Pros: Great suction and usability on hard floors, lightweight and small size, great price.
Cons: Filter clogs fast, wheels don't turn well on carpets. Better used as a second vacuum.
The Bottom Line: This would work as a primary vacuum if you had mostly hard floors. For those with carpet and hard floors, this is a great second vacuum.
cw340397's Full Review: Eureka 431A Optima Bagless Upright Vacuum
My Husband and I moved into a home with pretty nice carpet upstairs and no flooring downstairs. We installed laminate hardwoods in the downstairs and I quickly found myself carting our heavy Dyson vacuum up and downstairs every week to vacuum both levels. Then I had to mess around with wand tools to get the stairs. I didn't even know I wanted a second vacuum until we were at Big Lots and saw this cute modern green vacuum. I was attracted to it because of the modern styling and unusual color. Then I saw the price and suddenly knew I needed another vacuum for the downstairs.
You never think about styling on a vacuum until you see a really cute one: this Optima has a very large circle handle that is easy to grip and adjusts for height; a small footprint for easy storage, a small but functional wand with two tools, and a canister dirt trapper and filter. The cord on this thing is very long yet stores on the unit with very little space. The on/off switch is also the switch to turn off and on the carpet brush, an excellent feature when I mostly vacuum hard surfaces. The large floor/hose switch, however is rather hard to use because it is located near the bottom of the unit and it is hard to see which setting it is on while standing (black ink on the green body color is hard to read). If I use the wand tools, I try to make sure to switch it back when I am done as it is too easy to vacuum the whole room only to realize while rewrapping the cord that the vacuum was on “hose” the whole time and you didn't actually suck up any dirt.
When I first took this vacuum out of the box, I found to my surprise that it was fully assembled. For the price, I thought for sure I'd have to hook up filters, canisters, hose, tools, or cords but instead, the vacuum was ready to go right out of the box. I quickly unwound the cord and turned it on. I have never in my life actually seen cat hair dust bunnies race to the vacuum to be sucked up before. While vacuuming the kitchen, I witnessed two bunnies do this, despite the exhaust blowing directly out the front of the unit. I love this vacuum! On carpet, I turned on the brush and was very surprised to see neat, small brush marks on the carpet after one pass. Even the Dyson requires two or three passes to get that “freshly vacuumed” appearance.
After my initial excitement died down, and I began using the Optima regularly, I can say that this is the best second vacuum I could have gotten. It easily stores in the utility closet, the cord is easy to detach from the unit and using the vacuum on hard floors is super easy and fast because of the the incredible suction power. Switching from hard floors to carpet is fast as the switch for the brush roller is on the top of the unit. Switching from floors to furniture, however requires you to stoop over and switch from “floor” to “hose” at the bottom of the unit then attach your tools. Not a big deal, really. And the vacuum is so light weight and narrow, I can use it to vacuum the stairs without using hose tools.
As it is so light, it is oh so easy to take out to the garage and use it to vacuum out the car. The only downside to this use is that the hose isn't very long, requiring you to vacuum the driver's side of the car then go around and get the passenger side. But the vacuum is so light and the cord is so long that this task is super easy. The wheels on this vacuum are very short and seem not to turn very easily. It is fine while vacuuming hard floors, but on carpet it feels like pushing an umbrella stand. It's easier to just pick it up and carry it back to the closet rather than pushing it.
One downside to this vacuum is emptying the canister. Like other canister vacuums, the Optima feels it is “efficient” to filter your dirt as you are vacuuming it up. This makes for a clogged, dirty and dusty filter before the dirt can even fall into the canister. (Fortunately it has enough power to make up for the fact that it clogs instantly.) Emptying the canister is easy, you just unlock it from the unit and twist the lid off. Unclogging or replacing the filter is simple too, you just unhook the filter from inside the lid top. The directions say you can “wash” the filter, but I'd rather not wash my dirt so instead I brush it away with an old toothbrush. Doing this step in the garage can save you from putting the dust back in the house. Putting the lid back on the canister should be easier, but it can be tricky lining up the little arrows sometimes.
For the awesome price of this vacuum, I am very willing to put up with its flaws. In exchange for great suction and usability on hard floors, light in weight and small size, I will deal with dirty filters and wheels that don't turn very well on carpets.
I wouldn't suggest this as a primary vacuum unless you lived in a small dwelling with most if not all hard floors. For the typical home or apartment dweller with wall-to-wall carpet, this little Optima will most likely disappoint.
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
The new Eureka Optima offers the power of an upright at 1/2 the weight! It also features the ONLY soft-grip looped handle that adjusts to more than 8 ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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