Customer Reviews

Dirt Devil M08245X Power Reach Hand Vac

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(53)

 

 

The good:

The suction is good.
The long power cord is good.
The bagless part is good.
The weight of the unit is good.

The bad:

The hose doesn't really stretch more than a few inches. So when using the wand attachment you don't have a lot of "hose" to work with. So that's bad. Also, the unit "vents" a LOT of air out the side. When I clean my hard-wood staircase this winds up blowing more cathair and dust off the stairs than the wand sucks up. This would probably not be a problem on carpet, except for ...

The UGLY:

The revolving brush-head is NOT motorized. Instead, it spins like a "pinwheel" from the power of the vacuum. The vacuum, while good, is simply NOT powerful enough to spin the brush and beater-bar while held against a sofa-cushion, or carpet, or much of anything really. The revolving brush attachment is *completely* worthless.

If all you need is a powerfull hand-held, wand-sucky, bagless, canister with a long cord, this is probably your vacuum.

If you are trying to suck pet hair off a couch, or clean carpeted stairs you should look at another unit.

I'm really sorry I purchased this vacuum. Yes, it has a beater bar, but the lightest pressure (such as gravity) will keep the bar from spinning. Whatever dirt it picks up often falls back out of the vacuum head/attachment head, so you do twice the vacuuming for the same effect. This is a very poor product and isn't worth any amount of money. My 10 year old Dirt Devil with the worn motor and clumsy attachments does a better job.

One positive thing - the box looks nice.

If there were a rating lower than 1 star, I would have used it, because this vacuum doesn't even deserve 1 star. In a moment of madness, I recently gave my old Dirt Devil to my daughter and bought myself the so-called "new and improved" model as a replacement. Big mistake. My old Dirt Devil was a workhorse and was used to spot clean the upholstery and floors in our RV, truck and car, and home, along with cleaning lots of other things such as draperies, pet beds, etc. I used it daily for 15 years and never, ever had a problem with it. This new bagless Dirt Devil has never worked right. Immediately, the revolving brush quit revolving. I returned the vacuum for a new one; the revolving brush never did revolve on it, even right out of the box. The vacuum loses suction within a minute or two because of the useless filter system. The Dirt Devil company won't take the unit back, and apparently they can't fix the brush problem, either, based on what I heard from appliance repair centers I contacted for service. I've already told my daughter that I want my old Dirt Devil back, but she loves it so much that I may have to bribe her to get it out of her hands. (I told her I'd give her my new one, but she's witnessed the problems I've had and the ineffectiveness of the model, and she said "No deal.") Save your money--this is a totally useless Dirt Devil model. The brush doesn't turn and there's no suction to do your cleaning. If you want to throw away your money, just throw it my way instead of wasting it on this thing.

At first I thought it was a fluke that the first one I bought broke the first time I used it. After about 10 seconds of use and a complete lock up, I opened it up and found that one of the plastic wheels that hold the belt had slit in two. After calling the number on the machine to talk to someone about parts and found out that I would have to drive to the next town to have someone merely look at it, I took it back and exchanged for another one. Well, this one is still in one piece, but I would not call it power. The "Powerful revolving brush" Slows down very significatly when it comes in contact with furniture and I didn't even bother to try it on carpet. And this is just when laying the machine roller down on the sofa with no added pressure from my hand. I had owned the dirt devil classic hand vac for years and found it very powerful and very useful. I multiple cats and multiple dogs so hair is always a problem. I thought replaceing the classic vac that is 5+ years old would be an improvement but after this... I would rather have the old one. I wouldn't recommend this one. It is a good idea of the detachable head, but it doesn't make up for the lack of power.

The old Dirt Devils that I used to own were awesome - they would last forever even when taking lots of abuse. So I bought this updated one with high hopes. What a mistake! The biggest problem is that the agitator brush is air-powered, rather than electric or belt powered. Consequently, the brush stops turning whenever it hits anything soft (high carpet, plush upholstery) and is even less likely to turn if the filter is clogged up from cleaning. Time to find a new hand-vac manufacturer...

I replaced an old Dirt Devil classic with this one. It is truly a horrible vaccuum. The "power" head is powered only by the suction from the nozzle, there is no motor powering the brushes. This means that with the least bit of resistance (like carpet), the brushes stop turning. Also, if the bin is the least bit full, there is enough of a loss in suction that it makes this problem even worse. I actually threw this vaccuum away and bought a the newly released Dirt Devil "classic" (they must have realized that they had a good thing and didn't need to get fancy). I hope I'm not burned by the Dirt Devil brand twice.....

i bought this without looking at the reviews. i won't say that buying it was a big mistake but it could definately use some improvement. i really liked the detachable head that made it like a mini canister vac. the only problem i really had with it was that the revolving brush quit if i didn't support the entire weight of the vacuum or if i tried to move it forward over the carpet instead of back. at first i assumed that the belt had stretched.... no big deal i was using it on a plush carpet with a high pile that was new i was expecting to stretch a few belts before every thing settled down. the problem was that i didn't read any online reviews and it doesn't say anywhere on the box that the belt is supposed to be permanent. i was really dissapointed to find out that i couldn't get a replacement belt, because i really liked it. the hose and attachment had a lot of suction. if my regular vacuum attachments had sucked that much i wouldn't have had to buy a hand vac. i ended up taking it back to the store and buying a dirt devil ultra. which has a stronger brush roll, is half the price, and has replacement bags and belts that are very inexpensive and easy to find. the only problem is that the hose and attachments are a little lacking in suction.i bought the ultra, 3 replacement bags and 6 replacement belts for $10 less than what i had paid for the power reach.

I admit that I only bought this item for house cleaning but I have had no problems with it. I had a lady bugs all over my cottage and I brought it there and it sucked them all up without difficulty. The same can be said of dust, spider webs, dirt, and just about everything else on the floor. I thought it a good, but I admit to having no industrial purposes for it.

This item works pretty well, but unlike other small, corded Dirt Devil vacuums, this one's power brush is operated by air instead of a belt causing it to be much less effective.

I bought the Dirt Devil Power Reach because it was advertised as having such versatile features along with a 6 amp motor. It was the worst vac I ever used! I purchased it specifically for vacuuming stairs and my car. The suction on the tools and hose attachments was great when I used it in my car. It worked well in all the crevices where dirt hides. However, when I switched to the revolving brush to clean the floor mats, it was useless. I guess I thought the revolving brush should actually revolve when in contact with carpet, but this isn't the case. Next I tried it on my carpeted stairs with the same disappointing results. The revolving brush stopped turning once it touched the carpet. The removable head is an interesting idea, however, the hose was too short to make this feature effective. I ended up dragging the whole unit around. I don't mind a bagless vacuum, but the dirt cup on this unit was clumsy to get on and off without spilling and the filter did not shake off easily. Needless to say, I returned it after one use.