I have had my Rainbow for more than 25 years and works like new but here's a rating list for them. vacs

We bought a Sebo upright two years ago. It's also a German brand. The vac shop owner prefers them over Miele but I can't remember why. I like the clean and simple engineering of it. I'm a big fan of German products.

Mine isn't a canister, but I went with a shark because it had pretty good reviews, was not very expensive and I could buy it at Costco which meant I go their fabulous return policy. I figured the Costco return policy was the most important part. So I'd suggest just looking to see what Costco is selling.

I like my Shark Rotator Professional. You use it as a canister for hard floors or as a push vacuum for carpet, though for pets you use it as a canister.

I've had a bunch of "disposable" vacuums that were junk including a Bosch. After that died I bought a Miele. Definitely better and longer lasting than anything else I've had. My housecleaner swears by Dyson Animal Hair model.

We have a Sebo, too, but it is not a cannister. It is a workhorse and picks up everything (two long-haired, double-coated, shedding dogs). We have had ours for more than ten years!

I have had a Dyson upright for many years. I love it. It runs very well but its getting beat up from me knocking it around and dropping it over the years. It's probably 15 years old.

My main vacuum these days is a Neato robovac. I love my Neato, too! She does 95% of my vacuuming - I only use the Dyson for edging and stairs once a month or so. And drapes. Its hard to convince the robovac to vacuum a vertical surface. :)

Love my Sebo Airbelt D4 canister vacuum, I've had it a few years now and it's been great. We have two dogs that shed a lot, it handles the pet hair well and helps with my allergies. As mentioned above Sebo is German made. The D4 canister is a little heavier and larger than the Miele canisters, but the bags are bigger and cheaper. Like the more expensive Miele vacuums, it has an ergonomic swivel handle with controls that gets under furniture easily and power head/wand. It has a soft bumper around the body to prevent damage to walls, furniture, etc. and the cord is long and power retractable. The bar on the power head is easy to take apart when hair or anything gets wrapped around it.

Sebo is a brand I'd found while googling but I'd never heard of it before. Interesting that so many of you have them. I'm off to see if it is available here.

Thanks for the link to the site yaya. I'm finding it hard to come up with specific specs for some models - even on the company websites.

Dyson is definitely in the running and still like the Miele. From what I've read, the Shark likely won't fit my needs.

Unfortunately, Costco isn't somewhere I've ever shopped. You need a membership, right? I also have a bit of an aversion to crowds and just the parking lot makes me break out in a sweat.

You do need a membership for Costco, but you can order online. I ordered my vacuum online. They have a no conditions, no time limit guarantee (except for computers and maybe televisions?). So if you buy a vacuum from them and three years later it isn't sucking as well, just take it back. We use Costco for checks (online) and car rentals (online) and dh says that alone covers our membership fee each year.

Bought the Shark Rotator Professional a few months ago from Costco because it had so many great reviews here and I have to say, its done incredibly well. I love the suction it has, it cleans great, but the attachments could be better and the hose is way too short. Its also a bit top heavy which took some getting used to; still its leaps and bounds better than the $300 Riccar I bought about 15 years ago. I've only used the Riccar only marginally (opting to use a shop vac instead) because it had one problem after another, so I DON'T recommend a Riccar anything.

As for canisters, I have a small Eureka and its been ok for our wood floors, but it's a cheapy and nothing to write home about.

I have a 13 year old Meile that I love more than any vacuum I've ever used or owned. My only complaint is the cord is about 1.5' too short and I have to unplug and replug it too many times. When I bought it, I had only hardwoods and I since have put in a couple of area rugs, so I felt I needed one with a beater bar to deep clean better. I just couldn't justify the price of 2nd Meile, so I bought a Kenmore canister with a hepa filter, and a lighted beater bar attachment. I hate it so much! It doesn't follow along like the Meile, gets stuck on corners, the hose gets twisted; the lighted wand is a great feature for aging eyes, but it makes the pole part so thick where the light is that it won't fit under any furniture at all and barely under the toe kick in the kitchen. So I guess I have to get a 2nd Meile after all. Life is too short to have a vacuum you hate, especially when you hate to vacuum.

