Well, growing up where we had a Hoover Senior, then replaced by the scary Ranger, then replaced by a Junior, neither of them were as good when it came to using the tools and thus the Hoovers were naturally best for the carpets.
When it came to vacuuming carpets we always had Hoover back in the early days. When it came to cleaning dust out of awkward corners, we had something called a dust pan and brush. When we needed to get rid of cobwebs, a towel tied around a kitchen brush with elastic bands seemed to do the trick. Dust on hard floors? Kitchen broom, dust pan and/or brush.
How times have moved on, eh?
Jamie, you may well refer that it is your opinion of what you have declared, but stating "if the cylinder doesn't have enough suction to work effectively without a P/N, it shouldn't be in any collection," bears a statement that could overthrow others and their experiences. Please be aware of that. Since you give no actual evidence of any cylinder vacuum that is poor, you should learn to just stop spouting hoof before adding "two watts" as a final sentence to conclude your post.
As the owner of a Sebo K3 Premium, and have said this before, I'm not a fan of the cylinder with a PN idea; however I don't find the whole process to be that awkward, otherwise I'd have sold off my ET-H ages ago. I find it too heavy, having to pull the machine behind me and then push a heavy floor head in front, regardless of the fact that the Sebo head does have a slight self mechanised driven feel about it and the K series is far lighter than the D4 anyway - but it still doesn't make things better - when I know that the Felix upright is far easier to use and everything is "all in one" in front.
However basing my only experience with the Sebo P/N which is effectively similar to the ones on the Sebo Felix, PNs do the same job as an upright - you get a better flatter to the floor angle with the PN's connected to just the tube, hose and cylinder at the back and of course being able to get under low furniture is a boon compared to a conventional upright. Also, dependent on the need at the time, being able to use the same power head with just the hose & handle is great for use in the boots of cars, especially if you have an estate/station wagon.