Customer Reviews

Hoover S3341 Constellation Bagged Canister Vacuum Cleaner

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you're familiar with "air hockey," you can imagine how the Constellation moves. It glides on a cushion of air, and therefore moves around very easily. However, this wonderful feature has a drawback you have to get used to; if you set the Constellation down in a pile of dust, the dust in the immediate area gets blown around. The way to avoid this is to vacuum from a clean area, toward a dusty area, always keeping the vacuum behind you, in a clean area. This may sound like a pain, but I find it easy to do, and the ease with which the Constellation moves makes up for having to adopt a new cleaning method.

In 1970 I was given a 1950's vintage Constellation that had been in continuous use. I used it happily until 2004, when it finally broke down. That makes about 50 years of service. In all those years, the only maintenance was a new cord.

When I started shopping for a replacement, I was sadly disappointed. I looked at everything on the market, and found shoddy materials and hard-to-use products. I finally settled on an expensive Ghibli designed for industrial use. It has a long cord, large bags, good suction, and is sturdy. But it doesn't follow me around like the Constellation did.

So, when I saw that Hoover was once again making the Constellation, I bought myself a brand new one. I was afraid Hoover might have made negative improvements, but most features match the original, and all materials are sturdy. The one disappointment is the heaviness of the tube (wand). Luckily I had saved the attachments from my old Constellation, and was able to use my old, light-weight alluminum wands. I have only wood and tile floors, with a few throw rugs, so when I vacuum, I use only the crevice tool. By doing this, I can instantly switch from floor to furniture to cob webs, without changing the attachment. Having the light-weight alluminum wands makes it much easier to lift the wand to ceilings, light fixtures, and picture frames.

The new Constellation follows me around with zero effort. Wherever I go, it is there behind me, so I finish vacuuming a lot faster. Other vacuums I have used are constantly getting caught on furniture, forcing me to lift or move them, or tug on them, often resulting in the vacuum tipping over.

The Constellation has a long cord, so you're able to vacuum a large area without plugging it in again. It also has a rubber rim around the middle, so if you bump it against a wall or furniture, there's usually no damage. The suction is powerful, so be careful around Legos and other small toys. There's an easy-to-reach adjustment that allows reduction of suction, making it easier to clean cloth surfaces. Noise is typical of other vacuums. You have the option of using HEPA bags (more expensive) or plain paper bags.

We have a Dyson for the carpets, but it's actually heavy and not easily used on stairs. The Constellation actually fulfills quite a niche. It's quiet, has very good power, well made components; and floats easily from Pergo/Wooden floors to carpet.

The Constellation is well made and is not like most cheap plastic models on sale in large box stores.

I highly recommend it!

We purchased the Constellation because we have always had reliable service from our Hoover appliances and wanted to try the Constellation's novel "floating" feature, but this did not make up for its heavy weight and awkward shape. It is especially difficult to rewind the long cord around the base for storage; a retractable cord is almost a necessity with this design. The machine does have good suction and the metal parts will probably last forever, but if the floating capacity ever gives out it will be like dragging around a canon ball. We had to return it. We finally settled on a Panasonic MC-3920 which is tiny and lightweight and does a good job on our hard-finish floors. For carpets we use a Eureka upright.

I am SO happy with my purchase. I have exclusively hardwood floors and this vacuum is a dream. The motor is much, much quieter than my just retired 10 year old Hoover, and it glides across the floor effortlessly - a gentle tug by the user and it glides (seems to float) in the direction you tugged. HEPA filtered bags! (I have allergies, hence no carpets). It is sturdy and well made, and though made of metal is much lighter than my previous plastic hoover. I think it will be easier to keep IT clean as well, my previous hoover had many crevices on the surface into which dust/dirt eventually settled that was impossible to remove. If you have all/mostly/lots of hard floors, you can't go wrong here.

Amended 8/27: I have discovered one frustrating feature to this vacuum. There is no easy way to wind the power cord for storage. It has a place where it belongs, at the base of the ball-shaped canister, but actually winding it is a real pain. I needed to detach the vacuum head, and somehow manage the tubing over my shoulder since I need two hands to wind (it's hard to explain!). I wrapped it around my neck (like a big snake in a tourist photo) and kept it there while clumsily winding. It's awkward, to say the least. That being said, I still love my vacuum.

This is a really well made vacuum. I remember having one as a kid and it's still made the same way. Metal parts, very simple to put together and take apart and unlike other models, comes standard with all of the attachements you need.

Because it exhausts through the bottom to create the floating feature, it can blow dust around if you drop into the middle of a pile of dust. The key is to start in one corner of the room and make your way across. Also, be gentle. The floating feature makes it very move very fast across the floor.

