hose useage
When it comes to using a vacuum with a hose, canisters are the way to go. While many upright vacuums have hoses, they are not near as flexible, this is why I'm a huge canister fan and don't have any uprights, nor do I want any. It's personal preference of course, but canisters, whether a canister itself, central vacuum, or a backpack are simply more flexible. Use a power nozzle and you have carpet cleaning performance as good as an upright, for hard floors or above the floor, switch to the appropriate attachment, canisters are really the best of all worlds when it comes to a vacuum. Many uprights do not have as much cleaning power when using the hose, and the hoses are usually shorter, and there's no easy way to get the vacuum to follow you while cleaning. A canister vacuum does not have any of these issues.
Mike