I couldn't stand the U1104 I had, yeah it worked well and was in decent shape bar a few gouges and cracks in the plastics, but it was that dual-purpose handle-release-come-power-switch that really got on my nerves, pressing it to release the handle to lower it to the floor for under-furniture cleaning and you switch the thing off, or if you stop to move something and the handle locks in the upright position and releasing it again to continue and, yep, powers off, really irritated me, which is why I sold it off, the simplicity had been taken away, and it's simplicity that I like...
Changing bags in the older style Hoover Juniors and seniors though, yeah, it's a messy business, but that's why they fitted them with quick-release things, so you unclip or unscrew the bag retainers, and take off the whole assembly to flip it over and remove the bags in the hopes that you don't spill anything, which isn't an easy task... :\
I'm surprised they stuck with the open-ended bag for so long, given the difficulties it caused...