Miele S7580BOLERO Bolero Upright Vacuum Cleaner

Never thought I would be thrilled to get a vacuum cleaner. This one has everything you could want -it cleans GREAT, it is amazingly quiet, the HEPA filtering is top notch, the controls and the tools are convenient, the power cord reaches forever, the materials used in this machine are built to last, and on top of all of that, it looks gorgeous (I know, I know, it's a vacuum!).

My one and only reservation was that it was on the heavy side. This reservation was quickly allayed when I actually used this Miele upright at home (the dealer kindly lend it to me to try at home.) The maneuverability is phenomenal. No more plowing forward and backward to move a couple inches to the left or right. Just twist your wrist and the vacuum swivels and turns on a dime. It's *amazing* how much effort this saves!

I compared this vacuum to the Sebo Automatic X4 and the Sebo Felix. The X4 is the noisiest of the bunch, and it doesn't swivel (which both the Felix and the Miele do), although it is a solidly great machine. The Felix is the lightest, and it swivels, but is the only one that doesn't have automatic height adjustment, a feature that lets you vacuum right over throw rugs without the vacuum eating the rug.

Price-wise, the Felix was about $100 less than the X4 which is about $120 less than the Miele Bolero.

I ended up selecting the Miele because overall it had every useful feature and was the most convenient to use.

I like the size of the Sebo Felix, but it was a little too fussy (too many parts that come on and off) and the hose didn't have an extension, so I couldn't reach the cobwebs up high.

Any one of these three would be great to own. The Miele is just a little ahead in terms of features and convenience. Oh, and about the high price: I am replacing three (crappy, smelly, loud) old vacuums (Hoover, Kenmore, Eureka), and if you add up how much they all cost, I would have been better off getting the "expensive" Miele to start with. I expect it will last a very very long time.

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Dyson DC24 Ball All-Floors Upright Vacuum Cleaner

I bought the dyson dc24 all floors vacuum factory serviced at abc Vacuum Warehouse. The item was shipped same day I ordered it and arrived on time. The vacuum is just about new and comes with a six month warrenty from Dyson and 21/2 years from Abc Vacuum warehouse. The appliance runs well the only thing is that the cord is too short and you will probably need an extension. all in all I am a satisfied customer.

The Sharper Image Brethe Air Cleaner

This is a stylish unit that effectively generates the white noise associated with fans without intense air movement. I have not noticed a significant reduction in allergens.

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Winix Ultimate Large 4-Stage Filter

Far better than filter originally purchased with the winex machine. Worth the money spent. Update will be made when it comes time to clean and reinstall.

Honeywell AirGenius4 Air Cleaner

Honeywell AirGenius4 Air Cleaner/Odor Reducer, HFD310

This is my third air cleaner that I have added to my household in the last year.

At this point, I know what features I really prefer and find helpful.

I appreciate the timer feature and use it daily and I consider it a must for all future purchases. It's so convenient to just set the timer after you turn it on and not have to worry about turning it off before bed or if it's in my bedroom turning it off after I get up in the morning. This unit has settings for 2, 4 and 8 hours. My other air cleaner has a 24 hour timer which I prefer. I run my cleaners longer than 8 hours.

With this unit the air cleaner oscillates which I think is the most important and the best feature. It is the first and only air cleaner I have seen with this feature. I think it really helps clean/distribute/deodorize the air better and faster and at this time I feel it is a feature I won't do without in future purchases.

Aside from the energy star rating I also like the quietness of the unit. This has a sleep mode that is extremely quiet, you can barely tell it's on. There are also the general, allergen and max modes. They get slightly louder as the levels go up but I think even at the highest setting it is rather quiet.

The Honeywell AirGenius 4 measures about as wide as my other air cleaners but for some reason it looks wider. With all it does though, I can easily overlook the appearance. (The control panel and width is almost 8 inches across)

A feature of this unit is that it also comes with an odor filter. This is in addition to the washable foam pre-filter but you cannot use this in combination with the odor reducing pre-filter. I really wish I could use both at the same time. The odor filter you throw out when it needs replacing.

Overall, I totally love the oscillating feature and the fact that this does a larger room (250sq.ft) which is perfect for my house because my kitchen opens in the living room area. The Honeywell AirGenius does a fantastic job of cleaning, deodorizing and distributing the air that I plan on getting one for my daughter's room.

There is a 2 pack odor reducing pre-filter on Honeywell's site for 19.95. The other filters are permanent because they are washable which will add up to quite a savings!

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210 Bionaire Electret Air Cleaner Replacement Filter

This filter bears no resemblance to the original in my Bionaire, except for dimensions. It is much flimsier. Nor does it match Amazon's image. Nevertheless there aren't a lot of choices.

