@twocvbloke . . .
Hi,
The Miracle Mate never posed much of a problem for me regarding cord length save for doing the stairs that led to the street at the place I used to live in. But, that’s what extension cords are for.
A bigger issue for me was making sure I had enough bags and filters on hand as neither of the two local vac shops in my area carried consumables for the brand. Ordering them meant a wait of several days for delivery via ground if I happened to be fresh out of bags.
Besides the cord reel being my idea of tee-rific, the exhaust filters were by design made to fit into the machine. Schoettler’s Patriot and Air Storm, as at least two examples, have exhaust filters that are basically afterthoughts that can make maneuvering and use awkward.
Miracle Mate can’t be let off the hook as far as dubious ideas go either. Pretty obviously tugging at the heart strings of the germophobe, the company has now come up with the XIF. It’s a UV light device that slaps on top of the machine for air purification purposes. Is it effective? Who knows. In any event a caveat here is in order since having had one in the house, the Miracle Mate doesn’t roar but is a little loud just for air purification duty.
I believe the XIF is powered off the electrical port for the power nozzle meaning you might be able to use it in tandem while you’re doing just straight-suction cleaning.
My big wish is that, someday soon, Consumer Reports or some other testing organization will thoroughly test a broader number of the pricey D-T-D brands to reduce the level of mystery as to actual worth. They do check out the more popular niche brands like Kirby, Aerus, and Rainbow regularly enough and even get around to Filter Queen now and then. However, Vortech Force (a new model with a facelift has come out), Patriot, Air Storm and other heftily priced machines seem to remain completely off the radar even though they obviously continue to sell and turn up just about everywhere.
http://www.miraclemate.com/
