Customer Reviews

Black & Decker DB450 DustBuster Deluxe Hand Vac

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is a very handy tool to have in your home. It will pick up just about anything and has very good suction. It loses a star for 3 reasons. It's too loud (it's actually louder than my upright vacuum). It's exhaust is too strong - to have good suction it must have good exhaust so expect for papers and other light weight items to be blown askew. And it has to be the biggest dustbuster made so it may be a bit difficult to hide. The pro's definitely outweigh the con's as it will clean well and it's batteries last pretty long.

Black & Decker is still using nickel-cadmium (NiCD) batteries, years after the much better nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries have become common. If you buy a Dustbuster, you'll be buying a new battery pack in less than a year. Black & Decker are so darn greedy that they do not even use a constant-current charger for the NiCD batteries (which this battery chemistry requires). They save 40 cents on the charger this way, and get to sell a LOT more batteries. Perhaps worst of all, NiCD battery packs in the landfill are quite toxic to the ground water. Buy a Makita vacuum instead - or at least, make sure the portable vacuum you DO buy has nontoxic batteries and a decent charger.

I purchased this for work and it definately rocks. My office is often closed when the cleaning people come, so after a while, I am left to deal with the mountains of paper clips and paper scraps. And let me tell you, this sucks them right up.

I have a lesser model at home that I bought on sale, and after using this one, I would definately spring the cost out of my own pocket. It is very powerful!

The cost is somewhat steep. But if you use it all the time at home like I do, it is worth it. Which is why I am paying (yes, out of my own pocket) to get one for my home.

Starts out strong, but the 'memory' that develops in the NiCad batteries renders the unit useless in a very short time. This is the third B&D I've owned over the last few years, and it will be the last unless they go to a new battery type (NiMH for example). I find it completely senseless to replace the entire vacuum every time the batteries wear out. Great for B&D profits, bad for B&D users.

This is a great unit for the first few months. It does in fact seem to be one of the more powerful units out there. But I've owned several of these and have noticed that the rechargeable batteries begin to lose their power after you've owned it for awhile. The vacuum starts out at full power but this only last for about 10 seconds, then the motor quickly winds down to almost nothing. This is too bad because it is a great machine otherwise. I would recommend against buying a B & D.

Worked fine but battery life was terrible. I have searched high and low including the online store on the Black and Decker web site and I can't find replacement batteries anywhere. This is planned obsolescence at it's worst. Do they really expect me to purchase a whole new dustbuster just because the batteries on thbis one wear out. This is inexcusable. I'll never buy another Black and Decker product again!

I can not add anything new, but to recap: replacements filters are impossible to get, battery life is short, batteries not powerfull enough for more than 5 minutes at a time (when they were new), and batteries can not be replaced unless you have a degree in appliance engineering. Just buy something else, anything else, I hope this is as bad as they get.

I manage a retail store. I wanted to rate this product with 5 stars. I rated it with 1 star. Reason why I wanted to rate it a 5 is because of the many uses it has. It is very handy for our big display windows and the smaller areas where you can't get a vacuum in. Very portable and great attachments. The main reason it got 1 star is the fact I have to throw away a perfectly good DustBuster because I can't replace the batteries. The batteries don't seem to hold there charge after a year of use. We do wear the battery completely out and recharge it once in a while. This helps any rechargable batteries life extension. I am not going to buy another Black & Decker, or any other DustBuster that I can't replace the batteries in. It's a waste of money and adds to the useless waste in the world. Until I find something else, I will use the plug-in vacuum we have to replace once every 4 to 5 years. Less waste and cheaper.

This is the second Black and Decker item i've owned and it will be the last. A rechargable lantern refused to work after two months, and this Dustbuster won't take a charge anymore. It's not the batteries because sometimes it charges, but mostly it runs for a minute and dies. Poor quality!!!

I bought this thing two years ago and it has NEVER held a charge. I've looked all over for replacement batteries and am unable to find any.