We now have a house with primarily wood and hard surfaces. After much research on GW and elsewhere we purchased a Meile and dearly love it. You have to get a canister for hard surfaces and this has a pivot on the floor attachment that lies totally flat on floor to get under beds, etc. Many other neat features and a great warranty. We have owned kirby, electrolux, hoover over the years and this is by far the best vacuum we have ever owned. HTH

Likewise, only a Miele for me.

If you are looking for a lightweight inexpensive vac--I like the Eureka mighty mite for $65.

It does great on my hardwoods, tile, and laminate. It also does my flat nap area rugs as well.

It does not have a rug attachment--only the bare floor--but I have a different vac I use for my bedrooms with wall to wall carpet and the area rug that the cannister does not do well on.

For me, I don't mind having to use a different vac for the wall to wall, as its worth it to use the light weight cannister for the majority of my home vs a heavier cannister with the rug attachment. Plus I am hard on vac and like the low price--although i have had this vac for over a year and it still is fine.

I was a constant sweeper until I got a Roomba. I love it because it is the one thing in the house that cleans up after itself! It also works on carpets and rugs, but most of our space is hard floors, other than the bedrooms. If you can't afford a cleaning lady, the Roomba is the next best thing ;)

So is a cansiter-style the only way to go with hardwood floors/tile? I need to purchase one as well when we move into the new house. I want something that is very convenient. The canisters seem like they would be a pain to pull around. I just want something I can plug in and push. Does Miele make something like that? Guess I better google it :o)

Thanks all! I think I agree with capegirl in that I would prefer an upright and not a canister. Any other idea?

I love my Sebo Felix upright.

I have a Meile and it is a great canister. But I LOVE my Roomba. I never would have believed how well he keeps things clean. He is named Ramone and he vacuums naked for me.

LOL, Oly.

My DH bought a Sebo upright several years ago. It is amazing. No issues at all and we have two long-haired dogs who shed a LOT. However, it is heavy if you plan to go up and down stairs and it was way more expensive than I would ever have paid. He, however, buys German radios, cars, vacuums, washers/dryers...because they are so well made and the truth is, we never seem to have problems.

When I took my canister to get repaired about 6 years ago I test drove a Miele and Sebo. Both were expensive, but I really liked the Sebo canister. When my Progressive finally dies that's what I'll probably get.

I have a very lightweight upright called Sanyo "Transformax". It's probably 10 yrs. old, so may not be available, but I've been using it on hardwood and tile for 3+ years and also on the stairs with no scratching issues. Dragging around a canister would be such a pain. I don't mind getting out something heavier for the area rugs.

olychick - we named our Roomba too, but I usually don't tell people that, lol. The boys dubbed him "Rickroll" and the name stuck. He is our virtual pet and we can go on vacation and not worry about a kennel. In fact, he'd clean while we were gone if we wanted ;) Whenever we have a playdate here, he is a big hit. He even entertains adults who see him for the first time. I have semi retired our Electrolux because Rickroll does all the work for us. I really can't remember the last time we took the "real" vacuum out. I'd give up many of our toys and conveniences, but not him.

Capegirl & Ellen: Yes, you need a canister for hard surfaces.

My Meile canister is very small, lightweight and has 3 rollers that rotate 180% so it moves very easily, just kind of follows along behind as I vacuum without any tugging. If I need to pick it up, the handle is made into the body and very easy to grasp.

If these interest you at all, there is lots of info online. Good luck with whatever you choose!

After years of just using a smaller sized shop vac, I finally invested in the Eureka commercial grade Mighty Mite. I bought it a year or so ago and have been really pleased with it. Besides it being very light and having bags that are easy to change, it has a telescoping wand which comes in very handy.

Thanks again for all the input. Lots to look into. But I am curious about the Roomba. Do you have to move chairs for it to get under the table? How does that work?

Ellendi, I don't want Ramone to feel put out and quit on me so I try to make his life a little easier. I usually pull my chairs out (I have a pedestal table) just enough that he will fit between the legs of the chairs and the table. He dances around as if it's nothing. You just have to pull things out enough that he can fit around or behind them. It's amazing how well he does corners and area rugs. I had dinner guests arrive a little early this weekend and he was vacuuming while i showered. he was quite the hit. Everyone is quite smitten with him, most especially me.

Olychick, so it can go from hardwood and be able to go over the edge of an area rug and then do that too? (LOL Ramone)

If you have anything else you'd rather do with your time, I'd highly recommend the Roomba.

Yes, area rugs don't phase Ramone. He likes the variety of surfaces. I have an oriental type rug (wool) in front of my kitchen sink that I pull out enough that he can get under the edge of the cupboards. I put him in the bathroom and close the door and he vacuums the floors and the throw rugs. (he prefers to not do behind the toilets, so I do that for him). I can't get a vacuum under my bed, so I lift it up and scoot him under it and he just hums away under there until there are no bunnies left. It can be hard to reach him if he quits under there (he quits when finished with an area) so I put his charging station near the bed and he will try to get to it and stop at the edge of the bed so I can get ahold of him. If only he'd come when I call.

I haven't done it yet, but I swear I'm going to put him in my car and have him vacuum that, too. I'll let you know how that works out.

Oly, thanks for answering my questions. I looked at a video and to me it looks so small. My house is under 2,000 square feet. How much can it do before you have to empty it?

Oly, you are too funny. I never thought of naming my Roomba.

Although I will admit it was months before I realized I didn't have to leave the light on for him.

Yes, it's a him. How could it not be?

Ellendi, you ask how much can it do before you have to empty it... that depends on how dirty your floors are.

