It's been 6 months and I'm SUPER DUPER impressed with this thing!
I use to see these "bagless" vacuums in the donation piles at Googwill, etc. and just assumed they all suck (not in the good way).
Well, we use it quite a bit and have dumped it a ton of times and it is still working great. We LOVE that we can see all the stuff it picks up and then empty it afterward.
I've only cleaned the primary filter (the washable one) one time and I just blew it out the opposite direction of air flow with an air compressor. I didn't really need to clean it out, suction was perfectly fine... I just figured I'd do some preventative maintenance.
Anywho, we're very pleasantly surprised with how well it is working and the price!
I may start a new thread, but my search for info on vacuum cleaners turned up your quest for a new vac. How happy you are now that more time has passed by.
I HAVE to buy a new vacuum cleaner since mine literally burned up--sparks and everything! It was 10-15 years old and a bagged workhorse (Eureka Boss Smartvac). A similar model today is about $160. I don't have a big budget, but could spend that or a little more. I liked my old one, but I borrowed my mother's newer one that is a similar model, and it seems much heavier and harder to control.
Bagged models always seemed cleaner to me. I've always used bagged ones at home, but I used to have a small bagless at my office that was messy. Emptying the cup wasn't the problem, but getting the filters clean was a hassle. Seems like a lot of people like the bagless today. Have they improved them that much?
It's been a while...are you still happy with the model you bought?
We heard so many warnings that the filters will clog, loss of suction, etc., but that never happens to us. Heck, I've only cleaned the main filter (the one you wash in water) a few times.
For the price and performance, we couldn't be happier!