ilene, I read somewhere before you vacuum furniture beat it a bit to loosen the dust. I like to keep my life simple and I don't fill it up with a lot of specialty items. I use soap and water to clean. Sparkle for my glass things and plain old dust rags and Endust for dusting. No more chemicals than I have to use.

I also just got a Casio EXILIM (14MP, which is kind of silly). I'm really happy with it, for what it is. It was $79.00 on WOOT, and takes nice pix and video. If you're not a purist, it has some built in image processing that can handle much more challenging lighting really well. But you have to realize what you're getting: these will have smaller apertures, noisier sensors, smaller zooms, won't deal well with low light, and have small flashes located right near the lens. But under the right conditions, they can do quite well. (One issue with the Casio: It takes a special Casio battery, rather than the AA or AAA batteries that I have all over the place. But their battery lasts a couple of days. ) By way of background: I'm a major (D)SLR guy, with a big canon rig and lots of Canon lenses. Our living room is decorated with lots of my landscape and wildlife (full disclosure: some from the zoo, of course) and other shots. I love photography. I got the Casio because I wanted something that I can always stick in my pocket. The best camera is the one that you have with you when you need to get the shot :) Remember: Subject, lighting, and technique beat out equipment every time. We also have a Canon S3-IS, which is a higher-quality point-and-shoot. Under the right conditions, it can take pix that are really close to anything I can shoot with the DSLR. It's newer siblings are great cameras too (like the SX30 IS). It's kinda big, though, for a point-and-shoot. I think of cameras in this class as "crossovers" -- big enough lenses and sensors for very good pictures, but small enough to not require a big dedicated bag. If you want the best P&S picture quality, lots of zoom range, and don't mind paying a bit more in $ and size, the Lumix or Canon "crossovers" always seem to be the best bets to me. If you want a simple hand-held P&S, there are lots of options, including Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, and Casio... and lots of sites with high-quality reviews: www.steves-digicams.com, www.dpreview.com/ are good.

I have the Dyson V6 Motorhead and love it! The 5-7 minutes is only when you set the power on high. Otherwise, it's 20-22 minutes of power between full charges. 2/3 of my house is Saltillo floors. The rest is medium high carpet. I never had to use the high setting even on carpet. It cleans very well and recharges quite quickly. I like the fact that it's a stick which makes it easy to vacuum under low clearance areas. In other words, the dirt/dust bin is not a lower end as with the other brand models. I also have a Dyson upright but haven't had the need to use it since I got the V6. I did a lot of online research and read many reviews before settled for the V6. For someone in a wheelchair like me, the Dyson V6 is most convenient. No cord or vacuum hose to run over or wrap around the wheels. I can move in my wheelchair easily during vacuuming with the V6. I accidentally found out about this model while watching a Korean show. I didn't know that Dyson came out with this cordless model for a few years now. Wish I knew it sooner.

HAHAHAHA..I have one on the basement vac already...honestly...still a PITA..seriously, there is a far better chance of me performing this task if I can just grab the cordless hanging by the stairs! I realize once a month, to better clean, get imbeded crap out etc...I should use the big ole corded Hoover....and I plegde to do so...ok maybe once a quarter! Since no one has any consensus on my question, anyone think the Lithium Ion is a better way to go than the Nimh.....The seemingly more powerfull rotating brush on B&D has a Lithium ion where as the better suction bissel has a NIMH...