Its vacuuming bliss.

Author's Rating:

Pros: Very quiet, good suction and cheap.

Cons: Heavy and questionable quality.

The Bottom Line: 
This vacuum is a great value. But reliability is still questionable. Even with quality issues this vacuum is still a steal.

Author's Review
My review might sound quite off the wall because of what ended the relationship, but it was a great week of vacuuming.

I spent at least a month reading reviews here and looking at the vacuum ratings on Consumer Reports. The Eureka 4870 always came out the winner. I was not going to spent $400 for a Hoover and I would never even consider a Dirt Devil or a bagless. But I was still skeptical as my previous Eureka was not all peaches and cream.

Alas, as I was pushing the buggy down the vacuum aisle at the local Target the 4870 and its price caught my eye. This vacuum is a tremendous value. You get most of the features of expensive Hoovers for half the cost.

I was excited to get the vacuum home and set it up. "Set up." consisted of putting the handle on with 3 screws. It was simple.

Let me just point out some of the great features of this vacuum.

Features:

True Hepa filter, this is the sealed type. This was important as I have a cat and bad allergies. While the vacuum was in use the air coming out of the filter had that new car smell.

Brush roll stop so you can use the vacuum on bare floors without scattering everything. There was an issue with this feature that was either a defect or just how it works.

This vacuum has a very powerful motor. This vacuum is a heavyweight no doubt, but if I vacuumed the carpet going in a particular direction the brush would pull the vacuum along. Pulling was not easy.

Pros:

The moment I turned this vacuum on I was in love. The main reason being it was extremely quiet. You can hear a hum and the brush beating against the floor. I actually held a normal toned conversation while I was vacuuming. This is very important as it makes vacuuming more enjoyable, loud vacuums make me hate to vacuum.

The attachments are very easy to use. You just turn a large yellow knob on top of the vacuum and it switches to the hose. The attachments are good but their storage areas are terrible, they do not stay in place and end up littered all over the house.

This vacuum is a great value. You get alot for what you pay. What other vacuum can you get with a True Hepa filter, brush stop, and easy to use attachments for around this price?

Using this vacuum was a cinch and actually an enjoyable experience.

Cons:

I did have an issue with the brush stop feature. To keep the brush from rotating I had to hold the switch. So when I tried to vacuum my kitchen I was bent over the vacuum while trying to push it around. I don't know if this was how it worked of if mine was defective.

When I consulted the owners manual for the above problem I found no support period. All it really shows is how to change the bag, light bulb and hepa filter. It did not show how to use any feature.

Lastly, the reason I only used this vacuum for a week is it broke. The last time I was vacuuming it started making a burning smell. I shut it off immediately and took apart the underside to inspect the belt. The belt had migrated itself off the tensioner and self destructed.

I just brought it back to the store for a full refund. I did not just trade up because this vacuum just was not right for me. See I live in a 2 floor apartment. It was a real pain lugging this thing up the stairs and trying to clean the stairs. I am trying to find a vacuum that will be easy for a 2 level apartment.

My advice:

This is a wonderful vacuum and I would recommend it to pretty much everyone. Just avoid it if you live in a multi floor home or have trouble lifting 20lbs or more.