I very recently purchased the Sebo Felix (an upright) for hardwood floors.

It looks like you are looking for a canister so I don't know how much help I'd be but I tested both the Sebo and Miele uprights and the Sebo was far superior. We are very pleased with it so far.

I suggest you take a look at the Sebo canisters and compare them with Miele.

Well the only reason was looking at canister was had been trying to research and read comments that canister was best for hardwood floors, not because it was my preference.

The differences between models within a series (S6 or S8) are just options and colors. The motor and such are the same. So you buy the one you want based on the options you seek.

I have tile floors and area rugs. I considered Miele, but decided on the Sebo D4. They are both well performing and have plenty of positive reviews. Honestly, what sold me was cord length! I have a terrible habit of not realizing how far I've gone and end up stressing the plug-pulling it out constantly. The Sebo's 40 ft cord allows me to vacuum my entire house without unplugging.

I'm a fan of canisters because I can get underneath most of my furniture with the tools.

Thanks for suggestions so far. The Miele models I was considering both do not have a beater brush, as I thought this is what I should look for to minimize wear on the floor surface, or at least that is how they are marketed?? Is this a true assumption or more of a marketing strategy? Had actually never heard of Sebo vacuums before, although looks like may cost more that the Mieles I was looking at.
Any other thoughts?

Please go look at Sears Kenmore canister vacuums. I have owned a Kenmore canister since the 1970's (not the same one). When I went to a Miele demonstration dinner in Boca Raton (demonstrating kitchen appliances) the first thing they asked when walking in the door was what kind of vacuum you had so they could wow you with the Miele. When I said Sears Kenmore canister, the man turned to the other salesman and said "Oh, she's got a very good vacuum cleaner.". So I proceeded to the demonstration dinner and had a wonderful meal, and enjoyed the review of their great appliances.

I have the Miele Alize and have mostly hardwood floors (plus one area rug in the living room and tile in the kitchen). It's been great on the hardwood so far -- no complaints.

I've had hardwood floors + area rugs in 2 homes, so 2 Miele vacs. Oldest, a Solaris, is around 13. That has more features than the Flamenco, now about 10. The suction is adjustable which is very handy but there are 3-4 features that make a difference to me.

Floor brush is excellent and essential for hardwoods. I also use it on our limestone and tile floors. So that's #1

I prefer the electrical beater brush to the manual for carpets.

One vac has a HEPA filter; the other doesn't. HEPA traps everything and the house stays really clean. That makes 2 filters to change and the HEPA costs about $50. They say change it once a year. If it's very dirty I do; if not I let it go every other.

Onboard tools are very handy. Allow switching easily to vac a sofa or chair or draperies without dragging tools around in a separate container.

The vac bags aren't cheap but I would be sure the model I get uses bags other models also use so they are available around and can be shopped. There are vacuum retailers around the country that sell them and I can save a little by ordering once a year or so at the same time I order laundry detergent or other Miele cleaning products so I at least get free shipping.

The vacs are very easy to lift & move around and don't mark my floors. I purchased a Capricorn as a house gift for my brother. There was a little eye rolling when I tried to explain but it vanished after they used it a few times in a home with a long-hair cat.

Floor brush is excellent and essential for hardwoods. I also use it on our limestone and tile floors. So that's #1

I prefer the electrical beater brush to the manual for carpets.

What is the difference between a floor brush and a beater brush? (I have mostly hardwoods and area rugs, and some regular carpeting on the stairs and two upstairs loft rooms).

I have a Miele upright and it works fine on hardwoods (dusty, furry, and spiderwebby).

Before it, I had a Kenmore canister and it was better in every way EXCEPT the beaterbar on the main wand kept shorting out. I have area rugs so I needed that to work. I'm sure the new ones work fine...

But maybe it's a canister vs upright thing. I'm certainly not comparing apples and oranges. The canister has more options for different things one might vacuum but if you're just doing floors and nothing else, an upright would be less of a hassle.

Miele bags (and I prefer bagged to bagless) are stupid expensive. Even the knockoffs are expensive.

We have mostly HW floors, with carpeting in our MB and adj spare room. We got a Miele Marin canister vac last June. We'd originally considered the Alize, but decided to get a model with a motorized power head for use in the carpeted rooms (a loaner vac, not a Miele, with a suction-only vac head convinced us of the need of a motorized vac head for our carpeting--two cats, tracked cat litter....). We also have the "parquet twister" head for use on our HW and tiled floors (included with the vac, in addition to one of three power heads). It does a great job on those floors.

