Now at Your Wal-Mart SuperCenter.....

[tylerawells]

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I was in Wal-Mart today getting groceries and took a stroll through the Vacuum section, and imagine my surprise when prominently displayed they had the Panasonic Jet-Force Upright Bagless machine for $135. Not a bad deal, and a quality machine. The picture below is one I took of the display. There is a older thread (http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?22923) where they discuss this machine in more detail. It's good to see a good machine like this instead of your usual China Plastivacs at Walmart. </span>

 

[sebo_fan]

Being the owner of the bagged upright version, I can't say there's much difference of "plastic quality" between a Chinese built upright and Panasonic's bagged version. It is harder to find the differences - but what I do like about Panasonic's latest uprights including this model is that the brush bars are wooden and not plastic.

The other issue I don't like is that both versions have pivotal hood designs - i.e the more your stoop by the handle - the more likely the floor head sits on the floor pile. "Separate" hoods that dont depent on the hinge have a more precise way of keeping down on the carpet without adjusting all the time from the height of the owner from the handle.

If that makes sense...

 

[williamr1248]

Now at yor Walmart SuperCenter

Sebo Fan

You said it all. I bought the same machine at another retailer for about the same price. I even took pictures and did a thread about the machine. I returned mine. Like you said, they are all about the same where it is a Hoover, Eureka or Royal.
I did think the Panasonic was somewhat more quite and it did have a few nicer features but in the end it was a cheap, plastic throw away machine.
You can watch people shop and they really don't care which brand, they will look at the pictures on the box and the price and throw one in their shopping carts. They all look alike to me too. They are now used to throw away vacs like throw away TV sets and other small appliances.
I did think the Panasonic had a slight edge over the quality of the others.

 

[tolivac]

RUN!! don't walk past the Wally World vacuum dept!!!

 

[williamr1248]

Now Available at your Walmart Super Center

Rex,
That made me laugh. It is so true.
I knew when they started selling Hoover Convertibles or Eureka's for $59.95, it was the beginning of the end. I even have an old ad from the local papers where you could buy a Hoover Connie for $29.95 back in the early 1970's.
Can you imagine-buying a NEW Hoover at a discount store for $29.95! The same Connie that they were selling for $89.95 just a few years earlier. If I am remembering correctly ,they also were selling the Hoover Slimline for about the same price and if you wanted to go all out you could buy a Eureka canister for $39.95!
I also remember the first time I went into one of our local Drug chains and they were selling a GE/Primier canister for $29.95. It seemed so strange to go to the drug store to buy your new sweeper!
In the 1970's, we went to my great Aunt's house and she had replaced her Electrolux with one of these drug store cheap GE canisters. She was happy with it because it was cheap and light weight.
So I guess it would be easy to put the blame on Walmart but it started years ago and now we have at least 12 stores close to me that all carry the same cheap plastic uprights.
Our nice vac shops don't sell Hoover's, but have the high end Ricarr, Simplicity, Miele and Sebo machines. Different times and different world.

I remember the days when they ONLY sold a Hoover at either a vacuum store, local furniture store, department store or appliance dealer.

 

[tolivac]

Rob:Glad my comment made someone laugh!!And when I visited the new Wal mart store near my house-again ran by their vac dept-just caught a glimpse of the colorful "plasti-trash" vacuums they had-future food for my other freinds-Trash Trucks!So want to hear a plasti vac go thru the compactor!
And yes,so remember when Hoovers were a real QUALITY machine-could last for years-and seldom put out for the garbage.Miss those days-older Hoovers have it for me-just pass by the crappy new ones-they are pretty when new,though-but after a few years--they look pretty sad.