A Crap Load Of Bissell Powerforce Compacts At Wal-Mart

[fantomtechguy]

So today, I went to my local Wal-Mart and I was walking in the Vacuum Aisle when I came across this huge pile of Bissell Powerforce Compacts! If you look real close, that purple bottle is actually holding that pile up! (I didn't put it there). So knowing me, I bought one to test it out. After testing it for a full week on normal everyday tasks, it's actually pretty good.

PROS:
Descent suction
compact
lightweight
good brush agitation
picks up very well

CONS:
can clog easily (depending on what needs cleaned)
dirt gets stuck in the bin while emptying
filters get gunked up quickly

Overall, for a quick clean vacuum, it does the job very well. If you need a compact vacuum for a bedroom/dorm, small living room or small spaces it will be just fine. But if you have a bigger house and you have pets, you will probably want to look into another vacuum.
Thanks for reading my review

 

[kirbysthebest]

Its back to school time

New college students are furnishing their apartments and dorms with a cheap, disposable vacuum. The Bissell fits that need.


Unfortunately, at least anymore, all Bissell sells is gateway drugs. Not a whole lot offered to move on up. The Pet Eraser shows Somme promise. We will see what happens when this group graduates , will they movie up to a Dyson or will they go Hoover when they grow up?

 

[carolinaguy1996]

The bagged machines are better.

 

[fan-of-fans]

My mom bought one of those a month or so ago, but when opening the box she realized it was too small to vacuum a whole house of carpet. So she took it back to Walmart and got a Hoover Windtunnel Whole House Rewind from Sears.

This reminded me of the time she was going to buy a Eureka The Boss Superlite (yellow) but it was way too small, so ended up buying a Kenmore Quick Clean bagless upright instead.

I think the Bissell Powerforce Compact might be good for area rugs or a dorm room as mentioned above.

 

[carolinaguy1996]

I bet those machines might do better in Asian countries, because of how small houses there are.

 

[sptyks]

Any vacuum sold by Walmart is cheap Plasti-crap. Spend a few dollars more and buy a Real vacuum that will last more than 3 years.


 


 

 

[carolinaguy1996]

That's why the commercially-rated products exist.

 

[tolivac]

RUN-Don't walk from the Wal-Mart vacuum dept!!!!!!As pointed out they carry shiny,pretty,plastic bagless pieces of JUNK!!!!!!Visit your vac shop or call your favorite brand DTD man and get a REAL vacuum cleaner!!!!!One that has a bag or a water bin.The watertrap vacuums are the ONLY bagless machines I would consider.

 

[singingrainbow]

I'm sure everyone is aware that walmart vacuums are of lesser quality than those from the likes of miele, riccar, and kirby.

The again, look at the price difference. How much does a bottom of the line riccar cost? Over 200 bucks I'm sure. So is it really any great wonder that it would be a better machine? The fact is that some people simply can not afford a basic upright vacuum priced over 200 dollars, no matter how well made and powerful it is. I know the economics work out better in the long run, but again some people can't afford the initial price.

Would you want to send a student to college with a relatively expensive appliance like that?


As a collector I often try out cheaper vacuums like this for fun, sometimes I find them useful. I think looking at a product with the purchase price factored in is important.

I own this very machine, have had it for a year. It works well for quickly cleaning a rug here or there. No it isn't a miele or riccar, but I wasn't expecting that for 35 dollars.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Scott.................

Well-made point. Hope you all are OK.

 

[fantomtechguy]

WOW!

Wow, I am surprised by the amount of feedback from my post!

Now, this thread is in many different directions. So I think I'm going to put my 2 cents into this.

singingrainbow has a good point with this. Not saying I don't agree with everyone's replies, but I think his is more educated.

These vacs are made for people who need a good clean for a small area, with a small budget. I think this vacuum works really well with that. Small roooms, dorms, and areas are perfect for this vacuum. But for bigger tasks, you would need to look into one of the other Bissell models. In reality, most people cannot afford to drop over $500 for a more "high-end" vacuum. If you had a son/daughter off to collage, would you send them with this vacuum, or a $1,200 Rainbow or a $800 Miele?
I think that answer is pretty obvious...

So to sum up, I like the conversation so I wanted to add my 2 cents.

 

[tolivac]

Guess things have changed in dorms since I went to school---In the dorm where I stayed-there was a cheap,plastic Eureka upright you used to vacuum the floor of your dorm room.There was a janitor closet on each floor-the vacuum resided in there with other cleaning supplies you could use-mop and bucket,and cleaning supplies.IE in the place I went to you didn't need to bring a vacuum cleaner.

 

[singingrainbow]

For the last two years I've lived in a dorm. They had sanitaire uprights (with the dust cup) and brooms that you could "check out" from the front desk. Sounds great, but in practice the sanitaires were always in bad repair. The few times I heard them operating I could tell they were badly clogged and the belts were either broken or badly stretched. This means that many students opted to bring their own cleaner, as the sanitaires were never working properly.

 

[tolivac]

The Eureka at the dorm I was in worked OK-think the janitor replaced the belts when needed.The vacuum had a cloth dump bag-I emptied it many times-interesting what was in there!Mostly stale popcorn,potato chips,bits of pizza,and so on.There was a large trash barrel in the janitor closet where the vacuum was stored dumpted the bag into it-and the can was for dumping your trash can in your dormroom into.Sometimes the can contained duck and pheasant feathers.When it was duck and pheasant season my friends and I went for hunts.The only cooking machine you could have in your dorm was a popcorn popper.You could put a small pan on the popper base and use it like a small hotplate-boiled pheasant was sure good!!!

 

[singingrainbow]

Fantomtechguy, I'm glad I could add to your thread in a constructive manner.

John, Thank you, we are alright. Hurricane harvey had very little effect where we are.

Tolivac, I wasn't brave enough to try and empty the sanitaires! They were not owned or maintained by the cleaning staff at my dorm, they had their own machines. That is probably why no one ever bothered to empty them or change the belts.

 

[fantomtechguy]

Thanks Singingrainbow

Thanks Singingrainbow, always a pleasure!

And to add on the Sanitaire debate...
The metal ones from the 90s and older are the best ones in my opinion.
I hate the newer Sanitaire, they always have the issue with the suction fan.
Every newer Sanitaire I repaired, the suction fan ALWAYS has cracks and chips, and also the suction fan size is WAY smaller then the older ones.
The older Sanitaires are better, the suction fans are better and the overall performance is WAY better then the newer ones. And to add insult to injury, the new ones are made from Wafer thin plastic, but the older ones are made from real metal and can last a world war. I have never seen a old Sanitaire with as many problems as the newer ones. In my opinion, the new ones are complete trash.