I used a Dyson at a friend's once and it was the clunkiest, loudest most awful vacuum I've ever used. And the cord didn't self wind, which is a must have for me. She didn't seem to mind it though.

I have the Kenmore elite 800 series crossover. It works very well and bags are sold everywhere.

Another Kenmore elite lover here.

I also replaced a Dyson animal recently with a Shark Rotator Professional. I bought my Shark at Bed Bath and Beyond with 20% off. The Dyson was my second and I loved it for rugs, but it had too much suction for hardwoods. It literally would stick to my floors and was causing damage. Plus it was so hard to push. I think something was wrong with it but I couldn't get Dyson to understand it had too much suction.

I like the Shark a lot. Easy to disengage and use as a hand-held canister.

I have an older shark from Costco and have used and abused it and it look forward to buying a different shark brand since I will have so much hard wood and a cat and dog who seem to have hair factories

We have a Miele dog and cat upright and a Neato robotic vacuum. I like, but do not love, either of them.

adding the bags for the Miele are about $4 each and our cleaning company had to stop using the vacuum because they could not put the bags in correctly. They don't use the Rainbow because they can't figure that one out without spilling the water, either. (I am very close to looking for a new cleaning crew, if that isn't already obvious!)

I have a Miele Black Diamond that is at least 25 years old. I do need to buy a new power head for it but otherwise it works great. Also have a Sears Progressive which I like as well. It's at least 10 years old.

I've had a Miele (Capricorn?) canister since 2008.. It's a great vacuum. I order bags online. The Miele replaced a 30 year old Electrolux canister that actually still works.

We like our Miele Marin (about 2 1/2 years old?). FWIW, there are vacuum and appliance stores within driving distance selling bags and filters, I can order them online, and I'm pretty sure I saw the bags our model takes, in BB&B as well.

Thanks for such great info everyone. I've just discovered that sears sells most of the brands you've talked about so I'm off to compare. The only one they don't sell is the Sebo - it is only sold at one small mom and pop store. I really like it, but I'm worried because I know the couple that own the store and they are very old and the store probably won't be around much longer. But I guess getting parts, etc online probably wouldnt' be a problem. If I have time, I'll swing by and see it too. Thanks again!

i just bought a miele titan impulsively at bbb that is still in the box... it was unopened, but marked down 50% because the box was damaged and i also used a coupon...

i bought it, threw it in the basement, and will wait til after the holidays to do some research and decide if i want to keep it. i did read tho that there are 'generic' bags that can be bought for mieles that are much more reasonable- i would do that. we don't have allergies so i don't need to worry about the bags having the same level of microfiltration or whatever! i like our dyson upright, but i don't 'love' it like some seem to!

Daisychain, I'm going to go ahead and recommend Shark anyway for anyone else who comes across this thread. I bought a shark last year as a temporary fix until I could research the more expensive brands. It's been a great vacuum although I agree with the above that the attachments aren't the best.

I didn't think I'd like the bagless (it's pretty yuck) but it sure gives me a visual reminder of how much dirt gets into my house. I don't care for the way vacuum cleaners inevitably smell after a few years no matter how much I try to keep them clean so having a model that lasts 20 years isn't important to me.

My 2 year old Shark (not sure the model, under $200.00) does a lot better job then my $600.00 Dyson did. It's not a canister though. Why do some like canister vacs better?

We have central vac that is just ridiculous. The power head doesn't pick up well at all. The head on it stopped working yet again right before Thanksgiving so I decided to get a regular vacuum. I was thinking maybe Dyson until my DD who works at Costco was unpacking a new vac that she bought there. I helped her put it together and it was a breeze to assemble and the suction was great. I decided to buy the same model from Costco. It's a shark lift away. It is light, compact, and the suction is amazing. I was appalled at the amount of fiber my CL was vacuuming out of my breakfast area rug. The fiber shed has slowed down quite a bit now that she has been using the new vac. It is easy peasy to empty. I had to try it myself and was surprised at how effortless it was. My CL is very happy with it and said she would highly recommend it.

