Customer Reviews

Euro-Pro NV30 NV30 Vacuum Cleaner

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I bought the Infiniti at Costco, having heard nothing about it before I bought it. When I got it home, I read several reviews, and was so frightened I probably would have brought it back immediately if Costco wasn't already closed. But I tried it anyway.

First, I read the manual. Most of the problems others have mentioned are described in the manual, along with their cures. The handle must click into place or it will come out, for instance. To lock the unit in the upright position, push it all the way forward until you hear a click. To keep the unit from tipping over when you use the hose attachments, clamp the hose into the lower bracket, as the manual says. I have done all of these, and have not had the problems others mention. When all else fails, read the instructions.

When I first started the vacuum, I ran over a dirty spot in the carpet, and the dust and crumbs stayed where they were. I thought "Curses, it does lack power, as others have said!" (Yes, I talk like a pirate at times--blame Jery Bruckheimer!). I turned the unit off and, as the manual had said, I checked the height adjuster for the carpet. I had misunderstood the machine's symbols, and set it on highest instead of lowest. I reversed this setting. Vrooom, up came the crumbs. The thing picked up everything--crumbs, cat hair, a crusty spot on the carpet that I thought I was going to have to treat--my old vacuum had not worked on it. I had to empty the dust cup twice before I finished my living/dining room, because the vacuum was picking up cat hair my old vacuum had missed. This unit does NOT lack power.

Now, the bad stuff. The dust cup fills quickly, and is a bit awkward to clean. It empties from the bottom with the click of a lever, but in real life, I had to take the cup apart and remove the mesh filter to get all the dust out. That might be because of the cat hair in my apartment.

In addition to the dust cup, there is the "Upper Cyclonic Chamber," which has to be cleaned after every few uses, at least. It attaches to the top of the dust cup, and has twenty-four little chambers--this is supposed to eliminate the power drop other vacuums get when they begin to fill. To clean, you twist it off the top of the dust cup, release the little door on the chamber and shake out the dirt. This takes two hands, because the chamber is awkwardly shaped. Then you have to fill the chamber with water through a little drain hole and shake it clean. Not too difficult, but not as smooth as it sounds. Apparently, if this is not done after every couple of vacuums the machine could begin to lose effectiveness. Once rinsed, the unit has to dry overnight before it is ready to use again, the instructions say. So, don't wash until you are done. I made this mistake--I washed it before I vacuumed my couch, and had to wait until the next day.

There are also two filters to clean, in the bottom of the unit, but these only need occasional cleaning. The HEPA filter is washable and reusable.

Last, the construction. It seems somewhat sturdy, but not really solid. The handle is also the hose wand, and slides down into a shaft. There is some play in the handle, which may wear the little ball-clasps out over time, so mine might develop the handle issue others have mentioned.

Anyway, that covers it. Overall, I like the vacuum, and hope it holds up. It gets my carpet noticably cleaner than my old vacuum, and the room smells better, too. The headlight is useful. The unit is quieter than average, and only frightened one of my cats. Read the manual to avoid some of the problems others have mentioned.

I have to admit, I was all set to buy a Dyson. Then I saw that this "knock-off" of a Dyson was coming out and I was intrigued. After all, this vacuum is less than half the price, could it really do as good of a job? The answer is a resounding YES!!

This vacuum was easy to assemble. Basically you just snap a few pieces together and you are set to go. The suction power is amazing! The vacuum was also very effective at picking up TONS of pet hair. Emptying this vacuum is also a breeze. Basically, you hold the canister over the garbage, press a button and the bottom of the canister drop down and all the dirt dumps out. Much easier than my bagless Hoover whereby I had to bang the filter against the side of the garbage can resulting in a cloud of dust every time I had to empty out the canister.

The only thing that some people might find to be a negative with this vacuum is that you do have to clean the vacuum regularly in order for the vacuum to maintain its suction. This would be true of any bagless vacuum cleaner though. If you don't like to clean your vacuum, stick with a bagged version. I prefer cleaning the vacuum though, as opposed to having to fork out $30 on a filter every few months as I had to with my Hoover.

All in all, this is an excellent machine for the money. I admit, I was sceptical when I received this and even saved the box so that I could return it and get a Dyson if I was unhappy. Luckily, that won't be necessary AND I get to keep the $200 that I saved in my pocket! Bottom line, if you are considering getting a Dyson, give this vacuum a try, you won't be disappointed.

