Oreck vs. Riccar SupraLite?

[earthling177]

I was wondering what people's personal experiences with Oreck and Riccar lightweight vacuums are like?

For example, is the Oreck Magnesium just lighter than the Graphite or does it perform better? If it does perform better, what makes it so, bigger brush, higher speed, better fan?

Also, what is the difference between the SupraLite RSL5 and the RSL5 SandTrap (they mention in passing that it cleans sand better, but don't tell us why)? Is the color the only difference or does it have some different technical specs?

Do machines like Oreck and SupraLite work well on carpeted staircases? Suppose for the sake of argument here that there are deep cleaning upright and canister vacuums available to be used once or twice a week and a lightweight vacuum like an Oreck or SupraLite would be for cleaning every day or two, is it worth getting an Oreck or a SupraLite or both?

Do you prefer one over the other or do you think they are basically the same thing?

Are Orecks and/or SupraLites worth getting for deep carpets or just low/medium carpets?

Sorry for so many questions, but I'm curious about the machines and it seems the 'net is full of people who were paid to say they either love it and nothing else is as good or that they are awful machines that just make noise, and my experience with vacuum cleaners lead me to believe that between the variety of vacuum cleaner designs and the huge amount of different kinds of floors and carpets/rugs no one machine will be total crap or perfect for everyone, thus I'm asking what do you like, dislike and/or feel indifferent about the lightweight machines and what your personal experiences are?

Thanks in advance,
-- Paulo.

 

[blackheart]

Oreck v Simplicity Freedom

Well as the owner of an XL Ultra, XL-21 and Simplicity Freedom F3600 i know the Simplicity is the better performer of the two it's agitation is superior and it's airflow seems better, the problem with it is it doesn't feel as sturdy in your hand, but i've never seen or heard of a broken one yet

 

[earthling177]

Thank you for the info, Devin!

I think I may go shopping sometime in the next couple of weeks and try a few Orecks and SupraLites.

Do you think the current models of both brands have basically the same performance, or is there a reason (better fans and/or brushes) to go up the line? It's hard sometimes by just looking at machines to decide if they are just charging more for aesthetics or if the performance is really better.

I heard some news that the Graphite is not as good as the Magnesium and the Forever models, as well as the RSL4 and RSL5 models clean better than the lower models, but no explanation as to why.

I don't mind paying for better performance, but I'd rather not give them extra money just for a different color. Any info?

Thanks in advance,
-- Paulo.

 

[blackheart]

I'm not sure about the newer Orecks

I have little experience with newer Orecks i've seen the magnesium but have not used one i've test driven the Pilot and Edge in a Sears While i did like the variable speed motor i preferred the Pilot as they are still built in the USA (i think) i feel it's performance was probably on par with my XL-21

As for the Riccar/Simplicities i don't think there is much difference between the lower end models here's what i know
the RSL1 is the basic model with a wooden brushroll, foot switch and plastic wheels
the RSL3 has a wooden brushroll, handle switch and rubber wheels.
the RSL4 is the sister of my Simplicity it again has a wooden brushroll, has a two speed motor, a floor squeegee for hard surfaces, more wheels
and finally the RSL5 has a metal roller with stiffer bristles , it also has a lifetime belt with a jam sensor, the squeegee, two speeds, same number of wheels as the RSL4

I guess it all depends on what you want/need i feel my XL-21 and Simplicity do a great job for their weight

 

[nivico]

...

Just picked up an Oreck XL2 upright with the bundled little canister vac on Craigslist today for $40... it's my first Oreck and I couldn't wait to get it home and try it out.

Honest opinion, I was really not at all impressed... it definitely does not live up to all the hype of being an 8 lb vacuum that performs as well as its heavier counterparts. It's an 8 lb vacuum that only performs as well as you'd expect an 8 lb vacuum to work.

Read one online review that called the Oreck a glorified stick vac, and that's a pretty good description of how mine performed.

The mini canister vac is a handy little thing, though... except that the extension wands don't fit well and kept wanting to come apart.

Long story short, I'm glad I only paid $40.

 

[vacman117]

You cannot...

really compare an XL21 to a standard Oreck... Most people do, because most people have not used the XL21. It has a bigger fill tube, much better brushroll, and a completely different motor. They are pretty powerful and very comparable to a Supralite. For me, I prefer to use Orecks on rugs and bare floors, while I use my Supralite on carpeted areas. I feel they do best that way, but that is just me and in my house.

Chase

 

[earthling177]

Wow, these machines have improved a lot in recent years!

Thanks all for your help!

I had used Orecks a couple of times years ago (maybe 5-10 minutes each), when I was helping somebody clean a public space, and at the time I didn't like them. Now I guess they were just old machines not maintained properly.

Anyway, what a difference!

I went shopping a few days ago, and came back home with an Oreck Forever Series Gold and a Riccar SupraLite RSL-5. They both seemed to work really well at home, but the Oreck Gold had some difficulties with one of the rugs we have (it slowed down a lot and it was very hard to push compared to the carpet and/or other rugs), so I took it back to the store and exchanged it for a Magnesium. To be fair, the SupraLite slows down on the same rug and it's relatively hard to push, but not nearly as bad as the Gold was. The Magnesium works just fine on that rug and everywhere else too (I think the larger wheels on the back make it easier for the machine not to sink into the rug, it's a rather deep pile rug and not very dense).

In a sense, I think the Gold is better because it has a bigger dust bag, the switch is right by your hand and the brush seems to "bite" the carpet more and possibly clean better, but I wasn't willing to live with it when I'd have to get another machine just to clean one rug when I'm in a hurry. And in any case, the Magnesium seems to be cleaning just fine. I don't much care for the switch behind the dust bag in the Magnesium, not only it's less practical, but also it's harder to just switch speeds than the regular switch. Anyway, the Magnesium works fine, so I'm happy with it.

Right now I have the machines for such a short time that I have not had enough experience with them to pick a favorite or find out which one works better for what situation, or is quieter etc, but I'm happy with both the Oreck and the Riccar for now. They help me keep the home clean everyday in between deep cleaning with the other machines and they make cleaning the carpeted stairs in particular very easy.

Time will tell if they only clean the surface soil or if they are deep cleaning, but preliminary tests show that both brands are much better at cleaning then I was expecting, I'm impressed. Both the Oreck and the Riccar seal to the carpet/rugs and they seem to suck dirt from far away from the nozzle on hard floors and have not spat dirt/sand behind them like a lot of machines do.

I suppose one thing I could do is clean the home for an entire week with one of them, then use a deep cleaning machine with a new bag and see how much soil it removes, then repeat the same test the next week with the other lightweight vacuum and see the results.

Even the noise has improved quite a lot, I remember the older machines being very loud -- these ones, while not the quietest vacuums I've used, are much more like the average cleaner.

In any case, both machines have been a huge help for me, I can zip thru vacuuming the home now everyday and do a more thorough job during the weekend or when I have time during the week.

Again, I'd like to thank all the people who posted over the years that these machines do a decent job, I'm certainly glad I checked them out!

Cheers,
-- Paulo.