either the miele brand cannister vacuum or the sebo brand upright vacuums are pretty much the best machines out there. Both machines use hepa our s-class filtration which in vacuum terms is very close to each other. The miele cannister is the best in my oponion, mainly because the machine is sealed better, thus all the exhaust air has to pass through the filter, and only the filter. I've sold the miele's for eleven years and in my sixteen years of repairing vacuum cleaners are the best in the market
I love my Oreck! It has great suction power and is really lightweight. My mom (in her 70's) tried it and has a much easier time vacuuming. I've had mine 3 years and no problems at all. The handheld that came with it works great as well - better suction than other handhelds in my opinion.
Oreck - 4 years. Does a very good job on cat hair (long-haired cat) and seems to filter everything. The hand-held that comes with it is not hepa but you can get hepa filters for it.
All vacuums blow particles back into the air as they clean. If dust and allergies are a factor for you then you will most certainly want to purchase a vacuum that has HEPA Filtration. HEPA filtration features a completely sealed airflow system that removes 99.7% of particles .3 micrometers in diameter or larger. I personally would recommend a Dyson vacuum, either the Dyson DC15 The Ball Animal, Dyson DC15 The Ball All Floors or Dyson DC14 Animal Bagless. They work wonders and supposedly never lose suction. According to the Dyson customer service guy that I spoke to, the air that comes out of the vacuum is 150X cleaner than the air that goes in.
It's been soldout online ever since that issue hit the newstands. Bought mine instore. Works great for dog hair and no dusty smell from exhaust.