Costco has an amazing return policy so that helped with the original decision to purchase it. We also have a Neato but it never gets used. I should put it downstairs or return it to Costco.

Hmmm, I'm puzzled by the smell comments. I've never noticed any vacuum ever smelling, but maybe I'm just not as sensitive as others?

I ended up with another Miele. It isn't perfect, but they did make the cord longer, I'm used to it so no learning curve and I guess I'll just have to live with the bag situation (or search for the no-name ones that busybee referenced).

Thanks everyone!

My parents and inlaws both have vacuums that are older (Kirby and Oreck) and they smell as soon as you turn them on even when filters and bags are regularly changed. Any vacuum I've had that's more than 8-10 years old begins to smell--even the closet in which I keep them will smell. We all have pets so it's like dust and pet hair mixed together. It's the smell of... I can't even describe it but I must be especially sensitive to it because the thought of it makes me gag. (I'm a drama queen when it comes to odors.)

Congrats on your decision! A longer cord is well worth the cost of bags--that's a real improvement IMO.

I am the same in regards to smells from a vacuum. My new Shark doesn't have an order at all. Hopefully it will stay that way.

I'm in love with a vacuum cleaner for the first time in my life. A Shark stick vacuum. Easiest vacuum to use ever. Suction is great. It's actually fun to vacuum with. It works great on my linoleum, wood and low-pile area rugs. I don't know if it would work as well on thick carpet.

Daisychain........I have purchased generic bags for both my Miele and Kenmore from onlinevacshop.com.

I have never noticed smells coming from my vacuum cleaners generally....maybe when I change the bag but that's expected. If you don't have a need to change the bag often i.e. you have a small place, I could see it starting to smell....after all the bag is filled with dirt, food crumbs, pet hair, etc.

Shark hands down best vacuum cleaner I have ever had and I have had plenty of the very expensive name brands, in fact I have a Kirby in the closet I need to get rid of I won't be going back to it now that I have used the Shark. Mine is the Shark Navigator lift away pro. It is like an upright and canister in one, the canister unhooks from the upright to be lifted off. Amazing suction. Bed bath and beyond with the 20 %off coupon is a deal.

OLychick,

You don't need a new Miele to get a better brush head. Depending on your model, you can just buy the Power brush which has the better brush built in. There are a few designs based on your canister whether the control for turning on the power head is on the handle or on the power head itself.

Good luck

I have both a Dyson (fifteen years old) for pets and a Bissell (ten years old) for pets. The Dyson was almost three times the cost and other than the sound, the Bissell works just as well, actually better since the brushes on the Dyson came back in worse shape than when I shipped it off to get the belt replaced. They were suppose to check the brushes too as it was still under warranty.
Bottom line? I'd never recommend a Dyson again for the simple reason everything is locked up so you can't even do a simple belt change yourself. And who can go without a vacuum for over a month just because it needs a new belt? That's why I bought the Bissell. I doubt I'll ever buy anything but a Bissell again.

It's nice to see the good reviews for the Shark Lift Away. We gave one to SO's daughter for Christmas :)

I have a rainbow that is around 20 years old. It does not smell. If you are lucky enough to have a vac that actually lasts several years, you should have it professionally serviced/cleaned, if you cannot clean it yourself. Not only will you not have a problem with smelling, it's just like anything else - a car, a sewing machine, etc. and taking care of it will reward you. But, even though my rainbow is great and works well on hard or carpeted floor, with having all hard floors, I wanted something lighter and easier (not a canister, not tons of attachments, etc.) and bought a

Dirt Devil 360° Reach Pro Bagless Stick Vacuum. It's kind of like a vacuum/dust mop combined. I use it most of the time and pull the Rainbow out for a deeper clean and when I want to use the attachments, etc.