I will confirm what the others are saying about the Lux Guardian Ultra... it DID come with a black cord. Mine has one
The last years of the Ultra and the white body Legacy both came with black cords. Presumably, Aerus was shifting over production bit by bit for the black Legacy and the Platinum, both of which used black cords. They also may have switched due to complaints about the light gray cord getting black scuff marks on it.
Fyi, Ultra vacuums with black cords also have the updated Power Nozzle--it has dozens of tiny circular ventilation holes instead of the older style line vents.
Also, I know that people like to ditch the Ultra, but it really was a big step up from the Legacy with which it shared a general shape. The Ultra came with an unprecedented 20 year motor warranty; even the new Platinum doesn't come with that. The Ultra's motor is stronger than the motor in the other current C-style machines (Legacy and Classic). And the Ultra is a fully-sealed system, versus the Legacy and Classic which are not. And though they look the same, the Ultra and the Legacy/Classic don't share the same body mold. The Legacy/Classic have always been (and are still) textured. The Ultra was untextured. To my knowledge, the Ultra is the first and only C-style machine to have an untextured body since the early years of the 1205.
IMHO, Aerus should have gifted the sealed HEPA system to the Legacy after the demise of the Ultra/rise of the Platinum. They wasted money designing a fully-sealed system for the C-style canisters, and now it's gone. There's no reason to not give the Legacy the old internals from the Ultra. The HEPA filter will fit under the Legacy's tool storage as-is, and the Ultra's sealed internals would fit, too. Idk why, in this day and age, Aerus would want their mid-range vac to not have a sealed HEPA setup, especially when one is readily available.
I do like the Ultra though. I prefer it to the Platinum because it looks so much like a classic Electrolux. The Platinum, a byproduct of mutli-company collaboration, bears little resemblance to any old Electrolux models. I wish the Platinum would have been at least a little more retro. But oh well. If you need a state-of-the-art vacuum and prefer to remain loyal to the Electrolux/Aerus brand, the Platinum is the right choice. If you are nostalgic for the Electrolux brand and don't need superfluous bells and whistles, the Ultra is much more true to the company's origins while offering more than sufficient HEPA and carbon filtering.
...and because I always put a plug in for C-style machines in case Aerus representatives are here, I have to say, I really hope that Aerus never discontinues the C-style line of vacuums. They can make all the Platinum machines they want, but they really need to keep a rectangular, protruding hose connection, C-style machine in production. Without it, there's no proof that Aerus is the original Electrolux.
