Vacuum Cleaner Reviews

I purchased this model from [Amazon.com] a few months ago. Less expensive than Hoover's own factory store near where I live.
This cleaner has some very good reviews. HOWEVER, after two uses (in my home) mine went to the local Hoover store for repair. (the brushes were loosing a lot of their bristles) They replaced the brushes under warranty and I was told by the stores repair man (Oh yeah, they had to redesign the brushes, the original design did that). The repair took about three weeks (they had to order the replacement brushes and the warehouse was out of stock) Three calls to Hoover national customer assistance without the courtesy of even a reply. Several e-mails to Hoover headquarters customer support e-mail address with no reply. I got the cleaner back and was given a free replacement filter cartridge for my trouble. Two more uses and the gear box for the brushes burned out with a lot of evil smelling smoke from the melted plastic case. Back to the Hoover store. Another warranty repair. Now I have it back and will see what happens next. NEVER AGAIN WOULD I BUY A HOOVER. They seem not to care at all about customers or customer service. If this was a typical sample of their product quality they need some heavy duty help.

It had only been a week since vacuuming when I brought this home. We have no kids & we don't wear shoes in the house so our carpet stays pretty clean, so we thought! I was amazed at what this vacuum picked up. Obviously cleans deeper than my previous Hoover (which was ready for retirement, even though it picked up anything visual on the carpet). Even without being self-propelled, it moved with great ease. Excellent product!

The vacuum is the thrilling part. The stuff that appears in the cannister is appalling!

My previous vacuum was old and even when it was new, I was never really impressed with it. It was time to replace it.

RESEARCH - I did plenty of research - Consumer Reports, other online rating sources and of course, reviews written by customers here on Amazon. This model was the best of the bagless, which is what I wanted. There were 2 Windtunnels rated slightly better which used bags. Anyway, this is the one that looked best for me.

SUCTION - When I brought it home, it hadn't been long since I'd last vacuumed. I looked at the carpet and thought it didn't look bad, but I still wanted to try it out. I vacummed one room and then took a look at the cannister. Oh, my gosh! This vacuum really sucked (in a good way). Where did all that stuff come from? It must have pulled dirt from the floor below. Surely all that dirt and dust and hair and fluff wasn't in that one room! I refused to vacuum any more until my husband came home. He had to see this. We have several cats and one inside dog, but I still wasn't expecting to see so much dirt!

DUST IN THE AIR - I wanted a bag with a Hepa filter since I'm allergic to dust. After vacuuming a room with the U5720-900, the air is great. I can breathe just fine - no sniffles at all, unlike with my previous vacuum. However, emptying the cannister indoors (on any bagless vacuum) might not be a good idea. I take the cannister to a garbage can in our garage to empty it. so dust is not re-introduced to the indoor air. Then, since our house is apparently so filthy, I also take the Hepa out of the cannister (which is fast & simple)and shake out the extra dust. The instructions say you really don't need to do this each time, but, with all the dust in there, I think it's a good idea.

ATTACHMENTS - Consumer Reports only gave the attachments on this vacuum a GOOD, but I find them wonderful and simple. I love how they are arranged (easily accessible) and I love that the hose stays ready to use for quick pick ups. The only thing to do is choose which head you need or sometimes add an extension. The suction is good.

EFFORT - It's easy to push - it practically pulls itself along.

Bottom Line - I love it!

I bought the Hoover Windtunnel in Sept. of 2003 when we moved to Texas. What a mistake. (Guess I was suckered in by the ads). Anyway, while assembling it (with the assistance of the painters who were painting the interior of our house before we moved in) - I was immediately struck at how cheap it looked. Everything was made of plastic and didn't quite fit right. (Even the painters commented on that.) Since then, I've been extremely disappointed by the fact that the hose keeps coming off. Also, the clip that holds the pipe in place has been broken off by a minor collision with a door. Hair is continually stuck in the brushes and needs to be cut with scissors and drawn out manually (yuck). Also, the suction is way less than desirable. All in all this is without question the WORST vacuum cleaner I've ever owned. (I'm 50 years old and have owned quite a few in my life!)

The vaccum was great the first week or so. We have had it for a year now. The thing is louder than a train running through the house. It looses suction all the time. The filters are always clogging. Not to mention the cost adds up replacing them. Oh and the belts are ALWAYS breaking on it. We've gone through at least 2 belts a month since we bought it! Other vaccums we've had we NEVER had to replace the belts! It smells & it's dusty. It doesn't work on hardwood floors as it kicks all the dirt back at you! All the tools have broke. We've replaced the hose on it 2 times. It tears along the part where it attaches to the vaccum.

The vaccum finally died today....out in the trash it will go on Monday. Don't waste your time or money on this vaccum!

I bought this vacuum based on the other reviewers' comments as well as research in Consumer Reports. You can't do better than this. CR has recommended Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuums for the past 2 years of record.

Even though this isn't "self propelled", it seems like it is. Effortless to push and pull. Start it up and it starts to go. I personally wouldn't spend the extra $$ to get the self-propelled feature available in the other models. I don't think it's needed.

