Had a Dyson, hated how heavy it was! Just recently replaced our Shark Navigator after about 6 years with a newer model Shark Navigator. For under$150 it serves our purposes perfectly, fits in my utility closet nicely and is lightweight.

omg, Shark has 19 different Navigator models. Why??? This is why I try to confine my shopping to Costco. They keep the choices down to a manageable number! I didn't quite understand the hard floor attachment on their Shark model ... it just looks like a microfiber towel. I do have a small canister Shark that I'm not too enamored with; getting the filter and dust out is a PITA. It appears to be a simple mechanism, but it fights me every time.

I have had a Kirby, an Electrolux and a Hoover in the past. When we moved to our current home, I needed a new vacuum as I have all hardwood, tile and area rugs. I did a lot of research online and in person with different vacuum repair shops and retail salespeople. I bought a canister Miele and love it. It isn't the model you show, but I agree with everything Olychick said. I don't have an issue with it bumping walls or furniture; it rolls very easily. Mine is 8 years old, so I do have the attachments on the hose; I would pay extra for them to be stored elsewhere today. If you get a chance, go to a Miele dealer and they will have vacuums that you can see and vacuum with in the store. They will provide a lot of information on features that are worth knowing about and they will have a lot more models to choose from. IIRC, they have a wonderful warranty, though I've never needed to have anything done to mine yet.

jelly: you nailed it! Enough is enough for some things: for heaven's sake, it's a vacuum! I love Costco!

I just found that none of the uprights pick up dust or dirt on a flat surface as well as a canister vacuum does. Maybe you should look at a canister with a rug attachment instead. Then you’ll have the best of both worlds. Here are some comparisons of what’s popular.

http://www.toptenreviews.com/home/vacuum-carpet-cleaning/best-canister-vacuums/

Since I now have 2 Shark vacuums (one Navigator and a smaller LiftAway) and thought they'd be all I needed I stupidly gave my trusty Kenmore Progressive vacuum to my DS.

The Sharks are fine on carpet but insufficient on bare floors - yes they get all the pet hair from my continually shedding black Lab but they are unable to get the dust on the hardwood floors.

I'm definitely looking into a Miele and thought Id go with an upright since we're now in a smaller home and didn't relish the thought of another canister. But after reading lukkiirish's link I'm going to look at canisters again. Interesting that they didn't review Miele though.

I have the Shark rotator with the DUST PAD and I love it. No more Swiffer.

Y'all are awesome! Thank you for all the suggestions. I do have a specialty vacuum store nearby (they sell Meile as well as others) so I will go there this week. I am still leaning towards a canister at this point. I barely have room to store one vacuum so I can't have different vacuums for different needs.

My Shark has the rolling caddy which enables me to use it as a canister if I want to.

I have a Eureka Mighty Mite ... it's small, inexpensive and does an excellent job on hard surfaces. I bought a generic bulk pack of the bags and I'm set for years of cat hair and dust.

The SO just bought a battery-powered DEIK stick vacuum for getting the spiders and dust bunnies in his office. With 10-foot ceilings, there is an entire ecosystem up there that can't be reached otherwise.

I'm curious if you have considered and ruled out a robotic vacuum? I don't have one, and don't really need a new vacuum right now, but keep wondering if that would be my next move.

Another vote for Shark Rotator! It was much less than the Dyson I had previously, and it works great. Used on wood, tile, carpet, and you can detach the canister part to easily lift it when using the wand for things like ceiling trim.

I only thought briefly about a robotic vacuum. I'm home pretty much all day and don't want an appliance whirring about under my feet. It would solve my storage problem, though ... just leave it out 24-7 to run about. Honestly, I just don't see how they can clean the entire floor without missing spots and I've heard they can get hung up on things.

When I google "mighty mite" I get Eureka, Electrolux, and Sanitaire in the results, all of them looking similar. Is Mighty Mite a generic term for a little vacuum? I did have a commercial upright Sanitaire in the past and it was a great vacuum for carpets.

Ours is the Eureka ...

My first Miele lasted for over 25 years. I loved it. I am now on my second, and it too is wonderful. Before I found Miele, I was going through a new vacuum every year. These last.

MIghty MIte is what I have...I think it’s a style. Mine is a Eureka too and like Lazy_gardens, I bought the bags in bulk, they literally take 30 seconds to change out.

What I like about some of the canisters like the Miele, is that the tools can be stored in the compartment side. My Mom always had Kenmores...back in the day, they were a best seller.

In the spirit of over-complication, I think my Shark Navigator also is a rotator? Mine is the Shark Navigator with Swivel Plus. Not sure of the model number but I purchased mine in store at Walmart for $140.

My Miele is about 20 yrs, not one problem. Quiet, does well on pine floors, no denting or scratching. I also have a shark stick. Very handy but loud.

LOL, rebeccamomof123. All these different Shark models are making my head spin!

