Customer Reviews

Bissell DigiPro Canister Vacuum, 6900

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I am a big fan of canister vacuums, and when my old one recently broke I turned to Amazon to research all the latest models. I decided to buy the DigiPro because of the many features it offered for a great price. I am pleased to report that it performs better than I expected, and I was happy with my old one so I expected quite a bit. I like how it allows me to control the amount of suction power, the adjustments for various carpet heights/hard floors, and the ability to turn on/off the brushes. It has washable HEPA filters so there are no expensive filters to replace and it even has a light that comes on when it is time to change the bag. The cord has a push button retractor so the cord rewinds itself and stores out of the way.

I have 3 kids, 1 dog, and 1 cat, so needless to say I have plenty to clean up. It's nice knowing that tucked away in the closet is a great vacuum that can help me tackle any mess. This vacuum is definitely worthy of a 5 star review.

Yes this vacuum is lite, it's small, it has very good suction and reasonable (a bit small) tools. Though one of the biggest reasons many people buy it is for is it's proclaimed HEPA filtration. This seems like false advertising and I shall explain why. The unit is advertised to provide HEPA filtration but most of the exaust is not expelled through the filter!! Rather it is expelled through the rear of the vacuum where the cord is attached. This is likely because the unit is not sealed. A HEPA filter is attached on the exaust port at the top of the unit but exaust is routed out of cracks do to back-pressure from the HEPA filter. HEPA filters can catch particles as small as 3 microns and this makes them very resistant to air flow. Back pressure is built up due to this resistance and the resulting pressure forces the air to escape through paths of lesser resistance. Unfortunately this releases most all the molds, dust mites, and other allergins into the air. As matter of fact it seems that the filter may only filter 15% of the exaust on this vacuum, the rest finds its way out the cord release and other cracks. Bottom line the unit is flawed by design and saying it offers HEPA filtration is a lie. Anyone who designed this vacuum had to of known this to be true before it hit the market. Their is just about no way any design engineer could of overlooked this. Bissell desided to sell the unit anyway and claim it has HEPA filtration. What a con... Now many people will purchase this unit and never realize that it is not providing the level of filtration it advertised.
I did call their customer service and the service rep (very nice) did confirm that exaust was also expelled from the rear on the sample unit they had in the office. This was all he could say. I Would love to hear from someone at Bissell with regard to this. It would be nice to see a company stand behind their claims. Untill then no stars!!!

The Reviewer makes an excellent point! This unit will not provide HEPA filtration of exaust air. So if you are buying this unit due to allergies or based on the procaimed HEPA filtration you would do best to pass this unit up. However as a normal vacuum, the unit is very good. Due to its small size it is very easy to manuver through tight spots. Suction is very good as well as the power head. The hose is of poor quality and tends to kink, but all in all a good vacuum. They just shouldn't claim HEPA filtration as the previous reviewer (mictrik) has pointed out so well. These days it isn't hard to find vacuums with HEPA filtration so passing this unit up wont be to big of a loss. Fix this issue and Bissell would have a true star.

Based in part on the glowing reviews on this site, I purchased this Bissell 6900 vacuum for our small condo. Previously I used a Mighty-Mite canister vacuum for our place, but it has gotten quite old, the hose has a permanent crimp in it, and it never did a very good job on our few area rugs. Most of our floor is bare hardwood, however.

Turns out the Bissell is the exact opposite problem. When I turn on the brushes, it does quite a good job of cleaning our area rugs, but when I turn off the brush, it refuses to pick up anything more substantial than a dust bunny from the hardwood floor. It seems that the base is too wide to allow substantial suction, and there is nothing coming in contact with the floor to dislodge any stuck particles. I dumped a small amount of fresh cat litter on the hardwood floor and tried to pick it up with the Bissell. Very unsatisying, I could have done it faster and more thoroughly with a broom and dustpan.

It seems that a different attachment would work much better for bare floors than the standard one with the brushes, but alas, the one that comes with the vacuum is only about 3 inches wide. The claim that this vacuum works great for both carpet and hardwood seems totally bogus to me.

Some other notes:
- It is actually very quiet with the brushes turned off.
- Suction is also good, as tested by removing the cleaning head and using the various attachments.
- Telescoping feature is nice, but sometimes doesn't lock in place correctly when going over bumpy terrain
- Adjustible power feature seems kind of froofy; I'm not clear on what kind of person would say "well, the floor isn't really TOO dirty, let's ramp down the power a bit today..."

Summary: I wouldn't recommend this vacuum for anyone with more than a few patches of hardwood floor.

I have a large dog and a two cats, and this vacuum had a tendency to clog up with the fur. The suction was as good as a much more expensive electrolux vacuum, however I have owned the DigiPro for less than a year, and the beater brush in the power head has completely stopped working. (And the machine has certainly not been abused.) It is not worth the $200 plus price.

I bought this digipro in January 2005. Used it about 4 months and the hose disconnected from the cannister. Apparently the only thing holding the hose onto the cannister are the small electric wires that make the floor attachment run and wrapped around the hose is black electrical tape. For $250 you would think a company as well known as Bissell would have more pride in the workmanship that goes into thier cleaners. I will never buy another Bissell product because they are shoddy!

I purchased this vacuum 5 months ago and it already is giving me trouble. The hose attachment to the canister does not stay attached and it does not have a floor brush making it difficult to vacuum around furniture. I would not recommend buying this vacuum. It is cheap plastic and I wasted my money.

The first time I used it the hose came apart. Bissell sent a new hose and it's been working great ever since. The vacuum is super quiet and does a great job.

Ok. I reported "air flow problem through power cord attachment place" to the Bissell and that's what they gave me:

"I have been advised that the air release you describe is in the design of the machine and this issue is not unique to your vacuum. It is normal for some air to pass through the filter and some to vent from the bottom of the machine.

The air that passes through the HEPA filter captures over 99.9% of dust mites, pollen, and ragweed."

No offence to the customer support agent she just gave information what she had to give (provided by tech department, I believe)

But still.. this is a crap. How come HEPA filer could work if more than 90% of airflow goes not through the filter?!

If you do not care about HEPA filter, it still very good choice - it's quiet, has a nice look, very good telescoping pipe.

I have had this vacuum for a few weeks now and I was so impressed with its features that I felt I should chime in on these reviews. First of all, I have not experienced any problems with the hoses, like others have mentioned. This vacuum has worked well on my wall-to-wall carpeting and even on a flimsy area rug in my daughter's room that my Hoover upright always ate. I haven't been able to get it to clean dust off of my hardwood as much as I'd like, but I prefer to mop that up anyway.
This is what I think sets the vacuum apart from the others I've tried, including my Hoover Windtunnel:

*Onboard attachments that don't fall off when you vacuum: they are stored inside the canister

*Ease of use on stairs: I have a split-level house with short staircases, so I don't have to carry the canister

*Retractible cord: You can just step on the cord button on the canister and the cord will disappear. I always hated having to wrap up the cord on my upright.

*Easy storage: because the canister separates easily from the brush part, I can fit it on the floor of my tiny linen closet, under the bottom shelf

I would definitely recommend this model for someone looking for a mid-priced canister.