Like someone else said, I think our carpets are a shade lighter after using this vacuum. And with 2 children under the age of 4, this vacuum gets a good work out. As crazy as this sounds, I almost look forward to using it as I see such great results.

Great cord length. Only wish it had an automatic retractor when finished. Lots of cord to wrap up on a little hook on the handle. That's my only complaint, though.

Someone else mentioned having a hard time getting the filters. Sears has a great vacuum department and I had no trouble getting filters there.

Having had other brands of vacuums over the years, I'll stick with Hoover Wind Tunnels! You get what you pay for and this is definitely worth the money.

I bought the Hoover Windtunnel self-propelled a year ago, based on top recommendations. I have found that the recommendations were probably based on the suction - it really has great suction.
But, the machine is very heavy, and very hard to move around or up and down stairs. Since I am not a big person, this was a big minus for me. Also, the hand attachments are really cumbersome to use, like another reviewer pointed out, the machine will easily tip when trying to reach with the hand attachments, so even though the suction was great, the usefulness of this feature was limited.

Anyway, exactly one month after the warranty expired, my machine started smoking and making funny noises. Reading these reviews, I see that I am not the only one this has happened to. Basically, I had expected to get alot more usage out of [this] machine. I don't vacuum that often, and it is possible that I didn't always follow the manual exactly, but you shouldn't need a Phd to operate a vacuum cleaner.

I was really disappointed, I spent a lot of money, was not so so thrilled with the vacuum and I guess that I was almost relieved that it died so that I could buy another one.

We have had our Hoover U6430-900 WindTunnel for almost a year now. It has proven to be a very reliable and worthy vacuum. It has excellent suction power and does a 1st rate job of getting the dirt out of our carpets. I especially like the attached hose w/ provided tools. It does a great job of cleaning up the ashes from around our wood stove as well as hair from haircuts. The self propelled feature works flawlessly also and is very nice since this is a heavy vacuum. The weight of this vacuum spells "quality".

I spent the last 8 months or so with a Eureka Victory, and I had two major complaints: 1) it refused to pick up pet hair from the carpet, and 2) it had a strong, undiffused vent on the side near the floor, so that it would blow pet hair up into the air when vacuuming on hard floor.

I chose this Hoover not for all of the features, but because I was hoping that it would pick up pet hair and it really does, and very very well--on all the different carpet types and hard wood in my house.

Now some comments on the features: I really like the powered hand-tool, (powered is an understatement)--my stairs have never been so clean. However it is a real pain to use with the short and very springy hose; I'll need to get an extension. The self-propelled thing is definitely strange as others have mentioned. I think the problem is that it expects me to go slower than my normal pace. But it really isn't so hard to push with that feature turned off. I also like being able to switch the main brush roller on and off (my Eureka did it automatically when it was pushed into upright position, which makes it difficult to clean stairs and throwrugs). As for other features on this and some of the other Eureka models, like dirt indicator lights and filter full indicators, I'm not sure I care about that. It's way heavier than that old Eureka, but the fact that it actually works makes this easy to forgive.

It was worth every penny, especially with free shipping. I was actually thinking about not having furry pets in the future after my dog kicks the bucket. All because of that... Eureka.

Let me just say REGARDLESS of what animals you have if any the vacuum is not very good. It lacks the suction and for the price it is frankly not worth it. I would not buy another Hoover unless you plan on spending more money.

If you read vaccuum cleaner reviews.
ALMOST all of those complaining have dogs and cats.
"it doesn't vaccuum the hair from my 4 cats and 3 dogs!"
DUH!
The odor you don't know YOU HAVE! Is a bigger problem than the vacuum cleaner; trust me.

I doubt any vacuum would help when you guys have a dozen cats or 4 dogs.

Lasted 6 months then the brushes stopped, I had them fixed and now, six months later, the brushes stopped again and I was told it was not good for animal hair.....Well why don't they tell you this when you buy the item........I am looking for a new vacuum now.....

My wife came home with this vacuum one day, all happy to have a more modern vacuum than my old Kirby D80 Sanitronic from the early 60's (avocado!). After returning the first one due to a broken plastic wheel (at which point I became unimpressed), she came home with the replacement and started vacuuming our carpet. Within less than an hour, she was cursing this thing up one side and down the other. Why? Everything (dirt) has to pass through a flex hose with a couple sharp bends in its routing, and it's there that you have to take the hose apart and unclog a snake-like accumulation of carpet fibers and dust and dirt. Again and Again and Again and Again. What a total and totally frustrating design flaw! Other impressions: The self-propelled feature is nice, (albeit unnecessary on such a lightweight machine); The "clean indicator" light is pure gimmickry (if you're looking at it, you're not looking where you should be looking while vacuuming!); The hose is waaay too short for using the supplied attachments, causing the machine to try to cuddle up with you and/or run you over whenever you pull the hose to reach your target (which is often!); There is unimpressive suction available via the supplied tools (even after removing the latest dirt-plug;-) Bottom line, this is a good-looking machine whose looks promise way more than it can possibly deliver. Avoid.

