty seconds or so it will take me to clean up the flour and popcorn that have peppered the kitchen floor. Step 4: be pleasantly surprised that the 7 pounds referred to the shipping weight, and that the Eureka sans box weighs (according to my bathroom scale ) a featherlight 5.4 pounds. Step 5: determine that if the Eureka were a bar of chocolate, then the FDA would be OK if it contained up to 1500 insect fragments.

"Vacuum blows dust everywhere." This was perhaps the most serious of the warnings that I read. After all, vacuums need to exhaust all that air somewhere, and I have noticed this issue with some uprights, especially on hardwood & tile floors. I took solace in the overwhelmingly positive reviews, especially those that addressed the suck-and-blow issues. In particular, one reviewer noted that the vacuuming should be done by pushing the Eureka away from you and not towards you since the exhaust was stronger under the Eureka's belly. That's how I vacuum anyway--plus, I identified, since the exhaust is stronger under my belly as well--so I took a chance. So far, there has been no exhaust problem, no blowing stuff around.

"Power cord is hard to store." As I see it, there are four options for power cord management. Option one: get a cordless handheld vacuum, put up with weaker suction, leave unit constantly charging and sucking power, replace batteries every couple of years once they reach the end of their recharge cycle. Option two: get a short-corded handheld vacuum and plan to spill beans only near electrical outlets. Option three: get one of those internal-storage crank widgets that are a pain to operate or else spring-loaded with an angry and temperamental spring. Option four: to store, wrap the long cord around the base in the time that it takes you to say wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap.

"Hose suction is weak." Nope, it's strong. The same motor powers both the hose and the main unit. And the hose is ridiculously easy to use, requiring none of the attach/detach acrobatics of most vacuums.

"Vacuum requires screwdriver to turn on." This must have been written by Edward's younger brother, Johnny Screwdriverhands.

"Vacuum doesn't work in Australia." Well that settles it then: I'm not moving to Australia.

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Aaron

The suection of the vacuum is really good. If you block the end of the hose ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2017

Color: Easyclean-yellowVerified Purchase

This is a respectably powerful vacuum. The brush roll is powered by a separate electric motor. The suection of the vacuum is really good. If you block the end of the hose while you have the hose off and stretched out the hose tries to jerk out of your hand. This is one mean beast. I like how the crevice tool stores on the back. It just slides into a small hole and clicks into place. It's not difficult to pull the hose off the brush roll, remove the crevice tool from the back and put on the hose for quick cornering without even having to turn the vacuum all the way off.

The power switch, which is a switch, not a trigger, has 3 positions, plus a spring loaded position. All the way forward is vacuum on with brush roll on, in the middle is vacuum on with no brush roll, back one from there is off, and from that off position you can pull it back a little further to release the dirt cup so you can lift it off.

The brush roll is powerful. I did manage to stop it (very briefly, for testing purposes), with my fingers, but it never stopped while actually trying to use it, well until it broke that is. The riser visor feature works and is not overly gimmicky. I found it let me vacuum the sides of furniture without having to hold the vacuum in some vertical orientation, just keeping it horizontal worked ok. It is not ridiculously tough bristles, so worked fine on hard surfaces.

I'm blind, and I found this handy for sitting on the floor and vacuuming under my cable cluttered desk, where I could use one hand to move cables out of the way and be able to ensure I didn't grab cables and the like. Little crawl-around vacuums like these are handy for us, and honestly probably for everyone if you can get down on the floor and then get back up again. It's a safer way to get way back to the baseboard right next to your UPS that has 15 or so cords coming in all directions to it, etc.

The whole body of the vacuum will be too tall to go under the backs of your car seats, and the wide powered brush roll won't work well for getting into nooks or dips, like on the hump most vehicles have in the center for the transmission and drive shaft and such. You could use the hose end itself, the crevice tool or supply a separate tool that fits. This baby would run that old air powered brush roll you had for the old vacuum you retired some time in the past with gusto. It is compatible with the attachments for our hoover air cordless vacuums with no adapter needed. I liked using the double jointed brush bent double in a hook shape to get dust off the top of the ceiling fans, it's particularly wicked at that, pulling on the brush so hard you can hardly move it. Make no mistake, this thing's suction is fantastic. It's so mean that when you have the hose hooked on the built in power brush roll you actually notice it is pulling itself down to the surface it sits on and doesn't want you to lift it.

It has no wheels or rollers, so is a little harder to push back and forth, I compensate by just pushing harder or lifting slightly. It doesn't feel particularly nice sliding the hard bottom along on my vinyl tile flooring, but it has no scrapes on it's underside yet. I wouldn't trust this on concrete flooring, maybe ceramic tile, but nothing particularly rough.

The hose is wonderfully flexible, and stretches just far enough to reach from waist height to just above your head to get at a ceiling fan while standing on a step ladder. The port where it goes into the left side of the vacuum ust behind the brush roll swivels from the default backward position to point upward, or forward, making it easier to get the hose somewhere above or in front of where you have the vody of the vacuum. Both ends of the hose are on some sort of spinny connector so they can have an attachment which you have connected be able to turn around without binding up the hose, and as a bonus, there's no air leaks at those points. When storing, you rotate the hose port to the backward position then just wrap it around the top/back and plug the end into the port on the brush roll on the right side, result you have the hose in sort of a u shape starting on the left and ending on the right.

The powerful exhaust does vent backward and downward, but I didn't have noticeable trouble with it blowing dirt around, helps to go forward so you suck it up before you blow on it. Mark my word, that exhaust is necessary to keep it cool. Once you plug the little filter up sufficiently the overheat shutoff will kick in, according to a friend who bought one the same time I did. I never got mine hot, it actually blows a lot cooler air when I use it than I expected.

The power cord wraps as already reviewed, and it won't come undone either if you just pull up on one of the other loops and really press it into the little hook on the side of the power plug, couldn't be any easier.

It's noisy, but I've used other corded hand vacs that are much louder while being far far less effective. This one is easily double the power of the other 3 hand vacs, all corded, that I've used.

The downer? my brush roll won't work anymore. I've processed a refund. I push the power switch all the way forward and the roll doesn't even twitch, I pull the switch back very slowly in case it's just got a short and has to be in just the right position, and still not a twitch until the vacuum motor shuts off as the switch is now in between the two power positions. I tried pushing the switch forward as hard as I could, the vacuum motor stays on, but no brush roll at all. It died while slurping up fingernail clippings on medium tile carpet, about a 15 second job. The brush roll came on when I started, but stopped while pushing it along the carpet and never offered to run again. *bummer* I bought it because I liked the idea of using a separate motor for the brush roll, probably direct drive and no belt to replace. Plus being able to turn it off with the switch while using the hose was a nice option. Pitty, it stopped working and meanwhile my old tiny Shark corded hand vac still works, with really lousy suction, but it's belt propelled brush roll does just fine.

I considered trying to take it apart enough to see if some cog or belt, if it has one, had just come off the brush roll, but it looks like I'd need to remove screws for that, and I think it's smarter to get out from under this while I haven't had it for 30 days yet.

What the sad part is, I never vacuumed up pet hair, never got anything stuck in it except the one time I stopped it with my fingers for maybe 2 seconds tops. It wasn't abused at all.

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