I purchased this vac about a month ago, and so far it has performed as advertised. I, too, was considering the twice as expensive Dyson, but upon comparing features, I thought I would give the Infinity a try. A nice feature which the Dyson does not have is the headlight. It's really bright and useful in a shaded room. Cleaning is pretty easy, although claims of no filters to clog are a bit exaggerated. The cylindrical screen in the center of the filter compartment gets pretty dirty and does need cleaning regularly to maintain suction. Noise level is on par with the Dyson, and is fairly quiet considering the suction. I did notice that the plastic parts seem not as quality as the Dyson, but for half the price you know they had to economize somewhere. One last thing, the pull out handle and hose assembly is shorter than expected. If you need a longer reach hose, I'd recommend the red model, NV31. All in all, I'm pleased with this purchase.

Right now, you're thinking about this vacuum as a cheeper replacement for a Dyson. You're thinking that you want a bagless, but are balking at the $400+ for a good one, and you hope this machine will do...

Don't.

No, really, don't do it.

If you do, you wil find yourself spending half as much time unclogging as you do vacuuming. You will have a stretched-out piece of wire hanger that you keep next to the vacuum... all because some bonehead engineer decided to make the two tightest bends of hose impossible to separate. You will become expert at guaging the raising whine of a clogging pipe, hoping that you catch in in the first 45 seconds, before the motor overheat trips, and you need to let the machine cool, unplugged, for at least a half hour.

When you've run out of wire hangers, you'll find yourself cursing (even if you usually don't), as you cut up pieces of electric fencing, twisting the pieces together with your MacGuyvver-like ingenuity to create your wire hose ram.

Or maybe not -- maybe by then you'll have thrown the damn thing out a window, and repeatedly run it over with your mini-van.

So don't do it.

And if you do, remember that I realy did try to warn you, when the police come to take you mini-van keys.

We had a Kenmore bagless it did a decent job but the filters clogg after one use so you are continuously cleaning the filter. The kenmore would also old odor in the filter. The Infinity has great suction power and does not have a filter to get clogged. Very easy to emtpy and does not hold on to any odor. We shopped the Infinity vs. the Dyson and decided for the price difference to get the Infinity. No regrets.

I've had the Infinity Upright Vac for about a year now. Here's what I have found:

1. It handles like a nightmare. It's cumbersome and doesn't roll or turn all that well. It's actually difficult to push around.

2. The belt is constantly slipping off or breaking. Every week I'm back on the ground trying to fix the belt so I can vacuum, and it's been this way from the beginning.

3. It's a pain to clean. You have to take it all apart and clean each part individually...and it says you should do it each time you vacuum. Then, you have to lay it all out to dry for at least 24 hours before you can snap it back together.

4. For hard floors: the lowest setting scratched my floors up, and the next to lowest setting didn't pick up any dirt.

5. It's heavy and large. Don't even try lugging it up and down stairs, and if you want this vacuum, make sure you have a big closet to keep it in.

I really kind of hate this vacuum, but I just haven't felt like dishing out MORE money to replace it. However, I'm about to go ahead and get it over with. If I have to keep vacuuming with this sucker I'll go insane. There are only so many belts I can change.

*** UPDATE 1/6/2009 ***

DO NOT BUY THIS VACUUM!!

I have had this vacuum for a little under 2 years now. It started breaking little pieces the day I bought it. Its very poorly made and today started SPARKING!! Sparks started shooting from the point where the cord meets the base. It almost ruined Christmas. This thing could have burned my house down if I had not reacted quickly.

Some of the other things that broke weeks after I bought it are: The dust cup, the handle does NOT stay still. The cord holder, the hose holder, the attachment holder. I called the company and they said the warranty only covers the motor. I wonder if it covers electrocution??

DO NOT BUY this vacuum!!

The original review was written in May 2007:

This vacuum has amazing suction - it picked up stuff my old hoover never even knew was there!! The "filters" do get clogged a little more often than I would like, but thats okay because that just means its picking up more junk! I really like the ability to wash the pieces and basically start over with a fresh new vacuum. Its truly amazing to see the dirt cyclone around in the dust cup like a tornado.

Now for the bad parts!!

This vacuum was made with some really cheap plastic in my opinion. Just days after using it, little pieces of plastic started breaking off of the dust cup. It didnt really harm the functionality of the vacuum until the trap door of the dust cup broke at the plastic hinges. This made it hard to create a seal and suck anything up. It just seems like the plastic on this unit isnt made for durability.

Beware of warranty!!!

So, I called the company about the broken dust cup after less than 60 days of use to get it replaced. In my opinion, the amount of plastic that has fallen off of this unit is a manufacture defect, wouldnt you agree?? When I called to have the dust cup replaced, the CSR told me that it would cost $39.99 plus shipping. (Online its only $15!) I then told her that I just bought the unit and it came with a 2 year warranty.

