Old, but brand new vacuum you bought at a store?

[niclonnic]

Here's an interesting topic that I'm finally getting around to posting about.

Nearly 14 years ago, right after Christmas of 2007, my dad bought a Dyson DC07 Animal vacuum, which was a momentous event for me and my family. Although the DC07 was released in 2002 in the US, he got it because it was what Target had on sale at the time. I wish we would have gotten the DC17, but that was more expensive at $549, and beggars can't be choosers. It was one of the last DC07s made before they were discontinued in 2008.

Nonetheless, despite the DC07 lacking the refinements introduced on later Dyson uprights, it was still a solid machine, and a real trooper at that. The DC07 became our daily driver through the years to come, especially with a Black Lab named Lady who shedded quite a lot.

The DC07 became my mom's vacuum following my parents' divorce in 2014, and she used it in a few apartments, up until I gifted her with a new Hoover for Valentine's Day nearly 3 years ago. I then got the old Dyson back, and kept on using it until my dad sold it a couple months ago. I then bought a DC17 off eBay as a result of such an unexpected sale of a longtime friend.

Anyway, I'd love to hear about an OLD model of a BRAND NEW vacuum you bought at a big box store. I am NOT referring to higher-end vacuums sold at specialty stores, door-to-door machines, or NOS vacuums purchased through auction sites such as eBay.

 

[human]

I used to work for a discount store called Tuesday Morning and we would get in new, discontinued vacuum models fairly frequently. We opened up one as a floor model and started using it to vacuum the carpet mats at the front door. It was still technically in stock as merchandise but we never sold it. I would use the turbo brush to vacuum myself off whenever I got through handling the area rugs. I used to hate getting covered with rug fibers.

One time, we got some Electrolux (not Aerus) Intensity machines in. They were kind of cool looking, foldable design that was supposed to quickly convert from an upright to a canister. Unfortunately, about half of them came back. I never processed one of the returns so I never heard what the main complaint was. Our policy was to toss them when they were returned. While I thought 1t was unfortunate that we did that, I never thought to grab one out of the dumpster.

 

[niclonnic]

Electrolux Intensity

I've never used one of those, but the concept sounded cool on paper. Released in 2007, the Intensity was a floors-only vacuum featuring a folding handle and an air path that was only 3 inches long; Electrolux claimed that it had "50% more suction power than the leading upright."

However, based on Amazon reviews, the main complaint involved the wheels; they had a tendency to come loose and then fall off during use. The Intensity was also hampered by a TINY filter bag, very short 21-foot retractable cord (further shortened by the cord clip) and bulky profile, not to mention that it was hard to push for some people. Two reviewers stated that the bag would come undone, causing debris to build up in the bag compartment and eventually burn out the motor.

Based on my research, the Electrolux Intensity would not have been a very good machine for my household. If my family had it rather than a Dyson, we would've gone through bags like crazy.

 

[johnsmith96]

Growing up, I remember maybe 3 times when my mom and dad stood in the vacuum aisle looking to buy a new vacuums. It was a BIG deal for them to spend that kind of money, they never bought one that was less than 100$, but never more than 250$. We were at our local Kmart and my mom and dad bought the dirtdevil platinum force upright. They only had the display, back when the display was a real machine. I remember the power switch lite up and it had a 2 motor system. Pulled itself out of my moms hand when she first used it and ran over my sisters toe. It developed a hole in the hose, plus my mom could never figure out how to get the bin back in the vacuum. Next we were at Walmart and the Hoover fusion was new. My mom and dad asked me if they should get the fusion or a clean view revolution with the dirt Finder. I remember picking the Hoover because I felt both their turbo tools and said “the Hoover is softer so it will clean better” haha. I picked the Hoover, my mom loved it. One day my sister got mad at me and slammed the vacuum so hard it broke the height adjustment mechanism on the bottom. It always vacuumed on low from then on. So my parents went to samsclub a year later and brought back a hoover Mach 6. That was the last vacuum my parents ever bought. Now that I have so many. Their first vacuum ever they bought from Montgomery ward and it was a Panasonic eagle eye.

 

[panasonicvac]

Back in 2002, we bought a blue and white Black & Decker DustBuster that replaced our other Black & Decker cordless hand vac at our first cabin. Don't what model it was or where we got it from but it for sure wasn't the V9610 because it used batteries that you can replace from what I recall. We left that one behind at our last cabin when we sold the place back in 2007, I think we should've brought that home with us.

