Awesome vacuum for the money...
928141
I recently bought this vacuum based on the excellent reviews it got.  I can tell you that I love this vacuum.  The first time I used it I was amazed at how much stuff came up off of my carpet that my old vacuum was missing.  I have a very long haired cat and the pet hair tool works really well too.  I would recommend this vacuum to anyone.
4679317
I bought this vacuum yesterday at Big Lots for $99 after doing quite a bit of research (great deal, as it is $269 at Lowes - don't over pay).  I saw both negative and positive reviews, but the weight was the biggest negative.  I consider the weight to be a plus.  My last vacuum was so light that every time I used the wand, it would fall over.  This one is very sturdy.  It is a little heavy pushing it around on the hard floors, but when you use it on carpet, it self propels.  It has a telescoping wand that is actually the handle that you just unclick and pull out of the vacuum...very cleaver, and reaches heights like I have never seen a vacuum do.  The rotating brush has a safety mechanism that shuts off when something gets stuck in it or if it falls over (a plus if you have small children).  It also self adjusts to the height of the carpet.  The brush really grooms the carpet and pulls up all of the dust and hair.  The hair is turned into a little a cone shape in the container and falls out easily with one pull of a lever so you don't have to pull it off the filter.  My vacuum broke so it had been two weeks since I vacuumed and I have 4 dogs.  I vacuumed over and over  and it keep pulling dust and hair out of my carpet (I was pretty disgusted).  I truly love this vacuum and highly recommend it.  I will update if anything breaks, but it does have a 5 yr warranty.
4047248
This vacuum is affordable and awesome!!. I am disappointed it is discontinued. I was a Kirby Vacuum Representative decades ago, those vacuums weighed a ton. This vacuum is light weight, rarely needs maintence and picks up even dust! The flter can be removed and washed by hand with a small delicate brush. The only downside is when the motor does fail after (7 yrs..for $49,,can be beat)..it ibecomes so loud ..it sounds like a plain is landing!
1657022
I picked this vacuum model because it was a Consumer Reports #1 or 2 pick a year ago when I got it. Someone was selling a used/refurb one for a great price on Amazon (it retailed over $200, maybe $300 at Sears, IIRC).
I have to say, I love this vacuum - I've had it a year now, and it really sucks! In a good way! ;-) My hubby accuses me of using my vacuums like a bush hog - just run over anything. I won't admit it to him, but he's right. lol. This thing picks up just about anything reasonable, some unreasonable.
I love not having to fool with bags. The canister comes off the front easily and dumps from the bottom into the garbage. If you waited too long to empty it, you might have to disassemble the canister a bit to get all out, but it's not hard. That is one thing I miss from my old vac - it had an indicator light that told you when the canister needed emptying. But they don't make vacuums anymore (LG). This one works great, I just have to watch more carefully. Overall, I think it's been a great buy!
4711489
Overall, I am very pleased with this vacuum.  It is well built and has great suction power - even on tough dog and cat hair on area rugs, vehicle carpet, etc.  I have primarily hard wood floors and area rugs, with limited carpet.  The bags compress dirt and hair very well - I have four animals and vacuum every day and the first bag lasted well over a month!  The only improvement I would prefer is the length of the hose and cord - if the hose between the canister and the wand were a couple of feet longer and the power cord were several feet longer, this vacuum would be even more maneuverable and I would give it 5 stars.  Even as it is, it is fairly maneuverable and makes vacuuming under tables, etc. a snap.  I read another review that mentioned a loss of suction.  The only time I experienced reduced suction, I found that dog hair had built up in the wand (not in the hose, but the attachment wand itself, which was very easy to clean out) - once cleared, the vacuum was back to full suction immediately.
4593254
Don't get me wrong, this thing picks up a lot of dirt! I got it as a gift for my mother (short and 60 years old) who adores it. It's easy to use, compact, and cleans everything to her satisfaction. She especially likes it because it's so light (about 10lb lighter than the DC25)

This thing cleans well. For $300 tax included at Costco it was a good deal and a wonderful present to my mother who has been struggling with an old Hoover for a while. I observed her cleaning with it and it's really easy for her to use. I have a DC28 Animal and I have to say, the DC24 cleans rather well! Not as well as the full-size vacuums but enough for the house to be clean.