Hoover Windtunnel Air Bagless Upright

I'll start this review by saying straight offI have two Dysons. I also have three birds, three cats, a six-year old child, a husband that telecommutes from home, a big garden, and a father that golfs on dusty courses and brings back a lot of sand and dirt, so our vacuums are put to work on a very regular basis. We vacuum several times a day.

The Hoover was actually a pleasant surprise. While it's not as powerful as the Dyson, it's not nearly as expensive.

Pros:

Suction is excellent. Gets up tons of cat hair, feathers, dirt, dust, litter, seed, etc.

Works great on rugs and bare floors. It's also really great at getting stuff up from the grout, which other vacuums can miss.

Very easy to empty.

Lightweight but not flimsy.

Easy to switch between modes.

Very few attachments to lose and deal with.

Not too noisy.

Long cord.

No bags.

The cons:

Doesn't navigate like the Dyson, but that's actually a pro in some ways. My mom has really bad arthritis in her hands and can't use the Dyson because of the way it navigates but she CAN use this. So for those with joint issuesthis can be a plus.

The hose assembly is a bit tricky. But that seems to be the case on ALL vacuumsone of our Dysons has a terrible hose assembly that requires way too much work to get the attachments on, so I think this might be another "across the board" issue.

As others have noted, sometimes pet hair can get wrapped around the cone inside the canister, and when you empty the vacuum you have to reach in and pull it out. Kinda gross.

All in all, it's a powerful vacuum. Not as powerful as the Dyson, but not as pricey or "fussy", either. I definitely recommend it for those who don't want or need a Dyson but want something powerful and easy to use and empty.

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Essick Air 1044 Replacement Tabletop Wick

Well, it is just a humidifer wick so excuse me for not getting wildly excited, but as far as humidifier wicks go, I can't complain. It does its job exactly as I would expect as I would expect a humidifer wick to. So...yeah. Good product. Thanks

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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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Electrolux Jetmaxx Green Canister Vacuum

Well I love the suction, and the power upholstery attachment, however there are a number of serious design flaws. The worst flaw is the hose, it is very cheap and stiff, although it can theoretically swivel on both ends, you will have to twist it with your hands for it to do so. The hose comes out of the canister at a nearly vertical angle so there is not enough sideways force to make it swivel even if they did have a half way decent swivel attachment. The result is that the hose is constantly kinking and every time you move a few feet the canister flips upside down. Adding to the flipability of the vacuum are the two large wheels on the sides that prevent the canister from turning easily. Rotating wheels would have been a big help here. I have a 1980's Hover canister that has never flipped. If I could buy an old Hover I would.

My next disappointment was the swiveling arm, which by the way swivels like a dream, so I know they can make a good swivel (try putting it on the hose). I thought I would like this feature however I have found that it makes turning the power head very difficult. When I push the arm to the side instead of moving the head to the side it just swivels the arm. To actually change the direction of the head I have to pick it up turn it and put it back down again (this can get very tiring). Additionally since the hose is kinked all the time, it puts sideways pressure on the arm as a result I am constantly fighting to keep the arm vertical.

On last flaw regards how attachments attach to the arm. The power attachments have a very loose connection and will come off with just a little pressure. When vacuuming under the couch I have pulled the arm back out and found that the power attachment was left behind.

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Cinnamon Filter Breeze

We have a high-efficiency furnace that we spray this on the filters for. For a day or two, they make the house smell great! However, after, at most, 2-3 days, if you want the house to keep smelling great, you have to go back down and spray more on it. And we're talking @8 pumps of the spray each time. YMMV.

Dehumidifier With Humidistat SoleusAir 25 Pint SG-DEH-25-4

I just commented on another review, telling how I got this cute little dehumidifier to drain externally instead of filling the bucket. I'll copy that information below too. But first I should talk about a much more serious problem I had with mine, a problem that required my disassembling the unit to an extent probably no other owner would be willing to do. But this little dehumidifier was so cheap and appealing it was worth the risk to me.

(I discovered the hard way that all manufacturers now consider dehumidifiers disposable items, so they never fix them even under warranty. Some like Frigidaire will give you a replacement, but most will make getting it serviced under warranty so expensive and tiresome that you'll give up and buy a new one. I figured at this price trying to get it fixed professionally would end up costing more than it cost new. Besides, I love taking things apart to see how they tick.)

The problem was that the "Bucket Full" light was always on, and nothing I did would make it go off; and if the dehumidifier thinks the bucket is full it will not turn on the compressor. That meant my brand new dehumidifier would NOT dehumidify. After carefully disassembling the thing, I finally discovered that the cable from the bucket sensor switch was unplugged from the circuit board, and all I had to do to fix it was plug in that cable. If I had known from the beginning what was wrong, it would have taken no more than 15 minutes to fix, but since I DIDN'T know it took several hours.