Our Dyson (purple one for pet hair) is over 20 years old and still running fine. Some of the plastic is splitting. We got our college daughter a Shark Navigator. Sadly she hasn't used it enough to comment, but I was impressed after unboxing it.

My sister just bought a Riccar Cordless Supralight R10CV. It is so lightweight. This is a full-size vacuu. . The charge lasts only about 45 minutes. The cost was about $700. It picks up dirt and dog hair really well. I love that it is lightweight and the idea of not having a cord under my feet but unless I lived in an apartment I don't think 45 minutes would be enough time for me to vacuum. Even though I sound somewhat negative about it, I just thought I would mention it anyway.

Shark - Rocket DeluxePRO Bagless Vacuum

I have a new central vac. It is such a pain to use…the hose is heavy and I hate putting it away…such a chore.

My daughter bought this one and then I did, too. It is perfect for dusting and vacuuming hardwood and tile. It also has a beater brush for when you do get rugs.

The top portion pops off for stair cleaning, furniture cleaning, etc and comes with several brushes. I use in in the garage to vacuum the cars.

Two cons: it does not have a cord rewind and it can’t stand up…you have to lay it down on the floor.

For the money, it is powerful and easy to use.

jellytoast -- based on this thread, I did purchase the $300 Miele -- OMG what a great vacuum -- so easy so light and on my hardwoods and low pile carpet! Thank you for starting this thread -- I would not have bought it if it wasn't for the comments here.

So glad that you like it!

Back in September I bought a Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional from Amazon for under $200. Now that I have a cleaning service, my vacuuming chores are more touchups in between, but so far, so good. My old Kenmore canister still works, but it was such a beast to haul around.

Before settling on the Shark, I bought a Dyson at twice the price. The suction was so intense I could not move that sucker on any of my rugs. It was insane. When I took it back to Macy's and told them why I was returning it, they said they hear that all the time about that Dyson. I think it was the purple animal model.

I have the shark lift off Rotator. While I really do love the suction and it works very well for most purposes, it is pretty much useless if you have high pile area rugs, like I have in both the dining room and living room. I put on the upholstery attachement, and end up crawling around on my hands and knees to get them vacuumed. The power head on the vacuum, shuts off on high pile. I did look up online and it said to turn the ring on the handle to reduce suction, and it should vacuum them just fine. Nope, it doesnt. I dont find doing that helps even a tiny amount. The power head still shuts off, after one or two pushes across the high pile carpet. For bare floors, and low pile throw rugs, it is absolute perfect. I had an old electrolux from the 50's that I used for years on high pile and that power head did an excellent job, until I finally wore it completely out.

I have a robotic vacuum in addition to a couple of other random upright vacuums. Since I purchased the robotic one none of the others have made an appearance. Yes, it does get hung up occasionally - or shuts the door behind itself and can't get out. But, for the most part, if you run it often enough, it will keep the floor clean. I generally run it as I'm leaving the house.

Thank you everyone for your opinions and recommendations. I went ahead and ordered the C1 Meile from Costco. It hasn't arrived yet so I can't comment on it. Hopefully the "vario clip" won't be too annoying as I just couldn't justify spending an extra $300 for the inside storage feature. But then, I really hate small annoyances so maybe I'll regret that decision. Daisychain's suggestion of simply putting the tools in a drawer or cupboard sounds practical (and a lot cheaper).

That clip doesn't bother me -- it just sits there and it is handy, Jellytoast. It's not in the way at all. And so quiet and so light! Sigh! I think I am in love.

Good to know. I'm looking forward to getting it. I did get the larger model they offered rather than the compact.

I am happy this thread is around. I am going to get a Miele. I was thinking of getting the TOL, C3 Brilliant. Very pricey but I hate buying crap and replacing crap with crap. My old machine was a Kenmore and the one before that, over the last 30 years. Recently the wheel fell off the electric carpet head of the Kenmore, and rather than replacing it with a new head, I thought I'd buy a new vacuum since its 14 years old anyway. The other option was the Miele Marin C3.

I have a mix of large area rugs, wall to wall carpet, wood floors, along with laminate and stone tile. All my rooms are very small and each of a different surface.

Any thoughts on either of these Miele machines.

I've used the Meile canister vacuum half a dozen times now and I'm not too happy with it. Mine is the full size C1 model from Costco. On the plus side, it does work well at picking up debris, at least on hard floors. And it's super quiet. I haven't used the power head for carpets yet so I can't comment on that, other than to say that it is a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and heavy.

Things I don't like ... it's very awkward to use. The handle does not fit in my hand well (it's too big to grip well) and it's very heavy. It feels very top heavy near my hand and very light where it contacts the floor, backwards of how a conventional upright feels. As soon as I start vacuuming, I feel like I can't wait to be done.