This vacuum is great for anyone. Ok, maybe get the DC25 if you're over 5'10".

Now,the complaints ARE valid on here. The power cord is short. The hose is shorter than my DC28. But come on, this is Dyson's smallest upright. What do you expect?

This thing is ideal for small apartments and/or people who prefer not to lug around a huge vacuum cleaner. I swing by once a weak and give my parents' house a good run-through with my DC28 (I have ALL the attachments btw) and gotta say, it doesn't pick up more than the DC24 (granted I vacuum less than 24hrs after she goes over the house with it). I have the DC28 because I have 2 long-hair cats and get half of a canister every 2 days per floor. So basically, the DC24 is perfect for my parents and I'm satisfied with every penny I spent. And, since I have attachments, I saved money by not getting them the Animal DC24 which is basically the All-Floors model plus some extras.

Easy to maneuver, great suction, light, compact, and good price. Excellent 5+ Star vacuum.
888325
This is an amazing vacuum for the size and price. My wife has been using it on all floors including medium thick carpet. Very few cordless vacs do that for even double the price of this one. It performs beautifully. Easy to use, easy to clean, super powerful. You won't regret this purchase if you need a cordless vac.
2149114
I used the WindTunnel to replace a reconditioned Dyson DC-14 that I had purchased almost 7 years ago.  When I initially started to do the review, I was expecting the Hoover to not perform as well as the Dyson given the price differences between the two (ignoring the age of the Dyson).  In use, the Hoover WindTunnel picked up a lot of dirt in my house that had been thoroughly vacuumed a week previously by the Dyson.  I was surprised and very pleased.

Setup... The Hoover comes and requires some installation (I didn't expect any).  You need a screwdriver for one screw, then the rest of the installation is unpacking and putting filters and hoses onto the vacuum.  It wasn't that difficult, but expect to take about 15-20 minutes unboxing and setting up the Hoover WindTunnel.

Use... one thing I love is the cord rewind mechanism.  It has been since I was a child that I used a vacuum with a cord that could be rewound by pushing a button.  I forgot how much I missed this!!  The on button is lower than I would expect it, causing me to bend a bit to get to it.  The attachments click firmly onto the Hoover which is nice (my Dyson attachments kept falling off if I bumped them).  The hose is nice with the provided attachments... though, to be honest, I don't use the hose and attachments all that much.

I very much like that this has a HEPA filter.  Rather keep dust down while vacuuming.

Emptying the canister is not as smoother of an experience as with the Dyson... just the mechanics of opening the container to empty are as well engineered.  Still not enough to take a star off.

Overall...  I am impressed with how much better the Hoover did in cleaning performance than my Dyson.  As I said, I did not expect this.  Couple this with the low price point, and this makes the Hoover WindTunnel vacuum an outstanding value to me.
1701283
This vacuum is great so far! I've had it a couple of months now. It's lightweight and cordless so I was able to walk outside with it and vacuum a large area rug I had put on the driveway to clean. I was able to grab it and go outside to vacuum my grandson's bounce house we set up on Thanksgiving Day. The suction is very strong. It can reach high ceilings and hard to reach corners and under furniture. I read 1 complaint about the charge not lasting very long, which is true, but that was only a "slight" hassle the 1st day I used it b/c I needed to vacuum the entire house and baseboards. After about (3) chargings in 1 day, I was able to get the vacuuming all caught up, now I can just grab it and vacuum as needed. I was so surprised to see how much dog hair my dyson got up. I wasn't even aware that dog hair was on my carpets b/c we fence off the carpet areas with baby gates, but the dyson gets it up so well. The air in my house feels so much cleaner. I definitely recommend this vacuum to others!
155393
I purchased this unit a few days ago, and must admit that I really like it.  It is powerful, light weight, and does what it says. I purchased the unit based on reviews of its ability to pick up pet hair, and it did not disappoint me. I vacuumed my stairs, which proved to be a fairly simple task with this vacuum, and it picked up everything very quickly. My stairs get vacuumed infrequently, but appeared relatively clean with no visible lose debris. After running the Eureka Easyclean Hand-Hand vacuum over them, if filled the bin with dust, pet hair, and whatever else it pulled from the base of the carpet.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Pros:
  1) Relatively quiet considering the suction
  2) Suction appeared to stay constant (no noticable drop with stairs and 2 large rugs)
  3) Didn't get as hot as my previous 2 hand-helds
  4) Brush works very well, and the ability to change from downward to forward was great on the stairs
  5) Hose attachment - great feature, works well, fit my existing attachments
  5) Cleaning was a breeze, but was relatively straight forward - a little messy when clearing close to the filter
  6) Small and light weight