Also during that same year, we bought a blue Bissell GoVac cordless sweeper. Don't remember where we got it from. We got rid of it later because the batteries were failing.

In 2003, we bought my first real vacuum for my collection which is this blue Eureka Power Plus Victory upright from Target. Still have it today and it's one of my all time favorites.

In 2004, we bought a blue Bissell 3 Way Bagless stick vac from Walmart. Ended up getting rid of it which I regretted doing.

In 2005, we bought a silver Shark Euro-Pro UV610 cordless sweeper from Bed Bath & Beyond. We got rid of it later because the batteries died.

I believe that same year I think, we bought a red Dirt Devil Quick Power 0915(X) cordless hand vac from the same Target. It got replaced a few years later with a blue Dirt Devil AccuCharge cordless hand vac of the same version when the batteries were failing and the crevice tool broke off from there. Not sure where that Dirt Devil was bought from but I'm guessing Target I think it was and it was given to me as a Christmas present. Sadly I don't have a picture of that one.

Shortly during that same year, we bought a green Eureka Optima compact upright from Costco for our trailer we also bought at the same time. We've since sold the trailer to my uncle and have now retired our Optima but still have it today.

Also during that same year I think it was, we bought a blue Bissell Proheat 2X carpet cleaner from Lowes after we returned the Bissell SpotBot from the same store. Still have it today.

Towards the end of that same year, I was given the red Hoover Elite Rewind upright as a Christmas present from Amazon (still counts as a store). It's about to be thrown away but I later found a NOS one which I still have and it's also one of my all time favorites.

I think it was in 2006, I was given a silver Black & Decker Platinum Series SPV1800 cordless hand vac as a Christmas present. The battery didn't last for very long so I ended up getting rid of it which I regretted doing because I could've just bought a new battery for it.

And finally in 2014 I think, we bought a red Dirt Devil EasyLite 7.2V cordless hand vac I think from Target that replaced the blue Dirt Devil Accucharge cordless handvac that also had batteries failing and the crevice tool broke off as well. The batteries didn't last for very long so it got replaced by a Black & Decker that we're now using today.

Anyways, that's about it I think.

 

[panasonicvac]

Oh there's one more

I forgot to mention that in 2013 I was gifted a Hoover Floormate floor cleaner as a Christmas present. Probably off from Amazon I'm assuming. It's going into the trash soon, I will not be buying another one.

 

[jo]

Shark Rocket, original old version still sold new.

I see that the very first version of the Shark rocket is still being manufactured and for sale at Target, Wal-Mart and I think even Bed, Bath and Beyond. At target it is the gray and orange version, at Walmart it is the blue and gray version,and I think it is also orange and gray at Bed Bath and Beyond. A friend of mine bought the gray and orange version in 2014 and It had been out a few years in multiple colors and was sold mostly on qvc at the time. It came with a lot of attachments, more than it does at Walmart and target, but that was likely a “qvc exclusive” thing. Anyway…I recently have found it interesting that Shark continues to make this very first model when they have made numerous other versions over the years with various design changes and improvements. Funny thing is I just picked up one of these first versions, the orange and gray one at a thrift store and it seems to have very little use on it but I have no clue as to it’s age. The suction was poor because the filters had not been cleaned and I’m willing to bet they never were judging from so little wear and tear on the vacuum. Of course I cleaned the filters immediately and the vacuum operates like new with full power now. So my guess is that it isn’t that old and someone had it for a while, never cleaned the filter and when it didn’t perform after several months to a year or so, just decided to buy something else. But again, since this model has been made continually for many years…I just don’t have any way of knowing how old it is. It’s an HV302 model. No lights, the basic small, non removable dirt bin…single straight wand, single roller 2 speed power nozzle for hard floors and carpet.

I’m guessing they are keeping it because it’s their “value price leader” no frills model and there’s always people who want more basic at a reasonable price. With so many companies getting into the handheld/ stick vac market now…I’m thinking they want to remain competitive with lower priced less features competitors.

One thing keeping the same model still sold does…is if someone has an older one and something g, say the power head or whatever dies, they can buy the same machine again and keep all the functioning parts of the o old machine and have almost 2 complete vacs or spares all the other parts.

Jon