Pros: Cleans carpets well; edge clean is effective; turbo brush is powerful; great for stairs.
Cons: Spits sand on bare floors; handle is heavy; the cup is messy to empty.
The Bottom Line: It's great for carpet and stairs, but the vacuum cannot be used on tile floors. The dusty cup changing is messy. I'm still deciding whether or not to keep it.
gbythelake's Full Review: Bissell Velocity Bagless Upright Cyclonic Vacuum
Update: It doesn't tip as badly as I thought it did:
I previously wrote that the machine would tip over easily when used with attachments. I have since discovered that if the hose is hooked under the lower hose clip, it will allow me to pull out the hose 9' before it begins to roll (it rolls rather than tipping, which is great). I wish the instructions had suggested this.
I was looking for a bagless vacuum that would perform well on carpet (including stairs and edge cleaning) AND on bare floors, and not be a mess to empty. After reading previous reviews, I thought I had chosen a winner. For carpets & stairs, it seems to do an excellent job. Not so for ceramic tile floors. Emptying the cup is more of a mess than I expected, too.
After my disappointing test drive, I searched Epinions, Consumer Reports, and the stores AGAIN, and I'm not sure I can do better than the Velocity at this price point. Perhaps the Velocity "Total Floors" would do better on bare floors, but I haven't tried it. I suppose no vacuum (especially at this price) is going to be perfect—Sigh—I was so hopeful—Still, this is a pretty good machine for just over $100 (w/ careful shopping)
We have a new home with VERY cheap carpet. My 8-yr-old Kenmore Progressive was dying, and my wallet was thinning from so many bag changes, so I wanted a bagless—after 9 months of vacuuming regularly, the carpet is still shedding like crazy. I may change to hardwood floors in a year or two, so I wanted a vacuum that would handle both types of floors.
Carpets—I used my Velocity on the main traffic area (about 3x10'). It was fun to watch a little wad of carpet fibers grow and spin around in the dirt cup with each pass of the vacuum. When finished, I checked the dirt cup (VERY easy to do). It held a wad of dusty carpet fibers the size of my fist, and about 2 tablespoons of sand (we live in a windy desert climate). I took the cup to the trash can, lifted out the wad of carpet fibers with my hand (there was a tiny poof of dust), returned the dust cup and continued cleaning. I noticed that the heavily matted-down traffic areas were fluffed up more than with my Kenmore, but not back up to brand-new condition. (Probably not possible with all of those fibers missing!)
I had never let the cup get full. Each time I emptied it, there was only a small wad of carpet and a couple of Tbsp. of sand. The 4th time I emptied the cup, it was a bit messy. After I removed the cup, a few dust bunnies (each about 1" long and 1/4" wide) dropped onto the shelf that holds the cup. The cup wasn't there to catch them. Now I have a dusty vacuum cleaner. I looked above the cup (where they came from) and saw a circular groove into which the dust bunnies collect and then lie in wait to drop on their hapless victim. I tried to clean out the remaining ones and made an even bigger mess—I wasn't covered in dust, but disappointed that I had to become so intimate with the dust (it was like talcum powder mixed with dust bunnies).
Edge cleaning—is effective, but not perfect. I had a half of a Cheerio right against the baseboard. I could not get the vacuum cleaner to pick it up, though I could see that the vacuum was leaving tracks VERY close to the baseboard, so I continued trying. After about 10 passes, I gave up. As an experiment, I used a whole Cheerio against the baseboard, and after 3 passes, and the vacuum cleaned it up. One out of 4 Grape Nuts pieces came up after 2 passes (the others never did). I also tried a piece of Kleenex (about .5 cm square) right against the baseboard and it was pulled up in one pass. From the Kleenex, I can only surmise that the vacuum will handle lightweight dust along the edges. It still performs MUCH better along edges than my old Kenmore. The Velocity claims Dual Edge cleaning, but I think it performs better along the right edge of the machine than the left (maybe because I'm right-handed).
Attachments—I have only used the Turbo brush. It stores very easily in the machine. The beater brush was surprisingly powerful, considering that it is suction-driven. I used it on my firmly-packed plush stair carpeting. I had to run it in several directions to figure out how to use it with my carpet's nap. (In some directions, it just skipped along the top.) I found that if I pushed the brush against the nap, I could fluff up the carpet fibers. I was amazed at what a good job this did.
The 14' hose was one reason I bought the machine. If the hose is not clipped into the lower hose clip, it has only a 3.5' reach before the machine falls over. (See update, above) I might add that if it does fall, it falls more slowly and gently than my Kenmore does. I think that's because of how the hose attaches to the body—the hose cushions the fall when the vacuum lands on the floor.
I had trouble getting the hose back into the main body when I was ready to return to floor cleaning. The wand at the end of the hose curves. Visually, I followed this curve to reinsert it into the vacuum cleaner. The body has a similar curve. When I tried to match these up, the wand wouldn't fit into the tube. My husband had to point out that I need to point the wand so that it curves back against the body, not parallel to it—visually counter-intuitive.
Cleaning stairs—The 14' hose worked very well for stairs. I set the machine against the bottom stair, with its back facing the stairs. The stair kept the machine from tipping over, and I could vacuum up to the 14th stair with the curved wand. With the extension wand added, I could reach the 16th stair with the Turbo Brush (then I'll get the final stair when I'm upstairs). The turbo brush worked well on the risers as well as the tread. It did well along the stair edges, too (using the front, not the sides, of the brush).
Cord wrap—I'm used to a 3-point wrap. This is a 2-point, which means many more revolutions before the cord is wrapped up. The extension wand gets in the way of wrapping the cord—It is placed too close to where the cord needs to wrap. I do like the quick-release levers for the cord, though.
Ceramic Tile—Want a nice sand-blasted pair of feet? If so, this is a great product. Sand spewed out the back of the machine and whipped past my feet. I tried the bare floor setting, as well as other settings. None of them worked for cleaning ceramic tile. (The rotating floor brush cannot be disabled in this model.) I've seen a "Velocity Total Floors" model for about $10 more which has a rubber strip just behind the roller brush and an option to turn off the brush—that model may be a better choice for bare floors.
Weight—The carrying handle made it easy to carry upstairs. When operating, the handle is heavy to heft (not so much for me, but I wanted the kids to do some vacuuming, too). The heavy, bulky body is common among bagless styles.
Noise—I can only compare against my old Kenmore. The noise level was comparable. There are actually two sounds, one low-pitched hum, one high-pitched whine, but neither requiring ear protection.
Assembly—It wasn't difficult to assemble, but the line drawings of the various hose clip parts were difficult to interpret (it was easier to look at the machine and figure out where everything belongs). Another reviewer had trouble inserting the lower hose clip. You need to push in REALLY hard before turning to the right. I was unable to push it in hard enough, but my husband was able to do it.
I followed another reviewer's advice—I didn't have a hardcopy of a Linens N Things coupon, so I used a Linens N Things coupon that I found online (20% off). Ordered it online, specified in-store pickup and got the machine for $103 + tax!
(The tax was cheaper than shipping charges would have been.)
Clean your floors with ease using a Bissell Velocity Dual Cyclonic vacuumUpright vacuum features an Easy Empty dirt container without messy filtersFif...More at Overstock.com
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