She said THE WARRANTY ONLY COVERS THE MOTOR!!!

I was pretty mad, and I let her know that. She finally came up with "since you are such a loyal customer we will send you the replacement part for free." That was 2 months ago. I just got a post card in the mail that says something to the effect of "Due to the overwhelming response of the item you requested, it will take another 3-4 weeks to ship." I read between the lines and came up with "due to the fact that our product is junk and several hundred people have ordered the same part that broke on your vacuum, its going to take us awhile." We will see...


Pros:
- Great suction
- Easy to clean
- No filters or bags to replace

Cons:
- Cheap, brittle, fragile, very breakable plastic
- Warranty only covers the motor

Summary:
- If you only vacuum once a year, you will get several years out of this vacuum. If you vacuum daily, you might get a couple of weeks.

Like any other mechanical device that I've ever seen reviewed on the internet, there are those who like it, and those who hate it. Usually, the truth is somewhere in between. I am a technical and mechanically inclined person by nature and by trade, and I've found that with a little bit of knowledge, patience, common sense, and...aghast!...time spent reading the operator's manual...99% of the problems with machines that other people report are non-issues.

I've owned the Infinity vacuum for a little over 2 years. I replaced an older Panasonic upright that used bags, because replacement bags were getting too expensive. We have 2 cats in the house, so I was vacuuming once a week and filling up a bag about every 3 weeks. I looked at the Dyson, but $599 for a machine that is 98% plastic seemed downright silly to me. Even with R&D costs factored in, that is a LOT of green for a plastic machine. So, I was happy to find the Infinity at $199.

In the time that I've had it, I have NEVER had to replace a belt. I have never even had to try to find the belt. I clean the dust canister every other time that I vacuum. Yes, this is more trouble than simply switching out a bag. In my case, I pop out the dust canister, take it out into my garage, pop open the bottom and shake out the dirt, then remove the screen cylinder and clean it. I use a small air compressor with a nozzle on it to blow out the dust from all of these pieces, and clean the cyclonic chamber. It takes about 10 minutes out of my life...big deal. About the same time that I'd use to smoke a cigarette to help myself get sick with cancer, or 1/20th the time to drink enough beer to get obnoxiously drunk.

The only "problem" that I've had with this vacuum was that the cam for the height adjustment wasn't making any change in the actual height after the first 2 clicks, so I checked it and found that it was being obstructed by the bottom of the vac. I removed it and trimmed a little excess material off of it, and now I have the complete range of adjustment from top to bottom. I leave it on the next to last lowest setting, and it sucks things from my carpet that I didn't even know existed.

Someone mentioned that it clogged and overheated. If one keeps the canister and dust screen clean, this won't happen. There is a light on the right side of the machine that flashes orange when the airflow is reduced by too much dirt...if this is flashing, stop and clean the freaking machine. I also remove and rinse out the HEPA filters about every 6 months.

My wand has never come out when I've inserted it until it clicks. This has just been a great vacuum for 1/3 the price of a Dyson. Learn how to use and maintain it correctly, and one will have little to whine about.

I would give it zero star if I could. I have never wrote an review for any product in my life, but after today's terrible vacuum experience, I decided that I should do something to prevent anyone else from buying this vacuum cleaner.

First, it is super hard to clean, although they tell you on the manual how easy it is to clean it up, it actually causes more mass while cleaning and you ended up inhales tones of micro dust into your lungs. Second, its suction really sucks. It can't even pick up a single hair on bare floor when I switched it to lower floor mode. Third, it spits the dirt back to the floor when I was trying to lift it and moved it back to the carpet. Fourth, when you use the wand to clean the hard-to-reach corners, the bottom still keeps sucking on the floor, as a result of divided power, both ends lost suction. Fifth, approximately in two out of the five times I used it, after worked it out for about 10 to 15 minutes, it gets overheated or for whatever reason it just simply stopped working. The first time it happened which happened to be the first time I used it, I thought it was dead but I lost my receipt and was unable to return it and I stuck with this lemon ever since. It is an expensive machine and I don't have money to buy another one now, but I am afraid one day I might push it out of my window.

This vaccuum cleaner was 300. from can tire where i purchased it. it is a worthless, heavy piece of garbage that went through 8 belts in 1 week, it was not hard used. I returned the first one, can tire replaced it immediately, second one, same thing. After 1 month, twice a week vaccums it just stopped working. Don't waste your money, this is the most irritating machine ever, and it wouldn't be a good deal if it were free. I have never reviewed a product before, but this one is so bad, i thought i would try to spare others my grief.