Eureka Optima Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner, 431F
- Bagless, lightweight, upright vacuum cleaner with 12 amp motor
- For bare floors and carpeting; on/off brushroll control; onboard tools
- Adjustable-height telescoping handle; O-shaped handle for comfort
- 11-inch cleaning path; allergen filtration; suction-control switch
- Measures 8 by 11 by 42 inches; 1-year limited warranty
Bagless lightweight upright with comfort grip looped handle. Cleans carpets and bare floors.
List Price: $ 69.99
Price: $ 63.99
It doesn’t just suck, it blows. (…or does it?),
I bought this vacuum a few months ago because it seemed like the perfect compromise between a full-size, full-priced vacuum cleaner, and a smaller hand-held. Just what I needed for my small apartment with both carpet and tile flooring. I was initially impressed by its light weight, sleek design, adjustable handle, and seemingly good/advertised suction. But, as is usually the case, looks can be deceiving and often supersede function.
As another reviewer mentioned, this vacuum is completely useless on hardwood or tile floors. The exhaust just ends up blowing the debris around rather than sucking it up. Not to mention the suction is seemingly lost on flat surfaces anyway, because even the pieces that manage to not get blown around don’t ever seem to make it inside the vacuum. Maybe this would be an acceptable flaw, but once you get the vacuum onto carpet, performance isn’t much better. It often refuses to pick up seemingly easy debris, which could be due to a combination of factors. If the suction line isn’t clogged with dust bunnies (poor design), or the brush roll is tangled up with hair and string (poor design), then surely you’re still cursed by the fact that there is no height-level adjustment to make up for the poor suction. If it’s not one thing, it’s the other, and it seems to be a battle to just keep this vacuum functioning properly–or at least up to its best interpretation of proper.
Overall, I’d say avoid this product, by all means. It does warrant two stars, only because the light weight of it is still favorable, and it is so easy to store in a closet or other small space, and easy to set up and put away. If it was more functional, it would be the perfection companion for an apartment or bedroom. But that’s the problem, it’s not acceptably functional. It’s seemingly poorly designed and just does not get the job done. Look elsewhere if you want quality over initial appeal.
UPDATE 5/20/10: Made a discovery today. Prior to writing this review, I unknowingly had the suction set to “hose” instead of “floor”, which clearly explains the lack of suction and the blowing around of dust. Once I flipped it back to the “floor” setting, the vacuum performed flawlessly on both tile and carpet. I wonder how many other reviewers who’ve complained of these issues have committed the same mistake? Or maybe I’m the only blond here.
I’ve upgraded this review to four stars now, instead of two. The vacuum still isn’t perfect, and still has the issues of having to clean it after just about every use and being a bit difficult to push on carpet. But it works, and pretty dang well for its size and price, as long as you keep it clean. Now that I have the settings correct on it, I have no issue with any debris blowing around as I vacuum it right up.
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|Great vac, just read the directions,
I was very concerned after reading all the reviews for this vac, but took some people’s advice from the reviews and I am extremely happy with my new vac.
1- Be respectful of the directions:It takes a whole 5 minutes to read the small booklet/leaflet and if you don’t read it expect problems. There are two knobs and some people on the reviews didn’t even know that, because they didn’t read the directions.
2-The vac is lightweight and small: Be respectful that it is a small POWERFUL vac. It cannot vacuum a 2000 sq. foot home, not even a 1000 sq foot home without cleaning the filter. I use it for my large area rugs. It picksup and suctions very well! People complain they have to clean the filter often and how difficult it is to clean the filter. Someone in these reviews recommended a small 99 cent brush (bottle/dish/etc) and this worked perfectly for me. It takes me litterally 30 seconds to clean (don’t try chop sticks like someone recommended that would take forever.) It has a powerful suction of course the filter will pickup a lot; that’s what its supposed to do!
3- Its a small vac, use it for small spaces maybe 500 sq.feet. If you use it for more or have a pet that sheds a lot or pet w/long hair expect to clean the filter more (maybe 1x in between.)
4- As far as problems with hardwood floors or the air blowing the dust around I just leave my vac on carpet mood- thats it. Works fine. Someone else stated once you lean the vac that problem disappears, but I haven’t evn tried moving the know yet, because carpet mode works for me.
5- The vac is lightweight, the canister is EASY to remove and the vac POWERFUL. I have used it for about 2 months now maybe 3x a week and really appreciate its power and lightweight. I hope this helps others.
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|85% of a Dyson at 15% of the price.,
You can just feel the amount of air getting sucked through this thing. Although small, it’s got a very effective 12amp motor, and still fits under a shelf in the closet with our board games. It’s simple, sturdy and functional.
My wife and I were going to register for a Dyson, but when we played with one at Macy’s it felt rickety. We were really surprised as we’d heard nothing but great things about them. But we decided we couldn’t blow $400 on a big, plastic monstrosity. I’m sure they’re really great, but our modest 900sq’ just don’t need the BMW of vacuums.
In particular I like the handle. Looks weird, but it’s perfect. The hose only comes with two attachments; that’s all you need, and the hose itself is just long enough. The brush height is automatically adjusting. The power switch is a simple three-position switch that goes: off / motor / motor and brush. And the dust catch and filter are easy enough to remove and empty.
A Dyson may very well last forever, but I could buy six of these, which would still be half the weight of the smallest Dyson and easier to hide away.
Happy housekeeping.
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