Electrolux EL5020A Intensity Upright Vacuum Cleaner

This little vacuum packs in power and innovative design. From the first try, I was amazed at the suction. The first time through the house I quickly filled the bag and had to change it. The Intensity pulled up all the little carpet fuzz on the 3-year-old carpet that my old vacuum could never get. It has more power than any other vacuum I've used.

The collapsing design is a nice feature. It folds up into a neat little package that fits easily on a closet floor without running into the coats. I love the controls on the top of the handle. You can go from bare floor to carpet with the touch of a button. The cord retracts nicely. The bag is easy to change, though a bit small, well, because the vacuum is small.

I discovered a nice fail-safe feature when I tried to finish the room when the full bag light was on. The vacuum shut off. I waited a bit to let it cool down, changed the bag, and it started right up. So pay attention to that light.

Overall, the design is fantastic. A couple improvements though would make it even better. For it's small size, light weight and those big wheels, it doesn't corner all that easily. The front is nice and flat and has an edge for going under cabinets, but since the front is the same width as the back, you can't go straight under cabinets. You have to go at an angle and keep adjusting the position. So making the front part a little wider than the back would make going under cabinets a breeze.

Also, if it didn't have that big carrying handle on the top of the canister, it would vacuum right under the bed. The handle isn't positioned well anyway for doing stairs, because when you hold it by the handle to maneuver on stairs, it's too back heavy and tips back. A handle placed a little farther back on the canister would solve that problem and it would vacuum under the bed.

There are no attachments with this vacuum, but I prefer that it do it's job on the floors and I use a cordless vacuum for furniture, edging and stairs anyway.

Please don't write this vacuum off as a secondary, light-duty vacuum. Even though it's small, it's a full-duty whole house vacuum with plenty of suction.