In disassembling the unit, I was impressed by the quality of the workmanship and materials inside; it's a shame it was almost ruined by one little unplugged cable. By the way, I found a very responsive contact at Soleus Air by sending an e-mail to contact-at-soleusair-dot-com. The guy who responded in a matter of minutes was named Christopher, and although the disconnected cable deep inside was beyond his expertise he was very responsive and did his best to be helpful. If he was really on the other side of the world, he impersonated an American better than most do.

Now I have a great little dehumidifier that cost less than half as much as any other dehumidifier I could find, and it's keeping my basement just as dry as the two 70-pint, $200+ dehumidifiers I had before. I'm going to buy another one while they're still available at such an astounding price.

Solving the drain problem:

I already had a garden hose y-adapter I wasn't using, like this one: Camco 20113 RV Metal Garden Hose Y Valve, although I expect any similar adapter would work just as well. I screwed it onto the dehumidifier's drain adapter, with the two outlets pointing up and down. Then I screwed the drain hose onto the outlet pointing down, made sure the valve for it was open, and now it works perfectly.

Make sure there is no place in the drain hose that is kinked or that rises instead of falls, because the drain depends entirely on gravity and can't force the water to rise any distance at all or go through a restriction.

This is a problem with many dehumidifiers, not just this one. If the water has to rise any distance at all even a fraction of an inch to get out of the external drain, it will flow into the bucket instead.

I'm using a length of clear plastic ½" hose I bought at HD so I can see the water flowing through it, and the brass coupling that fits it onto the ¾" garden hose outlet has enough offset in it to keep the water from passing through when it's mounted horizontally; but the downward angle of the y-adapter allows the water to flow easily down into and through the hose now.

I also opened the valve on the y-adapter for the outlet pointing up. It won't hurt anything, since (as described above) the water can't rise high enough to go out it, and letting air in at that point can help the water to flow more freely down through the hose.

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Green Mountain Coffee Hazelnut DECAF 108 K-Cups

Shipment arrived in tact and as described. I will buy more as it's a good "bulk buy". This is my wife's favorite and can never find them locally in the near stores

18x30x1 (17.7 x 29.7) Filtrete 1250 Ultra Allergen Filter by 3M

My house uses forced air for heating. The disadvantage of such a system is that it distributes the dust in the air everywhere in the house. However, it is supposed to be possible to filter out the dust. Over the years, I have steadily increased the quality of the filter that I use for my forced air heating system. However, until now I have not noticed any obvious difference in my allergic reactions that seem to start with the heating season.

There are cats in my house. I have read that cat dander, tiny flakes of cat skin shed by the cats, is five times smaller than household dust particles. It stays in the air much longer than ordinary dust before it settles. Because of its small size it requires a more efficient filter to get it out of the air.

Until three years ago, I used of variety of filters with mixed results. However, then I started using the 3M Advanced Allergen Filters, the ones in the blue wrapper. These have a 3M Microparticle Performance Rating of 1500, and a MERV rating of 12.

MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value produced from a test designed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). A higher MERV rating indicates better filter performance.

3M uses particle data between 0.3 and 1.0 micron size to calculate a Microparticle Performance Rating or MPR. The higher the MPR, the better the filter. However, higher rated filters cost more.

Here are some of the Filtrete filters offered by 3M:

Dust & Pollen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 600,

MERV rating of 8

Micro Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1000,

MERV rating of 11

Ultra Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1250,

MERV rating of 11

Advanced Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1500,

MERV rating of 12

Ultimate Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1900,

MERV rating of 13.

The difference made by the Advanced filter was immediately obvious. My running nose stopped running. I assume that the new Advanced filters must be taking out more of the dust in the air including the cat dander. I have not noticed a change in the speed of the circulated air.

More recently, I have started using the newer Ultimate filter. It works better than the Advanced filter. The additional cost of the filter is worth it if you have allergies or pets. However, if you are happy with a lower-rated and lower-cost filter, then continue using that one.

BISSELL PowerSteamer PowerBrush Select Upright Deep Cleaner

I had bought this for my wife after a lengthy search on the internet and we've not been disappointed. The first occasion to use it came after one of our four legged pets had an accident on our beige rug. It loads easily and it's handy how the clean water and the waste water share space on the small, cartridge. It's surprisingly light weight too. We'd had a Bissell previously from about 10 years ago and that was a large, 4 wheeled item that you pulled behind you. As I recall that cleaned pretty well but all the water fittings leaked no matter how hard you tightened them. I'm glad to say that this Bissell cleans even better and there are no leaks to be seen.

