Oreck Super-Deluxe Compact Canister Vacuum Cleaner

Perfect for the right job
The vacuum does exactly what it says it does, and no more. (What do you want for 150 bucks?)

I live in a one bedroom apartment with hard wood floors. The Oreck Super-Deluxe Compact comes with all the attachments you'd need to clean it. It's small, so the capacity wouldn't be great enough for anything larger, although it would be perfect for a lightweight spot-cleaning vacuum when you didn't want to have to drag out the big guns (sort of like a Dust Buster, except they suck in the bad way).

The attachments are designed for hard surfaces, so if you have a lot of thick rugs you may want to look for something else. The attachments are perfect for walls, upholstery, and hard-to-dust areas (books, blinds, keyboards, baseboards).

The vacuum has a hypoallergenic filter which would be great if the exhaust (the blower) didn't blow straight out the side, blowing dust, papers and other light objects off shelves and countertops; the unit has a strap you use to...

I like it.
Are we all talking about the same machine? I don't know why all these other people dislike this so much.

I love this little vac. Okay -- let's look at some of the negatives other people have mentioned:

1. Too many parts. Pshaw! Most little vacs come with one suction opening, a little mouth on the front like a fish. Oreck designed this one better by attaching a hose to the front like the grown-up canisters. And, to make things even nicer, they gave us several different cleaning tools. So there's no place to store them on the vac. So what?! It's a small machine. It would be cumbersome to have those attachments hanging off the canister body while one works. Here's how you handle the parts: get a little mesh (see-through) drawstring bag like they sell for laundry and put them in there. Then put a little hook on the wall wherever you keep your upright vac and your vac bags. Problem solved.

2. Strap doesn't fit: Pshaw again. I've never had...

best handheld vac
This is hands-down the BEST handheld vacuum I have EVER tried. And people, I've tried plenty! This thing works like a regular cannister vac, save two exceptions: you carry it, and it does not have a power attachment (Oreck does make one that DOES have a power attachment, so if that's what you want, buy the different vac). No, it doesn't have an "on board tool holder". (Again, Oreck makes one that DOES have a tool holder, but this one doesn't have that feature). Handhelds don't normally come with tools in the first place. The most important thing about this vac is the power. Buddy, does it have some power! I live in dog-hair hell. I have a siberian husky that molts regularly in my home--and I put this vac through the ringer on a regular basis. This little vac sucks up every milimeter of dog hair (and there's TONS of it in my house). It sucks the hair off the hardwoods easily, and even sucks the hair off the area rugs and furniture with nary any fur left behind. I use it to...

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