I bought this vacuum in April of 2002, and it was unbelievable. It vacuumed wonderfully, restored the pile of my carpet, and the self-propelled feature was great. However, about a year later that feature disappeared (I admit I wasn't paying too much attention, but I did notice what a workout it was to push), and around Christmas, I realized that the vacuum simply wasn't picking anything up anymore. I took the whole blasted thing apart, cleaned the brush, checked the belt, poked through the hose with a coathanger, and didn't find anything. I couldn't afford to have it fixed, and judging from the reviews, that would've cost more than buying another vacuum anyway! The vacuum was nearly $300 when I bought it, which is a hell of a lot of money to spend on less than two years' worth of use. If that's going to be the case, then I think I'll stick to the throwaway models for under $100.

I believe there are few vacuums that have the suction the entire WindTunnel series provides. Coupled with low dirt emissions, the operation is quite sound and desirable. That part was great.

Problems with use: The tools are friction fit. Scrubbing stairs with the upolstry tool caused it to keep coming off. The main hose is flexible, but still rather short and awkward to employ. They do sell an extention hose for $$$.

Problems with part failures: The vac is literally plagued with breakage. Power switch, prong that keeps the vac upright at rest (actually the case CRACKED!), power assist cable (for self-propelling), power cord, beater bar, belts. The bar belt tends to go quickly because there is little friction between the motor and the beater so you can hear it squealing regularly as you negotiate your daily rug car.

Bottom line, we are quite frustrated. This could be THE vacuum to own. But design and poor materials make it a bust. I intend to write a letter to Hoover - aa brand that used to mean quality and good design. Now its just pricey. Very sad!

I love this vacuum. I researched before I purchased this vacuum 2 1/2 years ago. I have never regretted the nearly $300 I paid. It cleans so well and the on-board tools are convenient and so easy to use. I was concerned, however, about so much plastic, but have not had any problems at all. The self propelled feature is nice, but on hard surfaces it can sometimes run you over. It has an indicator that tells you when the bag is full, and althought I am not a fan of paper bag vacuums, I really don't mind since it cleans so well. I would recommend this top rated vacuum to anyone who can spend $300.

I purchased this vacuum cleaner after using my neighbor's. I love the self-propelled feature! I use my cleaner on both carpet and tiled floors. The extensions make it possible to clean my stairs without having to lug it up them. I use the suction brush on my furniture.

The windtunnel is a little heavy. I have 3 children, and my vacuum withstands a lot of abuse. I do have to change bags frequently (Good thing!!! It means it is doing its job well.)

I was a little wary about spending $300 on a vacuum, but it was a wise investment for my family. With the self-propelled feature, it is easy to push; so my kids enjoy running it. My husband is asthmatic and has a lot of allergies. So, I think the hepa filter is a wonderful idea.

I've had my unit for 2 years now, and I couldn't be happier!!

Worked for a short while. Now it leaves lines of dust and won't pick up anything. I also can't find a replacement filter. I'm very disappointed in Hoover.

Have only owned it a couple of months and from day one it has emitted a burning smell which you can smell throughout the whole house. Some times the suction is quite good, the next day it doesn't seem to work at all. Going back to a bag vacuum

This is a great vaccum, if you know how to use it. I had the same problem of a burning smell that a lot of people have written about, and the belt to the vacuum broke almost instantly. However, when I took it to the repair place, the guy showed me that I had the carpet level setting all wrong, and that's what caused the smell and the broken belt. Now that I know how to use my vacuum, it works like a charm. It comes with a bunch of different attachment tools and is great at picking up cat hair.

I bought this to replace my old Eureka upright less than 5 months ago. At first, I was impressed with the suction that it had, but disappointed with the "edging" feature. I had to use the crevice tool to actually get near the edge. Still, I had high hopes for this bagless cleaner.

I have cleaned and had to entirely replace one of the three filters since then as they are constantly getting clogged. I have to take this outside to empty it because it is so dusty and dirty, I would not want this in my house. I thought the idea behind bagless was that it was easier and cleaner to empty the container than to take out a bag and throw it away. As it is, I am in the driveway with a trashbag over the container every time I clean to empty it and struggling to put the fliters back in "just right" or the top won't stay on.

As was stated in the other review, it will blow dust all over your house.

I am VERY disappointed in this product and am ready to put this where it belongs---on the curb for the trashmen to pick up!

I bought this to replace my old Hoover (which I loved, and lasted me 10 yrs.), thinking I might like bagless. This vaccum was messy, loud and when I used a powder carpet cleaner it spewed dust all over my house. For the money, I would expect a lot better. I'm guessing to avoid the problem I had, you might have to change the filter constantly, which would become extremely expensive and wasteful. Considering I emptied the dirt cup every time I used it and it still was messy and dusty. Terrible, now I don't even want another Hoover vaccum.