Pros: Six power levels, ease of handling, close to the ground for under-furniture cleaning.
Cons: Although sturdier than S300, also means it's more difficult to click & adjust (especially wand).
The Bottom Line: Take the financial plunge--vacuuming will become a hobby instead of a chore; save the time you might have spent on other vaccs in changing attachments. It's easy.
lisandrea's Full Review: Miele S514 Bagged Canister Vacuum
I almost wept and held a funeral service for my White Star when it bit the dust--in the figurative sense. Of course, as I outlined in my epinion of it in 2002, Miele S300 Bagged Canister Vacuum), it was really good with dust--but this time, we had to say goodbye and thanks for sucking so well.
My husband, with every good intention, was suckered in by shiny advertising schlock and came home proudly carrying a new vacc like a cat who'd returned from the hunt with a dead rat in its mouth. He was proud but I was NOT happy as he brandished his catch--a yellow Dyson upright! Now, which part of "I LOVE my Miele" did he miss? I actually printed him a copy of my old review and asked him to make my a happy woman again after I gave the Dyson one polite tour of my house, then showed it the door.
I may spend a moment or two to give that Dyson an Express Review later because I quickly noticed several obvious complaints on the one night we spent together, but for this space I will dote on my husband's correct decision when I welcomed him back into the house with our beautiful new black, sleek & sexy S514. He tried to show me the receipt as an apology, but I shooed him away. I didn't care that it cost the equivalent of one month's mortgage payment. I was sizing up the body of this gorgeous machine. Between the Dyson & the Miele there is no fair comparison, anyway, because there is a vast distance between an upright and a canister, & it's more than the inches that rise or fall between them. Smaller is better.
Ah, yes. All my favorite features remained--bumper siding, retractable cord, low level access with large foot-control buttons, easily adjustable wand with 5 attachments. But even better! I now have the ability to turn the beater brush on or off with a rocker switch at my thumb, and six choices for suction power. However, as one reviewer previously mentioned, that power dial would serve me better on the handle, not on the canister, where I have to lean over to turn it. The only caveat to that complaint is that you probably won't find yourself needing to adjust the suction variance that often, so it's not a major issue.
The six power adjustments are indicated by white imprinted icons to designate their appropriate usage. The strongest suction (1200) comes with the hatched image of a Berber carpet. One level down (1000) looks like a heavy fringe rug's edge. Kick it down another notch to...well, what the heck is that supposed to be a picture of? I still haven't figured it out...(NO, I did NOT check the manual...) but it looks like a balloon being sucked into the hardwood floor attachment. Hmmm. Then the lighter floor rug is indicated for 600; 400 is the silhouette of a cushy chair; and 200 is suggested for curtains.
Oh yes, you could do the curtains with this baby--there is a perfectly wide range of suction strengths here. When you combine your high 1200 watts attack with the spinning beaters, you are guaranteed some serious cleaning power. Turn off the beaters, switch out the head to the upholstery nozzle, turn down the power to 200, click & pull out the wand to full extension and you're dusting down the drapery. Switch to the dusting brush & whisk spiderwebs out of the corners of the vaulted ceiling in your great room.
Here's the magic--this Miele vacuum cleaner is so easy to pull around a room on its all-direction smooth-moving casters, and so easily adjusted from one purpose to another that it actually BUYS you time--I swear! Shortly after replacing my S300 with this upgrade we had to move to a small apartment. We went down from 1800 to 800 square feet, so space-saving is an art here (thank you IKEA). Where would I put a Dyson in our new home? No chance, man. It would have had to become an artful feature in the living room full time. But when I click off the Meile's hose, & remove the beater head, I can slide the wand, heads and hose along the side of the dryer in my tight-fitting laundry closet. I just gently set the canister up on top of the dryer & it all fits in my teeny tiny "Utility Room" with no worries about scratching the steel.
To compare this upgraded S514 to my old gem, the White Star S314, here's a fair list of same/different:
*Since the rocker switch on the handle controls the beater brush, electric cables run down the spine of the wand and hose. This means the hose attaches to the canister in the shape of a circle with a hump--the power connector. Clicking this into place is harder than the older model, which could go together from any point around the circumference.
*Adjustable metal wand is a little harder to lengthen or shorten than our previous model. Other clickable buttons are also not quite as easy to press and release as the older version, making the sliding up & down less smooth as well. I got used to it, but it does take a little more stregth.
*All three accessories are the same or very close--swivel & endless adjustability in the dust brush.
*The sweeper attachment is a little thicker (higher above the floor) than the stripped down model, but is still shallow enough to slide under cabinets & furniture.
*I wrote the previous review when I was 6-months-pregnant with my firstborn. Now I can vacc with my second-born in tow in the Baby Bjorn carrier & still find it to be an easy ride all around. Oh, and my son loves to vacc, so I just notch the wand down to his height & hand it over--he's good to go (for a couple minutes, anyway).
*Because of electric wires running along inside the wand, changing the shape of the end, attachments from the Miele 3-series do not fit on this vacc, so the old canister got recycled/traded in with all her parts.
*Addendum to old review on the retractable cord--I praised it in 2002, but it broke in 2003. We took it to a vacc repair shop where they were unable to repair without some rather expensive parts, so my last 3 years with the S3 involved my hand-winding the cord outside of the vacc, and respectfully laying it alongside the canister in storage each time. I hope we don't face that situation again.
Just about every other comment on the previous review applies here.
I love it, I love it, I love it. And, thank you for your attention. Now, I think I'll do a little 1 AM vacuuming since the family & neighbors are asleep--my Miele is so quiet I don't worry about disturbing anyone. :-D
Oh, but one final thought. I have YET to pronounce Miele correctly. I never took German; I took French. Is it May-luh? Mee-lay? Mee-luh? My husband has it, but I say it differently every time. Perhaps if I love it so much that I'm evangelizing for the company, I should practice in the mirror a bit, eh? "Say it again, Lisandrea. May-luh. May-luh. May-uh."
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