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Electrolux EL1000A2 Pronto Bagless...
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hudson2001's Review
Electrolux EL1000A2 Pronto Bagless Stick Cyclonic Vacuum Review
We were unsure, but we're SO glad we tried this!
willing to pay for quality, practical, Cost conscious, Appreciative of clever design, a homeowner, a cat owner, a pet lover, married
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| Cons |
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NOV
13
2007
We just moved into our first two-story house and needed a vacuum that would solve two issues:
1) We needed a vacuum that would work well on stairs--something that was light enough and that also had enough suction (we tried using our full-size vacuum and it was a laughable effort).
2) We had quite a bit more vinyl, hardwood, and tile in the new house, and even though our old vacuum has a "hard floor" setting, it just didn't cut it.
CONDITIONS FOR PURCHASE
We also had conditions for the purchase: We wanted to keep the cost under $100 and we wanted to buy it from Lowe's (if possible) to take advantage of their "12 months free financing" offer (having a new house, we have lots of stuff to buy). We had seen this model before and sort of laughed at it--although its modern style appealed to us, it didn't look powerful enough to do anything. So, it was off to epinions.
SCARY REVIEWS
Reading the reviews scared us. I mean, we wanted this mainly for stairs and hard floors, but we also wanted it for quick carpet jobs (plus our stairs were carpeted)...and the ratings for use on carpet weren't promising. We probably researched vacuums for over an hour, but I kept coming back to this one. Eventually we agreed we'd get it and try it, because we could always take it back.
EASE OF ASSEMBLY
We brought it home and put it together as the pieces came out of the box. My husband kept saying "Shouldn't there be directions?" but it didn't seem he really needed them, as we didn't find them [at the bottom of the box] until after the entire unit was put together, was placed on the base unit, and was plugged into the wall! So, I'd say it's easy to put together.
THE WAITING GAME
I'd suggest buying this at night as we did, so you just put it on the base and go to bed...otherwise, the temptation to use it might be too much to bear. (I'm sure using it before it is fully charged wouldn't be detrimental, but I like following the directions.)
THE FIRST USE
My husband used it before I woke up and boy, was I upset! I had wanted to be there for the maiden voyage! I asked what he thought and he just sort of looked a little downtrodden or disappointed and said "Maybe you should go try it." Uh oh. I was worried. So I ran it across the vinyl floor and...WOW. Just, wow. It was so smooth! Same with the tile in the kitchen. I looked at my husband and said "This is pretty cool!" And he agreed, saying he had wanted me to experience the coolness without being forewarned! Awwww. But, there wasn't much left to clean downstairs, as he'd done the whole floor! I did try just a bit on the carpet and wasn't thrilled--it was very hard to push. I reminded myself it wasn't really meant for carpet, but went to the stairs anyway.
STAIRS
And let me say it worked much better than I anticipated! It worked better on the stairs than on my trial swipe on the carpet because I was more horizontal than vertical. It's MUCH easier to use when you're vacuuming out in front of you (i.e. the step is horizontally across from you) as opposed to vacuuming the carpet from a normal position (i.e. when you're standing vertically above it). The entire stairwell took a matter of minutes. There were a few small things it didn't pick up (towards the crevices) but I just flicked the small piece into the path of the vacuum and it was no problem.
CARPET, PLUS A MAJOR TEST
I then quickly made a few passes in the bedroom to get some cat hair globs and it picked them up no problem (the key was keeping the vacuum/handle at a bit of an angle so it travelled better over the carpet). Then, we had the major test. Our cats get hairballs and one has a sensitive stomach, so (skip ahead a sentence if you're at all squeamish) we often have piles of hairball/vomit to clean up. (Now, this doesn't really have to do with the actual review, but it's background for what I vacuumed up.) When it happens, we put baking soda on it (which is supposed to stop the acids from staining the carpet and make it easier to clean when it's all dried up). So, I tried to clean up one of these, um, piles: about a 4" square of baking soda with some lumps in it. Well, as you can imagine, it didn't work the best--a full-size vacuum would still be best. But, it did much better than I anticipated. I did have to make probably twice as many passes as I would have had to make with a regular vacuum...but if I didn't want to run and get the vacuum or I was feeling lazy, it would be a possible solution. It did a fairly good job of getting all the powder up, as well. Again, I wouldn't suggest doing this on a regular basis (and we won't) but it was a good test of the suction power of this vacuum.
EMPTYING THE CUP
We had emptied the cup before I started my tests. It was very easy--just snap the dustbuster off the vacuum, take the cover off, and dump the bits in the garbage. I was very surprised at how full the cup was after just doing the stairs, a few swipes in my bedroom, and the vomit pile. The floors really hadn't looked that dirty.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
We are keeping this vacuum. It easily passes the test for the two main uses we wanted it for: hard floors and stairs--anything else is a bonus. It's just amazing on hard floors and as an added extra, it's fun to use! I highly recommend this vacuum.
CAVEAT
The only thing I had trouble with (and maybe it's just me) is that it took me about four tries to get it back on the charging stand. I had thought it would just be a slide-it-in-easily kind of thing, but I just couldn't get it hooked. I had to actually look where it hooked and pay special attention to it--and then it snapped right on no problem. To this day I stil l have a little trouble with it, but then again, it's in the coat closet against the wall so it's hard to even see the base, let alone see while trying to get it on there. I consider it mostly user error!
Electrolux EL1000A2 Pronto Bagless Stick Cyclonic Vacuum is recommended by hudson2001 |
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