my cats finally met their match

Author's Rating:

Pros: works great on carpets, quiet, affordable, versatile, replaces upright AND canister vacs

Cons: filters/belts/accessories not yet readily available

The Bottom Line: 
A great carpet cleaner at a bargain price.

Author's Review
I didn't know just how badly my old vaccum worked until I steam-cleaned my hall carpet. The steam cleaner sucked up a distressing amount of hair and grit the vacuum should have gotten. So off to the review sites I went and found the Smartvac highly regarded, and about $100 less than the Hoover I was considering. The unanticipated $30 rebate made this a great buy.

The next room to be steam-cleaned was the dining room, so that's where I tested my new vacuum. The dining room gets almost as much traffic as the hall and was looking pretty filthy. The Smartvac cleaned so well it looked like I had already run the steam cleaner! I don't believe there is so much difference between this Eureka and my last one. And when I was done vacuuming all the rooms I didn't find the anticipated wrap of hair around the brushes. Seems most of the hair ended up in the bag where it belongs. Definitely progress over the old vacuum.

As others have mentioned, the Smartvac almost pulls itself forward with the brushes doing their thing, and is more difficult to pull back. The instructions state that if pulling the vacuum is difficult perhaps the brush height adjustment is set too low, and indeed I was able to get it working fairly easily without sacrificing good cleaning by adjusting the brush height. Since the thing is so quiet it's difficult to tell it's working so hard when you have the height set incorrectly. Others have also mentioned that setting the brush height is difficult but I didn't find this true at all. I also didn't find it difficult to turn the brush on and off, though the switch doesn't fully register the "off" state when the machine isn't running. I at first thought the switch wasn't working until I turned the machine on, and then the switch can be flipped fully into the "off" and "on" positions. This is the only build quality gripe I have, and it's a small gripe.

I'm quite impressed with the quietness of this machine, and with the ease of pushing it around. It's a heavy vacuum but I didn't have difficulty pushing it at all, and I wasn't exhausted or over-heated and I didn't have a back ache when I was done vacuuming. I also found it to be more maneuverable than my old vacuum, depite its size, and the 15" width makes short work or vacuuming. With the exception of the upholstery tool, all the attachments fasten securely and conveniently to the vacuum. It doesn't feel like the upholstery tool attaches very securely but I haven't managed to knock it off yet. In all I'd rate the ease of use as superb.

I didn't much consider the utility of the attachments in selecting a vacuum, but this machine has seriously good suction through the hose. It's much more useful in this regard than any other upright I've used. After just about sucking the curtains off the wall I enjoyed wandering the house looking for other things that don't get enough cleaning attention and the Smartvac didn't let me down. Switching to off-the-floor vacuuming is easy. Since the hose doesn't normally get disconnected you simply turn a switch to turn it on. The beater brush stops turning when the machine is fully upright so you can just leave the thing in place and do the hand vacuuming. I'm definitely going to order the extension hose.

Changing the bag is quite easy. The front of the bag compartment comes completely off so it's out of the way. No more fighting with the zipper. This machine has a hard bag compartment because of its clean-air design. Most uprights suck dirt through the impeller before it hits the bag (a dirty-air design), and this is why larger objects make such a racket getting sucked up. The Smartvac, like most canister vacuums, has its motor on the other side of the bag, so there's no danger of damaging the impeller blades with coins or buttons or LEGO.

The HEPA filter is easy to remove, though I haven't had to change it yet. I'm going to buy the washable filter since it costs only as much as two of the disposable ones. I wish this machine came with the washable filter, even if it cost more. I don't think I'm allergic to in-house allergens but the sealed HEPA design is definitely welcome. There was no "just vacuumed" smell when I was done cleaning.

Since the belt design is of such concern to some reviewers I wanted to buy an extra with the machine but they aren't commonly available in stores yet. I'll order one with the filter.

Okay, now the downside. My carpet is poorly installed, and getting quite old. It's coming loose at transitions to tile. The Smartvac sucked the carpet right off the carpet tacs, and also separated the seam between my living room and dining room! I'll be more careful in these areas in the future :-)

Included accessories and attachments: crevice tool, upholstery tool, dusting brush, two nesting hose extenders. The hose is normally left attached, so I'm not sure you'd consider it an attachment, but it does detatch for cleaning. The unit comes with a bag and disposable HEPA filter already installed, and six extra bags. A similar but less common model (4874) comes with the washable HEPA filter, which you can get for the 4870 from Eureka's website.

In summary, this machine works superbly on carpets, and off-the-floor cleaning is as good as a canister vac.

A.