I think you mean on hard floors, you're not a fan of using a machine WITH a brush roll, though, Chris?
Marcus - it all comes down to what owners do with their vacuums. In the years before we had marble tiling and where laminate had been used, the laminate could be vacuumed with the X upright; it made no marks, no scratches and the delicate brush roll used always cleaned up easily, all that despite the metal plate at the front.
Another good upright in my experience for hard floors is the Oreck XL.