I have an Electrolux ErgoRapido cordless stick vacuum that I use every day to buzz around the kitchen, hallways, etc.--great on wood floors and decent on flat pile rugs. The head swivels to get into corners and around things and it's so simple to just grab it and go, then drop it back into its stand to recharge. I really, really love it. For the more heavy duty vacuuming I have an Hoover WindTunnel cannister that is going strong after 2 years, which for my house is a record. It's easy to use, works well for me ergonomically, and has been a good machine overall. But, I would definitely look at a Miele when the WindTunnel bites the dust--in fact when I was at the rug store last week, I noted that they have a Miele, which seems to be a good endorsement in addition to what other posters have said.

Miele!!

I had a rainbow for years when we had some carpeting in the house. We don't have any carpet now so bye-bye rainbow (although it was still going strong 15+ years). You need to especially pay attention to the wheels and brush when considering a vacuum for hardwood floors.

Good luck!

tina

I love my Dyson.

I'm saving up for a Roomba, but in the meantime, I picked up the Bissell PowerEdge Pet vacuum for around $50. I love it! The cord is short, so I bought an appliance extension cord that I just leave hooked to it, so I can vacuum my whole upstairs from one outlet. It's really easy to maneuver because it pivots as well as rolls, and is very easy to empty. It has rubber wheels so it doesn't scratch hardwood floors. I still use my Dyson upright for area rugs, but it was scratching my floor, so I had to stop using it on anything except carpet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bissell PowerEdge Pet

I am curious about how pets react to Rumba or Ramone whirring around the house. :)

No pets at Ramone's house.

I ordered our Roomba online from ottercreektrading.com for just about $200 refurbished. He has earned his keep and then some and we have had him less than a year.

Another Meile lover here. Make sure you go for the level 4 or 5 that you can only get a smaller dealers. I got the cat and dog version and love it. Bags are expensive though.

Have any of you had experience with the Shark Navigator?

pfmastin, my one dog doesn't care, my birds will scream or take a bath, and my other dog is a scaredy cat that hides from all vacuums (amongst other things).

I own a Miele & it is fine. If I was buying new, I would strongly consider a Riccar -- made in USA & supposed to be great, although I have no personal experience with one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vac Site

I have read really great things about the Hoover Platinum. Looking at getting this myself

I recently bought a Miele. We have mostly hardwood, as you do, with just a couple of small area rugs. We also have a lot of dog hair and family members with allergies. The one I got has a motorized head for the rugs in addition to the nonmotorized bare-floor head. I thought it best to have something with more oomph to get the dog hair out of our rugs. It's also got the HEPA filter, which I really wanted this time. So far I like it very much though I find the handle a bit heavy after about 20 min or so; this might not be the case with the varieties that aren't set up for the motorized head (the handle is thicker for the extra wiring etc). I had always kept two vacs, one canister for bare floors and one upright for the rugs (actually at one time we had accumulated 4 old vacs between us, and none of them cleaned very well) and it is very nice to just have one good one instead. It's light enough to carry easily, too. I am still getting over the price. lol.

I absolutely love my Miele canister vac. It is hands down the best vacuum I've ever owned. Before the Miele I had a Rainbow, Electrolux, and Dyson and none of them can compare to the Miele.

Definitely a Miele canister with the hardwood attachment. This is the one appliance that I absolutely love! Mine also has the power head for carpets and the HEPA filter.

I traded in my Dyson because it just wasn't picking up all the dog hair.

I had the same question you did when I put in hard flooring. I needed to save money and get the most bang for my buck...

I bought a HOOVER FLAIR Bagless Upright Stick Vacuum with Power Nozzle, S2220 (not the S2200) off Amazon.com and love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE it! I'm IN LOVE with it! haha (I saw a quote on a review and I've adopted the phrase!)

It's very reasonably priced ($45/free shipping), has great reviews, is bagless, great suction, very light (to me) and there's a switch that goes from hard floors to carpet/beater brush on that I use on my dining area rug. The cord length is great for MY use. It covers my kitchen, dining, foyer, hall, hall bath and laundry room!

When I bought it I thought, for $45 I can try it and see how it works. If it doesn't I'll get a "better" one. It works though, so, YAY!

I liked mine so much I bought one for my daughter-in-law. I got a text the other day that said: "I LOVE my birthday present!"

We both used to SWEEP and I haven't swept now in months because it's great at sucking up the crumbs with no spreading it around in the air like a broom does.

I DO clean the air filter (an old toothbrush works great) almost every time I use it just to preserve the machine & filter. It's amazing how much dirt/hair/debris it picks up. You can purchase new air filters but I haven't had to yet and have owned it for a good 6 months. I do not usually have big chunks of anything (like dog food) so can't comment on that. If I have something like that I pick it up first then get the rooms w/vac.

Here's the Amazon link, hope it works:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00020BQGK

Good luck

Has anyone suggested a Miele yet? ;^) I've had my Naturelle for 14 years, and it is still doing a great job!

Thanks again. I think I will look into a Miele. I also like the idea of a Roomba, but cannot convince DH.

I am curious about how pets react to Rumba or Ramone whirring around the house. :)

Yoyo the Cat was concerned at first, and baffled... but now she ignores it.

I also like the idea of a Roomba, but cannot convince DH.

Oh? And how much vacuuming does your DH do?

LOL mclarke. Actually he will from time to time!

Actually he will from time to time!

Okay then! My DH loves, loves, loves to vacuum. That doesn't mean he's good at it or that the floors are clean when he's done. He likes tools that make noise. He also loves his powerwasher.

So. We kept our old vacuum cleaner, just for him, and when he feels the urge to vacuum, he uses it.

When, on the other hand, I think the house needs actual cleaning, I set the Roomba free.

Either way, I do not have to vacuum. Or argue about vacuuming. Life is too short.