Cons (minor):
  1) Dust and hair really cling to the filter, and you will have to either scrape it clean or wash it between uses
  2) Based on #1, it should really come with a spare filter to allow you to wash one while using the other
  3) Needs more attachments, a simple wand and brush would compliment the unit perfectly
  4) The cord wrap is great, but the cord grip by the plug is hard to use without loosening the cord - you've probably seen this before with oversized plastic cord grips

Summary:  Overall, I am impressed with the build quality, operation, and value. I like the unit, and I would definitely recommend this vacuum to anyone with pets and rugs, carpeted stairs, or any other small area where a hand-held vacuum makes sense.
3282271
This vacuum is awesome. It was delivered yesterday and I put it together today and used it for the first time as well. This thing picked up sooo much dirt! Its amazing how much stuff comes up even when you think its clean.
Like others were saying, it is somewhat difficult to push around on the carpet so you need to use some arm power which I don't mind.
Overall very happy so far!!
384564
I got mine half a dozen hours ago.  I messed around with it for a couple hours and tested it.  Here are my 'startup' results.

PROS:

1.  Great suction.
2.  One screw assembly.
3.  Tested it against a thiry year old Hoover (the original self propelled--but designed to have no attachments, that's why I got this Bissell)  It beat the Hoover.
4.  Packaged correctly.
5.  No louder than my Hoover.
six.  Filter system seems to work correct.
7.  Didn't cost much ($74).
8.  Handle can be lowered back for pushing, then lowered again to get under tables and chairs  (wouldn't go under my bed--too thick by three inches).
9.  When my test were finish, I found no dust on top of the unit.  There was some dust on the left and right side, at the ground level, (probably from the brushes kicking it out).  I ran my hand over the top of the main unit and felt and saw nothing at all.  Yep, the filters work fine.

CONS:

1.  That air-hose fan folds--it comes unextended at 40 inches and extends passed 75 inches.  At around 70 inches it will begin to pull the vacuum over on its back. (Tested with the unit turned off).
2.  If you attach the upholstery tool to it the hose will NOT stretch out ONE inch without pulling the unit over (too much suction in the hose does this)
3.  Most of the unit is black, most of the attachments are black--when you first get this unit it will be hard to see where things go--the instructions don't help much.
4.  That one screw (puts the handle to the main unit), screws into the back--not the side as appeared in the instructions. (The pictures are hard to see details).
5.  Because of that flexable hose that won't stretch when you attach the upholstry tool--I don't recommend this on stairs at all.  (get some used hoses that are 'stiff' and use them when its time to do the stairs--make sure you get one that fits).
six  The edger on the side of the vac only gets to one inch of the baseboard.
7.  Unit is not selfpropelled.

All in all I like this unit.  The short comings didn't add up to loosing one star with me.  That upholstery tool is a neat idea.  The one reviewer mentioning that it could break you finger is correct--that thing has some pretty high RPMs going for it.

As I said earlier, I tested this up against my 30+ year old Hoover (no tools onboard) self-propelled.  I used the Hoover like people do when they are about to steam clean their carpets--real slow!  Baby steps.  I just did the hallway, it's around 20ft long and 45 inches wide.  I sucked all the dust and dirt out of it the mighty Hoover could.  Then I went over it with my new Bissell.

I didn't go slow.

I pulled two cups of 'fine' grained dust out of that old carpet.  I'd have to say that's a winner right there.

All in all I'd have to say (since some higher end hand held dustbusters cost over $80 bucks) this unit is worth at least what it cost.