It doesn't have a motorized beater bar like an upright vacuum, so if you have very dirty or thick pile wall to wall carpet, it won't pick up deep down particles. I have hardwood floors with area rugs and it works great.

This is also a very quiet vacuum, so you won't go deaf from using it. The only drawback is the non-retractable cord. I don't mind winding it myself, but a retractable cord would be nice.

We bought the constellation and then returned it for a refund. We have all laminate flooring thoughout the house and at first were very satisfied with the strong suction of the vacuum. However, I soon grew tired of the thing slamming into furniture and even into ME. It floats almost too effortlessly! If you work too fast with it the canister sails quickly towards you or anything else in its path and WHAM. It does not leave marks on furniture, but it's rather a pain (literally) when it bumps into your ankles. Another thing I did not like was the fact that it will blow pet hair and dust bunnies into the air that are hiding under furniture. I keep a pretty clean house, but underneath things pet hair and dust collect in between vacuumings. When I begin vacuuming and get near a dresser or couch with the canister stuff from underneath these items starts blowing into the air. The third thing I did not like about it, and probably the thing that most annoyed me, was it has no retractable cord. There really is no easy or convenient way to store the cord once you're done vacuuming. We returned it for a refund and plan to buy something else.

I love the way the Constellation Vacuum Cleaner floats on air when you pull it around. It is so light that I almost enjoy vacuuming. I also like the adjustable wand that makes it more comfortable for both tall and short people to use. The only change I would like to see on the Constellation would be a retractable cord.

Excellent vacuum, simple design and good suction = winner! We've been going through vacuums at a rate of about one every 3 years. They always loose parts, bit by bit, and start smelling or need expensive repairs. We've had vacuums from $50 to $450. At $150 shipped, this one seemed worth a try, and we're glad we did! We have both carpet and wood floors, and it works equally well on both. The air powered beater bar works surprisingly well on our medium pile carpets, and it adjusts easily between floors. It is a bit on the smaller side (width), but I discovered that it makes vacuuming the stairs a breeze. So far, that is the biggest plus I've found: the hose is plenty long to reach up all the steps, and the width is just right, so I can clean each step in one single sweep, no sweat! The round steel ball design is fabulous, I hope we won't find a way to break this canister (no wheels to fall off!)... The simplicity of the (one and only) on/off switch is fabulous, the wrap-around cord is a bit bothersome, but hey, at least the retraction feature can't break. The telescoping wand is easy to use, fairly lightweight and all parts simply connect by sliding them on firmly, so no pins or grooves to break. The hovering feature of the canister makes up for any slight heaviness of the hose and wand. It is so easy to use, my 3-year-old helped vacuuming today without any problem! Carrying the entire vacuum is also a breeze, it's really not heavy or cumbersome. Also, the hepa bags are great, there is really no dust escaping, which makes for a really clean, odor free house. I last vacuumed on Friday, and I haven't had to dust at all! So far, this is our first week using this model, and we have high hopes that it will continue to serve its purpose as well as it has due to a simple, sturdy design and no-frills, well-designed features.

We were very excited to get our new Hoover s3341, through Amazon. It came about 2 days after we ordered it and we put it to use right away. I am not kidding when I say that it broke within 15 minutes.

The vaccuum apparantly sucked up something hard (perhaps a tack, or dime somewhere), which subsequently busted off a piece of the plastic rotater inside of the turbo nozzle.

My husband, an industrial designer, commented on the short-sightedness of making the attachment's most critical part out of plastic.

The turbo nozzle now makes a crazy high-pitched noise if turned on and the brush no longer rotates, thus making the turbo nozzle (the most essential piece of the vaccuum) useless.

I called Hoover to see if we could get a replacement, and after holding for 24 minutes found taht they are out of replacements for the turbo nozzle (coincidence??) and don't have any clue when they'll get more in stock.

Boo. I'd love to keep the little guy, because it is really fun to use and has great suction. But, it seems like a bad idea after it breaking upon first use.

Makes you kind of sad to read that the model designed in the 40s lasted for 50 years, and the model designed in 2002 couldn't even last 40 mintues. They REALLY don't make 'em like they used to!

Good luck.

Like others, we had one of these when I was a kid. It was fun to play with but miserable for vacuuming.

Its suction is not impressive--too much of that 12 amps go into keeping the thing aloft (and scattering dust).

Worse, the hovercraft action only works well on a perfectly flat (and preferably hard) floor. Too easily, the base gets hung up on any change of level--tile-to-carpet, wood-to-rug, its own cord--and, as often as not, the machine tips over. You either have to go back and free or right the thing, or--out of exasperation--drag it across the floor on its side. It isn't especially good about moving around furniture and gets hung up or tips over, which is especially annoying in small rooms.

There's a good reason this design never took off.