The Miele canisters are much lighter our old Kenmore canister vac, which makes maneuvering it while vacuuming, as well as carrying it up and down the stairs much easier on my back, and in general. It is quieter, too.

A few dislikes: cord length; could be longer. ON/OFF and cord re-tractor switches are too easily bumped/activated with the vacuum hose while vacuuming, resulting in the vacuum being switched off, or the cord retracting while in use. Very annoying. I still like the vacuum a lot, but would much prefer it not do this (just about every time I vacuum).

That's funny, Cat--I have an upright Miele and the most annoying thing about it (since I don't buy bags that often) is that the power switch is where my hand goes so I flick it off accidentally several times each session.

We have a Miele canister and a Miele stick - We use the stick on the hardwood floor with the swivel brush - just don't store it on the floor - we hang it on a hook as the bristles were getting smooched.

I also heard Miele is coming out with their own robot vac

"What is the difference between a floor brush and a beater brush? "

On my vacs the floor brush has bristles all around.

The carpet beater attachment glides and has stubby bristles on a rotating bar that lifts and removes things. It's for low-pile area rugs, which is what I have.

Great information. Still having trouble picking the model best for me. Went to a local Miele dealer today and was a little disappointed in selection to tryout. So basically there are two heads best for hardwood floors, the Parquet twister and the combo AirTeQ tool. Any one tried both and have any comments? Looks like the parquet twists for mobility, but the Alize with the combo tool has a hose that seems to twist more. Anyone have any comments on size of bags as the Quartz has a smaller bag, would I notice much difference? Also how about the special wheels on the Alize, worth getting that model to get the wheels and wand, then add twister xl if want a larger cleaning head?

fori, that's funny, and a little sad at the time!

We had tried the AirTeQ tool, or a similar tool, at the store where we ended up purchasing our Marin. We didn't love it on carpet (store carpet sample), it was difficult to move it around on the carpeting. We both definitely liked/like the parquet twister better on HW and tile floors. Much easier to maneuver, and it slides across the floor more smoothly and easily than the other vac heads in our opinion. We have only changed vacuum bags twomtimes since getting the vacuum last June--maybe three times, but pretty sure only two. I don't know how much smaller the bags are on the other models. They seem to hold a lot.

The bags are surprisingly expensive. I'd go with larger vs smaller all other things on the vacuum being equal. Also, if this is of interest to anyone, they have micro tool sets that come in very handy for cleaning electronics and appliances. My dryer vents need to be vacuumed and when my fridge was repaired the repair guy used it to vacuum out the top. I've also used it on the car dashboard.

Have a Miele Callisto and the Parquet twister works great on hardwood and ceramic. The vacuum in spite of being handled with kid gloves is troublesome. Repaired twice.

Recently picked up an Aerus Electrolux Classic traditional canister vacuum. It too works great with its floor brush, not as refined as the Miele, but definitely much better & simpler construction and an "real" horsehair dusting brush with decent bristles. Its my favorite!

Save yourself some money. If you only have hardwood, you don't want or need a beater brush. I have a very nice Bosch canister that does everything, but it is kind of heavy and awkward to drag around just to do the hardwood (the majority of the floors in my house). I just spent $100 at Costco online (you can also get these on Amazon) for the Fuller Brush Spiffy Maid. It works great for hard floors. Read reviews at both Costco and Amazon.

http://www.costco.com/Fuller%C2%AE-Brush-Spiffy-Maid-Vacuum.product.100058940.html#BVRRWidgetID

schicksal, I don't think that's crazy at all, and I'm glad you just reminded me of that option. Our floor refinishers used something like that and it worked brilliantly!

The shop van thing is intriguing but I always seem to turn the thing over, wheels are a little rougher I would think too. Of course the floor has a lot of rustic features on it so maybe I am stressing too much over the problem of the vacuum scratching the floor!

We often use our shop vac, too! But like the OP, we just installed hard wood floors, and we were looking for a better option. Decided on a Roomba (model 595), with the hope that "Lucile" will do the vac job each day while we are at work. It says its fine on hardwood, and my floor guy also approved. Can't report, because our floors are currently under cardboard (dry wall happened in wrong order, lol).

My experiences:
1) The floor brush / nozzle made of natural hair really makes a difference. I have one for my 7 year old Miele and I am not sure if they still make a natural hair brush. There seems to be a few companies that make a natural hair brush that fits the miele wands.

2) The beater brush is only handy for carpets, not the bare floor areas. I end up using the natural hair brush for most of the house and then switch to the beater brush for the area rug and front entranceway mat.

This thread is over a year old. I take it that you sell these vacuums? If you do, this is spam.