We just bought a Dirt Devil Reaction for our patio which has indoor/outdoor carpet. I took it inside to see how it would do on our thicker carpet and bare fllors. I love it for the carpet but not the bare floors. I still use my canister, it is easier to get closer under the cabinets and maneuver on the tile.

Our entire house is tile and laminate. I would recommend a canister vac. I used to have a very heavy upright and it was a total pain. Now, I have a Miele canister vac and it is wonderful. The floor attachment is easy to manuver into corners and under furniture and my model came with a carpet tool attachment that I use for the one area rug we have in our house.

I too have a Miele. Very quiet with great filtration. They are pricey, unless you get lucky and find a used one. I have mostly hardwood floors with oriental rugs. My previous upright with beater bar was tearing up my fringe on my orientals - no more with the Miele.

I have a miele canister, but I find the part I hold hurts my hand, and it's a little heavy for frequent vacuuming. I use an Eureka Mighty Mite for my kitchen floor every day. It's much noisier than the Miele, but so easy to use and light weight. I just bought one for my daughter with a hepa filter to use in her carpet-less apartment.

Cannister Vac. My entire house is hardwood and tile. I have the bottom-of-the-line Miele Naturell...but if I were buying today I'd certainly look at a Bosch Compact.

I don't find my Miele heavy...but then, the Naturell doesn't have the powered head that some of the higher end Miele's have. For bare floors, one really doesn't need the rotating brushes. They are more important for carpets.

melanie

So, I find this topic interesting. I think I heard once a while ago that upright vacuums are good for non-carpeted floors. I bought an upright (Kenmore) several years ago. The salesperson said it was good on both hardwood and carpet (I have all hardwood with three or four area rugs), so I thought this would be a good compromise.

It isn't!

Without going into too much detail why I don't like the Kenmore, I will say that it does a good job on carpets and not a good job on hardwood or laminent. It even has a feature to turn off the bristles.

So, why are the canisters so much better? What do they have (or don't have) that makes them so good on non-carpeted floors? Are they good on carpeted floors? I am thinking now I have to get myself one.

Thanks to you all.

I have all tile floors and a Miele which is very nice, however I use my Roomba the most. We have a puppy and he is fascinated by the Roomba and will poke at its buttons until he gets it to start. Not only does my poodle not shed, he also runs the vacuum cleaner!

I have wood floors with oriental rugs. I used to have a Panasonic upright and now have a Miele canister. I prefer the canister for my home, because...

Uprights: Heavy and awkward - easy to damage furniture legs and molding. Beater bar scatters dirt and even if turned off, dirt doesn't seem to get pick up. Filtration I understand is not as good as canisters. Limited cleaning accessories. If equipped with hose, usually it is too short.

Canisters: Wand is usually light weight and easy to manuever under furniture. Floor wands have no damaging beater bar, and the dense brush head cleans smooth surfaces MUCH better than uprights. More accessories, usually on board, so easier to dust things higher up such as shades, fans, window sills, etc. (My upright had a hose, but it was very short, and the hose suction was poor since the the machine was still suctioning from the bottom)

I have a motorized head for my canister that cleans my orientals very well (I avoid using the motorized head on the fringe, instead using the floor brush instead)

I have an electrolux Harmony canister. It is designed for hard surfaces. Check out their web page. I bought this one from less than half price as a "reconditioned" unit. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was brand new.

I have read all your posts about canister vacuums being the best for laminate or hardwood floors but I hate canister vacuums. Canister vacuums hurt my back and I despise them, I really like upright. I have laminate flooring downstairs along with area rugs. I need a vacuum that will clean the floors and the area rugs. We also have a dog so I need one that will pick up dog hair. Isn't there a decent upright that will vacuum laminate flooring well? I also don't like the onboard attachments and I prefer a vacuum with a bag, I don't care for the bagless. Thanks