This has been a good purchase for us!

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Rainbow 10520 HEPA Filter for post-9280000 Rexair E series

The picture shows it's the right filter from the front, but when you get the product the connection in the back is wrong. Do not purchase if you can not see front and back!

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Honeywell HHT-090 Permanent Hepa Filter Tower Air Purifier

Alright, so I just bought this so I can't say much about reliability, but I had to post a review online because I'm incredibly impressed with they way my apartment smells now. I have 2 cats, and litterbox odor is a big problem for me...I'm a neat freak, and I can't stand anything that smells dirty so I went out and bought this to help take care of the issue.

And this is really the best part.

I CAN'T EVEN TELL I HAVE CATS ANYMORE. Yes, it's that good. Granted, there's a bit of a rubbery smell because the filters are new, but it'll fade in time. All I did was put it in the same room as the litterbox, turn it on HIGH for about 5 minutes, and the smell was gone. I've since switched it down to low and let it run, and the room smells like it did when I moved in.

Another great thing about this unit is the filters are permanent, which means you never have to buy more. Just pull them out and wash them when the light comes on (yes, it tells you when to clean the filter). That basically pays for itself in a year or two if you look at the price of filters in comparable units.

I will say that it's not the most quiet unit, especially on high, but medium is tolerable and low is barely noticeable if you're in the same room.

Friedrich CP18G30

I bought this to replace a thru the wall GE 15,000 btu unit that had been in place for 15 years with 0 problems but suddenly died during the recent heat wave. Due to it's age I did not explore the option of repair and went for a new unit. The existing unit had cooled the entire 1st floor of my small house with no problems and when I shut a door to divide the 1st floor it kept both the office and bedroom which are right across from each other very cool at night on a low power saver option.

This 18,000 btu should have been more powerful but does not come anywhere near the cooling power of the old GE. It does cool the the 8 x 10 office but even on the lowest temp setting & top fan speed does not really push any cool air past that room. I had used PC Richards to survey and determine needed btu's before purchase and then paid them 300$ for installation so it is not installed incorrectly the unit is just not all that it should be.

If it was not for the fact that it is a wall unit and diffcult to take out I would return it. I am so sorry I did not try to fix the old one or used Amazon to purchase a model with reviews and done the install myself. I am now in the process of using Amazon to purchase a window AC for the bedroom sine this new unit does not do the job.

This new unit is also noisy, I would have thought newer units would be quieter than a 15+ year old AC but not so, I need to have the TV very loud to hear over it. I would be fine with the noise if it cooled more than the small room it is in.

The only good thing I can say is it does have a remote which the old one did not,but the instruction book does not give any instructions on what the symbols mean on the remote. When trying to use the remote I had to do a lot of expermenting to set it manually and then check what the remote showed. It does have a timer feature but again instructions so unclear I have yet to figure it it out.

I will never buy a Friedrich again and hope this may help folks looking to replace their thru the wall AC.

Hamilton Beach 04251P TrueAir Plug-Mount Odor Eliminator

I bought this little guy about 2 years ago for my husband & his allergies. About an hour after I plugged it in, I noticed a difference in the air quality. Our bedroom felt much cleaner than before. The dander & dustgone! You will notice a fresher "feeling" when you use this plug mount air cleaner. You can buy replacement filters for this item, but I rinse the filter out, dry it, & use it again. Also, this air cleaner provides a very small amount of white noisewhich we like when we're sleeping. Purchase with confidence. Strong enough for one room only.

Holmes Cool Mist Humidifier

We were in the market for a humidifier for the winter months due to sore throats/dry throats at night. So we purchased this unit. I've read reviews on other products and most of them did not give a clear enough why it was either bad nor good. So we figured might as well give this product a whirl being the price was right and we could return it at the local Target store.

To our surprise this unit works as intended albeit the unusually loud fan (even on the lowest setting). But to us the white noise it generates is actually welcomed in our bedroom. It's not any louder than my custom gaming computer fans that i leave on running at night. This product is used in our room which measures 17ftx17ft. The air humidity at night is just right now. For the first time in the winter months me and the wifey got good sleep!! we both woke up with no sore throats or dry sinuses!

So in short review here are the PRO's and CON's

PRO's : Works as advertised. capable of humidifying a room of 17ft x 17ft with ease. Water tank holds a good amount of water. Run time on it is 16hrs filled. Easy to fill tank. Easy to clean. Comes with 2 extra filters.

CON's : Slightly loud fan (if you like white noise at night) then this would be a plus :) Would be nicer if it had one more lower level for the fan speed for the people that complain about the slight noise.

This product is worth the price! would recommend it to anyone looking into a Humidifier for a bedroom or a living room.

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