A great "all-around" vac
Written: Oct 16 '02 (Updated Nov 07 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: light-weight, powerful, easy to use
Cons: can't take cartridge filters
The Bottom Line: This is a great vac for small to medium messes. Easy to use and move around. We use it constantly for everything.
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| natemes's Full Review: Shop-Vac 2 Gallons, 7 Amps 971-05 |
(Updated bit at bottom of review)
We have a large 16 gal. wet-dry vac and use it often, but we wanted a something smaller that could be kept for indoor use (no mud on the wheels--covered in sawdust, etc.) I tried a Shopvac brand "1x1", a very small 1 gal. vac but was disappointed for several reasons. It tipped over constantly, the on/off switch was inside the handle so that you kept switching the vac on or off when you didn't intend to, and it seemed a bit weak.
I found the shop-vac All-Around 2 gal. at the local Target (Amazon also sells them). It look like a miniature version of the larger vacuums. It is quite stable with wheels, the hose screws on so it won't pull loose as you tug the vac around. It came with a normal house vacuum type bag but I replaced it with a cloth replacement filter bag from the local Lowe's (~$5.00.) The bag worked fine but I like to just open the vac and dump out the dirt, rather than replacing a bag each time. The replacement cloth filter goes on easily and cleans easily. The hose is 6 ft or so and the vac comes with two extensions wands making reaching far or high places easy. The cord is a generous 18 ft, so you won't be pulling it out of the wall trying to get to the other side of the room. It comes with several nozzle attachments, all of which are useful.
We love this little vacuum and have even gotten rid of our old upright. The All-Around does a great job on the carpets and rugs (with the dual-surface nozzle we bought--has a switch that allows you to use either a smooth surface or brushes, very good), the hard surfaces, and the occasional wet or really messy clean-up jobs that shop-vacs are designed for. The vac is so light and moves so easily that cleaning awkward places becomes much, much easier. Stairs that used to be a real pain to clean are now easy, under furniture and bookshelves have also become easy to get at with the All-Around. This vac does it all easily and quickly without the hassle of a clunky upright or the bulk of our 16 gal wet/dry vac. It stores in very little space.
The dual surface nozzle is worth the ~12 dollars. The brush setting works well for hard surfaces--hard-woods, tile, etc while the flat setting is best for carpets and rugs. It is a wide flat nozzle that has a good surface area making vacuuming faster over larger areas.
The vac came with a slightly bent hose. I noted this on my registration card. The company called me with a week and sent out a new part--very good service.
Just few examples of what we clean with this. All the rugs and carpets in the house, the hardwoods and tile floors, cobwebs up in high corners, dust that accumulates under bookshelves and in hard-to-reach areas behind furniture etc, under the refrigerator, computer keyboards (with the micro-brush attachments, my wife's sewing machine and serger (again with the micro-brushes), and so on. It even sucked up a number of flying insects that snuck in when the door was left open--much easier than chasing them--just wait til they land and suck them up. Everyplace and everything that accumulates dirt but was too much of a hassle to do by hand or with larger machine.
I highly recommend this little vacuum to anyone. It would seem especially good for apartment dwellers because of its compact size. We use it constantly. I really think this is a great item. We could probably have just bought this and skipped the bigger vac--live and learn.
Update: Nothing bad to report-still only praise for this little vacuum. I've had several occasions to use the wet vac ability of the All-Around and wanted to report. We defrosted the little extra freezer we have. All the water, settled to the bottom tray. Could have taken it out and walked with it to the sink or more likely spilled a bunch on the way to the sink. With only a brief bit of prep (removing the cloth filter) the vac sucked it all up neatly and easily--emptying was a simple procedure. The less pleasant task was sucking out a bunch of water from inside the toilet tank. We needed to replace the innards of the toilet, and there was lots of debris and muck at the bottom. Much easier to suck it all up, dump it in the utility sink, rinse out the vac with hot soapy water and it's all done. This vac continues to be a real favorite for doing the whole house. Great, great product.
Another update (11/03) We continue to use this as our day to day vacuum and are very happy with it. It seems to do fine on carpets and wood floors, as well as going out to the car or garage for messier tasks. Still highly recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
natemes
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Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Reviews written: 72
Trusted by: 0 members
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