'Caveat emptor' should be a caution against not just unscrupulous sellers, but misguided buyers as well, a self-warning of sorts. To that end, I read all ~1600 reviews of the Eureka, paying special heed to the three percent or so that awarded it one star. Call this a meta review. My conclusion after a complex and detailed statistical and psychological analysis of the complaints is that the hand-held vacuum was being misused, abused in some cases. After a few months of use, I agree with all the positives: Eureka is powerful & easy to use, the brush enhances cleaning power, the canister is a snap to empty, and the filter creates a nice, tight seal. As for the complaints...
"Vacuum stopped working after X uses/N years." That was the predominant complaint, sparks and smoke and vacuum broke. Many of the reviewers who sent their Eurekas to the Great Vacuum too soon seemed to be using them as replacements for full-sized vacuum cleaners: three flights of stairs, several area rugs, hotel lobbies, etc. I planned to use mine to clean up the occasional kitchen spill and kitty-litter dusting--no sucking marathons, just little sprints here and there. Could there have been honestly defective units among these? Sure! I mean, the FDA allows for up to 60 insect fragments per 3.5 oz of chocolate, so a defect in three out of every 1000 Eurekas is nothing to get all huffy and litigious about.
"Vacuum is too heavy." Again, an easy-to-dismiss complaint for me. Step 1: read product specs and ascertain that product weighs 7 pounds. Step 2: lift a bag of potatoes to get a feel for what 7 pounds is like. Step 3: conclude that I can hold seven pounds for the thirty seconds or so it will take me to clean up the flour and popcorn that have peppered the kitchen floor. Step 4: be pleasantly surprised that the 7 pounds referred to the shipping weight, and that the Eureka sans box weighs (according to my
bathroom scale) a featherlight 5.4 pounds. Step 5: determine that if the Eureka were a bar of chocolate, then the FDA would be OK if it contained up to 1500 insect fragments.
"Vacuum blows dust everywhere." This was perhaps the most serious of the warnings that I read. After all, vacuums need to exhaust all that air somewhere, and I have noticed this issue with some uprights, especially on hardwood & tile floors. I took solace in the overwhelmingly positive reviews, especially those that addressed the suck-and-blow issues. In particular, one reviewer noted that the vacuuming should be done by pushing the Eureka away from you and not towards you since the exhaust was stronger under the Eureka's belly. That's how I vacuum anyway--plus, I identified, since the exhaust is stronger under my belly as well--so I took a chance. So far, there has been no exhaust problem, no blowing stuff around.
"Power cord is hard to store." As I see it, there are four options for power cord management. Option one: get a cordless handheld vacuum, put up with weaker suction, leave unit constantly charging and sucking power, replace batteries every couple of years once they reach the end of their recharge cycle. Option two: get a short-corded handheld vacuum and plan to spill beans only near electrical outlets. Option three: get one of those internal-storage crank widgets that are a pain to operate or else spring-loaded with an angry and temperamental spring. Option four: to store, wrap the long cord around the base in the time that it takes you to say wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap.
"Hose suction is weak." Nope, it's strong. The same motor powers both the hose and the main unit. And the hose is ridiculously easy to use, requiring none of the attach/detach acrobatics of most vacuums.
"Vacuum requires screwdriver to turn on." This must have been written by Edward's younger brother, Johnny Screwdriverhands.
"Vacuum doesn't work in Australia." Well that settles it then: I'm not moving to Australia.