#1: Best Buy Eureka 439AZ OPTIMA Pet Lover

Tidy Little Machine!!!
This vacuum is great!!!

I have
- 680 sq. ft. apartment; 3/4 of which is carpeted
- 2 cats
- allergies
- not much space for storage

So far so good. I've had the unit for a month now and so far it is working like a charm.
Great suction power. I was really surprised with how much dirt, cat litter, cat hair, and random crap this thing was able to suck into the canister. The power paw is fantastic. I have a couch and a black office chair that the cats like to lounge on and the cat hair accumulates rather fast on them. The power paw makes a huge difference after giving it a good once over. The unit is also compact which makes storage that much easier.

My only complaint thus far is that the placement of the filter is such that you really should take it off and give it a good shake after each time you use it. The cat hair gets trapped in between the filter and the container. I don't mind this so much. For the price of the unit and its performance thus far, it really is a great machine.

As a reference, I used to borrow my parent's Dyson DC07 all the time and even after getting used to that expensive Dyson I would say that this relatively inexpensive unit is still very impressive. Just don't buy it for a full sized house. It's perfect for a small to medium apartment.

I want my disposable bags
For years we used a good quality canister vacuum with disposable bags. We thought the OPTIMA Pet Lover vacuum would be an improvement for the cat hair we live with (one cat), but the trade-off was a big disappointment.

The filter clogs EVERY time we vacuum and it takes at least 10 minutes to clear the gunk.

Also, the hose constantly pops out of its holder while simply using the back and forth motion on our carpet, NOT from bumping it against anything.

PROS:decent price, good suction
CONS: clogged filters after every use, the retaining ring which holds the hose, doesn't.

vacuum cleaner
Wife is entirely satisfied with this product. She uses it to clean up dog hair exclusively and appreciates its size and weight.

Works much better than expected
I was weary of this model because of the size, and the tellatubby handle, but it does work better than the previous few full sized vacuums ive owned. (This has the same power as a full sized vacuum, 12amps)

The only weird thing is the two extra steps needed to use the hose, you have to turn a knob and push a button, which isnt a negative really because i believe this unit may not clog like other vacuums because when using this in upright position it doesnt make everything travel up the hose.

Overall, I highly recommend this product.

blows dust all over the place
I thought this would be a great vacuum, BUT whomever designed it really wasn't thinking. The exhaust is in the front right on top of where the suction is- therefore, the exhauste blows dust bunnies all over the place into the air before the vacuum has a chance to suck it up. It's very frustrating, and causes many allery attacks in my house... Also, dumping the dust out is messy and it also flies around, and then cleaning the filter is practically impossible- and fills up very fast if you own a pet. The only good part of this vacuum is the powerbrush which does a great job of getting pet hair off of the furniture. I am giving this away and spent way too much money on a Miele stick vac to replace it- my allergies are much happier about it.