Customer Reviews

Hoover S1156 Sidewinder Hand Vac, Metallic Gold

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After dissatisfaction with several Dirt Devil models, I found the Hoover Sidewinder to be what I was looking for. Simple, bagless, and the brush is belt-driven off the motor so it keeps turning even when picking up moderately heavy debris. I keep it near the cat's area for sweeping up excess litter and dry catfood chunks. This quickly brought the Dirt Devils' vacuum-driven brushes to a halt but not the Sidewinder, and the Sidewinder was less expensive.

We bought our vacuum cleaner 2 and a half months ago to vacuum out dinning room carpet, which we do once a week. Last week the rubber belt broke. This was after around 10 brief uses!!!

I went on the Hoover site, and the belt would cost $4, plus $6 dollars shipping....Well it turns out I've replaced it with one of those Livestrong yellow wristbands (now you can even find those types of wristbands of any color selling on the streets by $1) and the vacuum works perfectly!

What does that tell us about the cost of their technical support and durability of their parts? I leave it to you to conclude on that.

The Hoover sidewinder I purchased was used for the carpeted steps in my home. On the first use, the rotating brush stopped working and the machine began to smoke. When I called Hoover unsatisfied, they refused to take the machine back and told me to go get it serviced. I did this, and on the second use I had the same problem. The suction was great, but the brush kept getting stuck. I had to manually get it rotating after vaccuming each step. I once again was told to get it serviced....the service man said that the belt was stretched out. I was shocked that after 2 uses it needed a new belt.

I am so unhappy with this product and with customer service of Hoover. Obviously the machine is defective, and yet they won't refund my money or exchange the product.

If you have pet hair on your furniture, this is the hand vac for you. The beater brush feature is indispensible for removing stubborn cat or dog hair from cushions while it "beats" the dust out for the vacuum to suck up. It has a nice long cord and the power head can swivel sideways to reach difficult places. Be careful about getting your fingers caught in the spinning brush when turning the head and locking it into place, however.

During the second use we smelled the burning rubber. The rubber band in the nozzle moved aside and blocked the rotating brush. Not a problem, we adjusted it. But it keeps moving back and blocking the brush every 20-30 seconds! Extremely annoying.

I got this for getting cat hair off my furniture. It worked great for anout a minute. Even after pulling the hair from the brush and under the belt it failed to work. I even replaced the belt with another one and even tried one of those wristbands someone recommended. No good. If you're buying this to use on cat hair forget it.

With 4 cats and carpeted stairs, I've owned a number of handheld vacs over the years. The Hoover Sidewinder rocks! It picks up pet hair better than my upright vacuum. It's lightweight, reasonably quiet, and I love the easy-to-clean dust cup. The swivel head is great for cleaning tight corners and upholstery. This vac is SO much better than the (supposedly) comparable Dirt Devil that I owned before it, and it's $10 cheaper!

My 30 year old Hoover died, found this updated replacement.

Swivel head is very nice. Hope it lasts as long at my first.

This is a good machine for stuffed furniture, stairs, cars, boats, etc.

This is the greatest little hand-vac I have ever owned. I have a dog and two cats, and bought this to vaccuum my two staircases. It picks up all of the pet hair and the dirt. It is very powerful, I would highly recommend! It really sucks! :)

This is an excellent little vaccuum. I have had two of them. Only drawback is finding replacement parts.