The balance isn't very good so the canister frequently topples from one side to the other. It falls back down right away, but it's still annoying. I frequently have to stop to adjust something ... the hose gets twisted or the canister rolls over the cord and gets hung up on it. When using a regular upright vacuum, I push the vacuum with one hand and manage the cord with the other. Simple. With this canister, there are a lot of things going on that I have to manage ... the hose getting twisted, the cord that's always in the way of the rolling canister, and the direction of the canister always seems to be going the wrong way! When I try to vacuum under something, the swivel on the floor attachment does not swivel enough allow the attachment to stay on the floor; rather, the angle only goes so far so the attachment doesn't keep good contact with the floor. So after I'm done vacuuming, I have to get the swiffer out to get under things.

But the single most annoying thing is the way the air exits the vacuum ... it blows straight up so I constantly feel a cold wind blowing on me. And it's not exactly a light breeze! I have never experienced that with a vacuum, ever, and I really hate it. Whenever I have to go over to adjust something, which is frequently, that wind blows right in my face.

The final con is that it is awkward to store and takes up a lot of room. When I stand it on end and attach the wand to the canister, I still have to fuss with the hose so it isn't flopping every which way. And I have to fight to get the wand back off the canister when I want to use it again. As Olychick pointed out above, the vario-clip attachment storage isn't a good feature. In fact, I disliked it so much that I took the clip and the attachments off. Being able to store those attachments in the vacuum would be great, and for a $500 vacuum, you'd think they'd include that feature! Oh, and there is a little power cord that hangs off the hose where it attaches to the canister and it's just long enough so that it drags along the ground. I don't know what it's for, apparently for other attachments? But there should be a way to get it out of the way if I don't need it.

Perhaps all of these annoyances are due to my inexperience with a canister vacuum, but I've never experienced vacuuming in such a negative way. In fact, I've always kind of enjoyed it as it's such an easy task, or at least it should be! I'm pretty disappointed, especially given the cost. I'm still on the fence about keeping it.

I'm really sorry to read about how you are disappointed with your new canister cleaner. I hope you could manage to sort out this awkward issue the soonest. Unfortunately, my experience with canisters had been much similar to yours.

So when trying to make a decision about a new vacuum I was happy to bump on homus with pretty good and useful expert reviews before making a final choice. Hope it could also be useful to you.

NO balance problems with my Simplicity - it pulls easily, is light weight, and no tipping over. I could not be happier with it.

Omigosh, all your complaints about your Meile are just the opposite of my experience with them - although I don't have experience with the Costco model.

The upward exhaust bugs me, too, if I get near it, but I like that it's not blowing across the floor moving dust bunnies before I can vacuum them.

As far as awkwardness of the hose/handle, try lengthening or shortening the silver metal pieces and see if that makes it easier for you.

I've had other canisters and my big complaint was that they'd tip on their sides at the drop of a hat, but I can say my meile has never, ever tipped. It is so easy to pull and flows easily around corners - just a tug on the hose releases it if it gets hung up before getting completely around a corner.

One advantage to Costco shopping is they will let you return anything. If you can't make it work for you, take it back!

Oops, just noticed this was a revived old thread. My response was for Jellytoast. Hopefully, it's resolved by now.

Miele has a wide variety of heads and it's really important that you get the right head for your type of flooring. I'd recommend going to test them out at a Miele dealer first and figure out what is the right solution for your home.

Yes, Oly, it has been resolved with a return to Costco. I just could not make the Meile work for me. Just the thought of vacuuming would put me in a bad mood! For now I am getting by with a small Shark canister that I carry around with a shoulder strap. I intend to replace it with a small Sanitaire cannister which is similar to the Eureka Mighty Mite and also can be used with a shoulder strap.

(louislinus, I had both the hardwood floor head and the power head with my Meile model)

I wanted a canister vacuum cleaner with good filtration.

I have a combination of hardwood and area rugs. Bought a Miele from a vacuum cleaner store. It didn't do a good job picking up cat hair on area rugs. Found myself needing to go back and forth over the same area. Exchanged it for a Sebo that I LOVE! Zero complaints except for the price, but I figure this is probably my last vacuum cleaner. I've only had 2 and both lasted well over 20 years each.

Also recently bought a Riccar cordless for daily pickups in the kitchen & keeping room. The Hoover Linx has been relegated to the garden shed/workshop. It had horrible filtration. Whenever I turned it on in a beam of sunshine I saw dust flying out of the exhaust.

Miele vacuums are amazing! I would recommend the Alize for your home. I have the Marin and it is well, well worth it.

I think my Miele is is at least 18 years old. I have not had one problem. Oak floors, hand braided rugs and presently pine floors. It doesn't scratch them

The miele will last probably the rest of your life and behave like a brand new vacuum the entire time. I love mine - it's pretty easy to manuever and takes abuse without complaint.

We have a Sebo upright that was recommended to us at a sew and vac store that also sells Miele. They prefer Sebo. It's good German design. DH vacuums most of the time and he remarks how much he loves it every time he vacuums. He has little tolerance for anything poorly design.