Hoover Platinum Cyclonic Bagless Upright Vacuum

We went through our second Dyson, and decided to switch just for the sake of doing so. Aside from the really high end European models, we opted for this new "prestige" line from Hoover, figuring it would be interesting to see what's the best they can do at a higher price point.

The machine itself looks really good, and when you turn it on, it's like starting a nice car, it almost purrs. The electronic start/stop and the electronic height adjustments are fabulous, very refined. And the machine seems to pick up everything in site.

Now, here are a few things to keep in mind, none of which are deal-breakers, but believe me, this thing is not perfect.

First and foremost, emptying the dirt chamber. At first we thought it was like most other bagless machines, you flick a lever and let the stuff fall in your garbage. But after about a week, we noticed the machine not picking up nearly as well, and we couldn't figure out a thing.

Then we looked carefully and saw that a huge collection of hair and debris had collected inside an inner cup, wrapped around the so-called cyclonic device. Once we got rid of that stuff, the vacuum was like new again. Still, it is hardly referred to in the manual, and it is rather a messy task.

Finally is the "dirt" indicator. It works on some sort of audio principle, sending out sounds which come back distored if they run in to dirt. I find that this works most of the time, but sometimes, it just stays red, and even after going over the area five times, it stays red.

I guess one could beef about the extension cord, why they didn't come up with some better way to unreel it and attach it to the machine. This is just like every other vacuum in that respect, but the cord seems longer.

I think I would buy it again, but the bag emptying procedure is sloppy and very unsophisticated. I'd be looking for machines that might do that job better.

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