This vacuum sucks! (Like it should!)

My wife's Sharp upright had seen better days. I felt it wasn't picking up as much as it should, and only one dealer in our area carried bags.

We decided it was time to look for a new vacuum. My wife wanted to look at a Hoover Windtunnel bagless upright because she liked the features.

I felt that a canister vacuum would be better suited to our apartment for a number of reasons. First, we have lot of obstacles to clean under and around, such as our walk-in closets, under beds, etc. Secondly, we do have a fair amount of laminate flooring and I felt that a canister could clean those more effectively. Thirdly, a canister is just plain easier to store.

After doing some research, I decided on the Hoover S3765-040. I liked the fact that it included an electric powered cleaning head, and also included an air powered attachment brush. I also liked the bagless functionality, which is fairly rare to find in a canister vacuum. Additionally, Hoover is an established brand and can be serviced just about anywhere should the need arise.


Features:

I'll touch breifly on the features that pertain to this vacuum:

1) Telescoping aluminum wands. These make it easier to clean in harder to reach places, and simplify storage

2) Electric powerhead. This is the most important part in my mind. Unlike air powered powerheads, this has enough power to turn the brush adequately on any pile of carpet.

3) Air Powered brush accessory. This allows one to clean furniture or other cloth areas with more ease than simple suction. I find this quite useful for removing cat hair from furniture or for cleaning a cars interior.

4) Washable primary and secondary HEPA filters. This is a nice feature because it makes the long-term cost of ownership costs very low. The items can easily be cleaned using tap water. I personally would recommend buying an additional primary HEPA filter for this vacuum because the filter does become clogged relatively quickly, and takes a good 48-72 hours to dry. Having a 2nd one handy is quite useful.

5) Electronic controls. The vacuum features three motor speeds and a powerhead on/off switch. These are all fingertip controlled. The top of the vacuum has a bar graph type display that shows the motor speed. Additionally, the bar graph will blink if the primary filter is clogged.

6) Retractable cord. This is much handier for storage than a cord that needs to be wound by hand.

Using the vacuum (First Impressions):

I purchased this vacuum online and wasn't disappointed with the price. Upon arrival, I found the vacuum easy to assemble, with the major function being attaching the hoses and wands to the powerhead.

Prior to my first vacuuming, I cleaned the apartment with our old Sharp, just to see how much additional dirt the Hoover picked up. I was AMAZED at the amount of dirt that came out the first pickup!

The electric powerhead has plenty of power to turn the brushes. It practically leapt out of my arms the first time I switched it on. On high power, it feels like the powerhead actually needs to be pulled off the carpet if it needs to be lifted. That's a lot of suction!

The vacuum is very quiet, which was surprising to me. Our Sharp upright was rated in 1997 as one of the quietest vacuums on the market, but it's considerably louder than the Hoover Canister. It's possible to carry on a normal conversation when this vacuum's in use.

Longer term observations:

Overall, two months into my ownership, I'm still very happy with this vacuum cleaner. My carpets look and feel cleaner than they ever have.

My primary complaints are as follows:

1) Dirt cup capacity -- this needs to be emptied after each cleaning.

2) Primary HEPA filter -- this also seems to need cleaning after each use. I find that the filter brush is too messy to use for my tastes, so I wash the filter out each use. I let it dry 48-72 hours before using again. As a result, I did purchase a 2nd filter to keep the vacuum in circulation

3) Plastic on Plastic wheels. I wish that some steel ball bearings would have been used here. It would have made it much easier to push.

4) Heat. The motor gets HOT on this unit.

5) Light on powerhead. The light is dim and isn't very helpful in the closet.

6) Cleaning. This would apply to any bagless unit, but cleaning the actual vacuum takes time. It's the most useful for me to empty the dirt cup in the garage. I also find myself spending time washing the primary HEPA filter. Figure on spending at least 10 minutes after you finish vacuuming cleaning the unit.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the unit. It's quiet, compact, and does a superb job of cleaning. What more could one ask?