Customer Reviews

Dirt Devil UD40235 Ultra Swivel Glide Bagless Upright

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a very basic vacuum that does one thing well: clean. The brushes are so powerful that the movement forward is effortless, while the movement backward (toward you) drags, a bit. This DD is light and easily carried up/down stairs. It is just as strong as the wide range of vacuums by Eureka, Hoover, etc that fall in the $125 range. But this DD is very basic. It would work well as a primary vacuum or a secondary one that is used only on one floor or in a summer home. In either case, a good vacuum at a great price.

I love love love this vacuum. never knew how much dirt was in my carpet until I used it. This thing is very powerful. I have 2 cats and it just pulls the cat hair to it. I've had other dirt devils and none have worked as well on hard wood floors as this one which is odd since this is the least expensive of all of the dirt devils I've owned. The only thing I don't like about this vacuum is you have to hook and unhook the hose and the hose is way too short even with the extender. If you want an inexpensive vacuum with very good pick up power even on hard wood floors, this is the one.

I have a low-pile shag carpet, and was really surprised (from reading other reviews) that this vacuum was hard to manuever. It did a good job cleaning, but just vacuuming my one bedroom apartment would leave me exhausted and sweaty! It likes one direction on the carpet, but not the other direction. Easy to clean, but not without getting dusty yourself. I've now purchased the Shark Navigator, fingers crossed, and will give this to my daughter when she gets her own place -- she's young enough to do the workout needed ;-) I'm a young 51, but really, vacuuming doesn't need to be this much work. Also, don't like that I have to attach the hose every time I want to use it.

I've been vacuuming my apartment for the last couple years with a small green quick-vac type vacuum that I grabbed at Target on a college student's budget (not a Dirt Devil, some other well-known brand that I can't recall right now). That one was bagless and the cup always filled with crap, so I figured my carpets were getting clean. However, it seemed to have stopped picking up anything bigger than dust, and its brush always clogged with long hair (3 girls, 1 cat, 1 apartment, lots of hair on the floor). My parents recently were able to get this Dirt Devil for free for one reason or another, and lucky me, they didn't need it and shipped it to my house.

It is not difficult to put together (I'm an IKEA furniture whiz, might be harder for some), but a bit of a pain, and little bits of styrofoam get everywhere in the unpacking process. My few complaints are: the plastic handle piece is rather cheaply made, and doesn't look 100% to fit the bottom part, but this is just a cosmetic issue; The plastic hose pops out of its clip holder rather easily, which you have to stop and fix mid-vacuum; The location of the on/off switch isn't the most convenient (vacuum must be fully upright to turn on/off) but the switch is easily foot-operated.

But let me tell you - I vacuumed my large bedroom and walk-in closet the first time using it this week, and the amount of crap it picked up made me realize (with disgust) how filthy my carpets had been before! This thing has power. Almost half the dirt reservoir cup was full of my hair, cat fur, and dirty dust. EW!! Didn't know that had all been in my carpet, and I'm so glad it's not anymore. Also, my long hair on the carpet did NOT clog the brush, and as another reviewer wrote, the vacuum leaves very pleasing lines on the carpet, so it looks newly vacuumed =) The vacuum is not too loud (for a vacuum), not excessively difficult to push, and is aptly named as it swivels and glides nicely. I won't mind vacuuming regularly with this one.

Word of advice: upon assembly, be sure to run your cord, from where it attaches to the vacuum, up to the cord clip near the top of the handle, and clip it there before wrapping the rest of the cord around the cord keeper hooks. This way, the cord isn't tangling in the wheels while you vacuum and doesn't continuously knock off the hose attachments.

We were shopping for a vacuum that all of us would use (three guys in a 3bd apartment), and this one caught my eye because of the swivel casters. They work exactly as advertised; this thing handles better than every other vacuum I've used (at my folks, at other apartments, etc) . The swivel casters make it really easy to change direction, and the motor is quite powerful. It's not as fancy, quiet, or feature-filled as a high-end Dyson or Hoover, but it's extremely handy if you just need a powerful vacuum that can handle turns (especially if you live in a one-floor unit/house).

We needed a lighter weight home vacuum for hard wood floors and area rugs. The old "Filter Queen" is a tank. We also wanted an upright vacuum for our RV. With knowledge of the reputation of "Dirt Devil" and "Royal" we decided to try this model.
Results . . .
We love it. It was a breeze to assemble (four screws only). It is light and easy to store with all attachments included. Best of all it is incredibly manueverable. With its rear mounted casters it really does swivel and glide as its name implys. Instead of having to move the beater bar side-to-side to change direction this one rotates on the beater bar and changes direction effortlessly. Although the sound of the motor is rather loud the resulting cleaning power is awesome.

This vacuum is very easy to use. Removing and dumping the is easy with the handle device.

I've only had it a couple months but it seems to do a great job cleaning with a few quirks.

*In order to use the hose, you have to disconnect/reconnect hoses. Not a problem suction-wise, just a pain when I want to pick up along the base-boards quick.
*The vacuum base seems to be fairly high off the ground even on the hard wood/low pile setting.
*I don't think it's very hard/heavy to push around, definitely worked up a sweat but that probably had to do with moving all the furniture as well.
*Power switch is oddly located.
*Hose/attachments don't seem to fit each other securely.

I'm sure there are better models out there, but for the money this is a great product so far.

*EDIT*
Aug. 2011
Vacuum still works well, but my needs have changed. Found out after I got the puppy that this vacuum does not work well with carpet/pet hair. So I'll be passing it along to my brother and finding one that suits my needs.

I really like this vacuum. Other reviewers are right. It isn't that easy to push and the lock to keep it upright is weak. I don't have a big place, so I often just use the hose with carpet attachment to do my rugs. It has great suction and I have reused the same filter for a long time. Probably should change it!! At one point a few months ago I thought the vacuum had died. I was disappointed. I'm glad I spent some time on it. After lots of effort and experimenting, with the use of a bent coat hanger, I unclogged the tube that runs up the back of the vacuum. I had a coupon when I bought this, so the fact it only cost about 30 dollars for me may add to my satisfaction. Still, I think this is a good vacuum. Great power and great to see all the dirt it sucks up. Very rewarding. Hope it lasts another year at least!

Out of the box it was an easy fast assembly. All you need is a screw driver for the 4 screws.
For the money it does a great job on both wood, tile, and carpet floors.
The swivel wheels makes handling a breeze.