FINALLY;

I would keep a close eye out for a better flexable hose to do upholstery and stairs with--something not quiet as flexable.
4920308
I picked this vacuum up at Fred's for $60.00 before tax because it was on sale. 20% off. And so far good. I love the long cord and the stop beater bar feature as well. Emptying the cup of dirt is this vacuum also seems to self propel as well. It cleans really well. We have a Bissell carpet shampooer that we have been using for years so I figured why not try their vacuum and so far I am happy I have. For the money you can't beat this vacuum.
1852024
We bought this vacuum based on the MANY positive reviews. I have to say, so far so good. It picks up a LOT of dust, dirt and pet hair.  We'll see how it's doing a year from now in terms of suction. My last two vacuums were Dysons but so far this Bissell just can't be beat for the money, $86 vs $600+. My last Dyson was never as good as my first and I didn't want to invest $150+ to have someone repair it or pony up the big bucks for a new one. Getting the Bissell seemed like a pretty inexpensive gamble instead of buying another Dyson and so far, it's really paying off. I'd give it 5 stars if it weren't for the weirdly placed on/off switch on the side. It doesn't really bother me, but it annoys my husband.  Overall, we're very pleased with this purchase. Be sure to clean the filter periodically--it gets dirty fast!
1595708
Great vacuum!!! A lot of suction and perfect for pet hair.  The only con is that I sometimes have to use my finger to get all the stuff out of the bin, but other than that, it's a great vacuum!  Can't beat the price either.
913143
After 26 years of routine residential use, my Electrolux was no longer getting the carpets deep-down clean, so I shopped - hard - Consumer Reports, Amazon Reviews, web reviews.  One -story house, about 1/3 hardwood floors and 2/3 carpet; two dogs)  I was willing to spend about $300.  The Miele (and its European or Japanese cousins) were just too pricey ($400+ not to mention the ongoing cost of bags).  When a vac is referred to as the BMW or Mercedes of vacuum cleaners, you know it's going to cost way too much initially, and maintenance will be pricey - I owned a Mercedes...once.

Having used a top-rated Kenmore lightweight, bagless machine, I knew that I was willing to tolerate the bags since cleaning a bagless machine is tedious (you must clean ALL of the filters every time for maximum suckage) and messy (no matter where or how you empty and clean it, dust and debris end up all over).

So I concluded that it made sense to buy my original vacuum's grandson.  Delivered today - just ahead of the blizzard (yea, FedEx!) - and had it assembled within minutes - they even had a bag installed (which are, by the way, about the least expensive bags around - buy in bulk - Electrolux U is the type).  Assembly is easy, but be sure to align the holes in the handle carefully when you are installing the handle/attachment bracket.

Turned it on and the suckage was stunningly great.  It was pulling stuff out of the carpets from the Clinton administration.  Traffic patterns that had gradually worn themselves into the carpets disappeared - filled the bag after only half of the house (yea, yea, I hear you, but really, it's just 'cause this machine is so good - I vac regularly...honest).  The vac only (no rotating brush setting - 3-way rocker switch on the handle) was powerful and the wand reached into nooks and crannies and sucked up all the dust bunnies - two dogs in the house.  The wand is just a hair short but then it may stretch a bit with use so no real complaint, and it's dead handy to be able to reach down and pull it out and suck up the dust and bits.

As well, they had "fixed" all of the little niggling bits that I disliked about the 1986 model, to wit:

1.  Handle loop so it does not slip out of your grip.
2.  Cord retainer rotates so you can slide the cord off.
3.  Added a handle on the back to make it a bit easier to pick up.
4.  Most of all, wand is attached as are tools so you have everything at hand when vacuuming.

Downside?  It is a heavy machine, no doubt, but it is the heaviness that is born of quality and durability - again, its predecessor lasted for nearly 30 years, and in fact, it still works, just not as well as it once did.  We live in a one-story house so stairs are not an issue, but because of the weight, one should road-test one before buying.

Based on its predecessor's maintenance history (bags, of course, and a couple of beater bars and one belt), this machine will be sucking up my ashes.

Overall: a stunningly great value even at $300+.

March 2014: it's a year later and the machine is still working like a champ.  Pleased as ever and if there were a sixth star...
4882846
This vacuum is so great for the money!  It replaced our $500 Oreck and the Bissell actually works so much better!