Question by S Q:
Should I stick with the more expensive vacuum or get a cheaper one?
So our vac broke and we need a new one. My husband and I were talking about just getting a cheap $ 60 one from Walmart. Like a Dirt Devil or something. Well, I got $ 100 extra on my paycheck this week so I thought that I would buy the Shark Lift Away instead. It’s $ 169.99 plus tax. It has awesome reviews. A lot of ppl seem to like it as much as a Dyson too. It isn’t supposed to lose suction. Well, I ordered it on Walmart’s online thing to pickup at the store tonight. My husband wasn’t too happy when he found out. He thinks it’s a waste of money. And why can’t we just get the $ 60 one. Because he thinks our last one, which was a Eureka Optimus, worked great at picking up the dirt (I personally think that if he saw the Shark, he’d realize that the Optimus was crap). So now I am feeling guilty for spending nearly 3 times the original plan. I am thinking about returning it when I pick it up and just buying the stupid cheapo one that he thinks we should get just so I don’t have to hear how I got a nice check and then blew the extra and then some right away. I should add that we live in about 1000 square feet only, mostly carpet, with 2 stair cases. If that helps any. We have a ton of dust and fur from our pet chinchilla always flying around. My hope is this Shark will help with the dust and fur problem and pick more of it up and not blow anything around as it actually vacuums stuff up.
there are 3 levels of vacs
cheap (poor quality and you’ll need a new one soon)
medium $ 150-$ 200 (not bad but nothing like the better ones)
expensive like Dyson or Electrolux (excellent and will outlast the others by a mile)
it pays to buy the best you can afford
Too bad it has caused disagreement with your husband, but you get what you pay for. The cheap ones just don’t stand up or do as good a job. I splurged 4 years ago and bought a Dyson – it is so good! My old dirt devil just can’t compare.
Keep it. Your husband will get over it, given time. You probably do the most vacuuming anyway, and you deserve a decent vacuum cleaner.
If you buy cheap 60$ vacs, you will be replacign them every 6 months. I tried just about all of them, and they all go kaput. ( I have 3 dogs, a cat and a bird that throws his food in the floor sometimes ) I got a kenmore. love it.
i have both the shark navigator and the dyson pet. love the shark navigator and think it far excells the dyson in cleaning and price. i’d recommend the shark
Bagless vacuums are messy and the Shark brand is not exactly reliable. I have checked out the lift away and while it says it never loses suction it will lose a lot of it’s airflow it’s just a mesh screen with some foam pads after it it does have a hepa filter after the motor but i believe a lot of particals will enter the motor shortening the life span, Honestly for about the $ 150 range, the best you can get is the Eureka Smartvac, now called the Air Extreme, they used to have a sticker on the vac that said “outcleans Dyson by 40%” they have better airflow at the carpet than most vacuums do, you can shut off the brush with a switch on the head of it. when it’s in the upright position the brush will shut off so you can use your tools without worry.
I would leave the shark at the store and bring home the LG Kompressor.
http://www.bestvacuumreviews.com/lg-kompressor-luv300b.html
I’ve got a Dyson DC07, an LG, AND a Shark Lift-Away. Hands down, the Dyson is the winner. It has far superior dirt separation, which means the filters are not overworked capturing what the vacuum doesn’t.
The LG has performance very close to that of the Dyson for less than half the price. The last time I checked, Amazon had it for about $ 194. It uses similar separation technology as the Dyson which does a pretty good job, though the filters do get dirtier much faster.
http://www.bestvacuumreviews.com/lg-kompressor-luv300b.html
The Shark makes grand claims of it’s separation system, but the reality is, the filters do all the work. Worse, a HEPA filter only comes standard if you purchase the vacuum directly from Shark, at a substantially higher price. Another highly annoying thing about the Lift-Away is the dust bin design. It is full of corners and internal catches so that the dirt doesn’t release from the bin, you have to open both the top and the bottom of the bin to clear it. I’ve had my Shark for 6 – 8 months without any mechanical problems, though the brand is notorious for break-downs within the first year and not being able to get any warranty customer support. The best thing I can say about it is that it’s lightweight and easy to use. It’s small size will make cleaning stairs and tight places easier.
http://www.bestvacuumreviews.com/shark-navigator-lift-away.html
As far as cheap vacuums go, they are a serious waste of time and money. While they may pick up the big chunks for a while, they don’t usually last long, and they absolutely spew microscopic, lung damaging dust into the air as they’re being used. If you want a really good vacuum, you’re going to pay for it, $ 300 or more, depending on the brand. As you might expect, some brands are far superior (Dyson, Miele, Aerus Lux, Riccar ) than others (Eureka/Electrolux, Dirt Devil, Hoover )