I bought this as my wife wanted to have a machine that has the power of the bagless, without the messy transfer into the garbage. We have had two bagless vacuums, and overall they have turned out to be very nice machines, however, we have dogs and kids, and transferring pet hair and dirt into the trash was/is a daunting and disgusting task. My wife wanted something that she could easily operate, that was powerful, and had the ability to self-propel when she wanted it.
We picked this machine on blind faith, as there was little information on this at the time. It has turned out to be a great purchase. The joystick like nature of the self-propel takes a minute or two to get used to, but it is actually nice and responsive to the speed you are pushing it. My kids even want to help using this vacuum, because it is slightly like playing a video game.
Here are the two negatives. One against Amazon, one against the product...
1. The vacuum is a little heavy compared to other vacuums, but it isn't the heaviest vacuum we have owned. Far from it. All self-propelled vacuums are a little heavier because of the extra equipment.
2. Amazon sent us an opened box machine. We realized it halfway into getting it ready. The cords were put back together with garbage twist ties, and the bags it comes with were loose at the bottom of the box. That surprised us as we have purchased many things from Amazon with no issue (TV, small appliances, etc). We tried it out and have had no issues, but I personally don't feel we should have paid full price on a vacuum that was open. We didn't have the time to return it for another. This is my concern as to the long-term effects of purchasing an open box.