I just ordered my first steam mop, and received it 2 days after ordering through Amazon.com.  I had specific reasons for wanting it, and did a lot of research before making my choice.  I almost went with a Monster, after seeing one in the vacuum store, but... they were actually out of stock, which ended up saving me about $60.  After I came back home and went back over all the reviews, I went ahead and ordered the Bissell.  The two main reasons I chose the Bissell over the Monster were that the Monster's handle is attached at the sides of the mop head, instead of in the center, so I didn't think it would get under the toe kicks of the cabinets, and the reports of the handle being flimsy.  The Bissell's handle seems very sturdy.

Description:
It comes in a rectangular box, in three pieces: the steam mop base, and the two-piece handle.  Two included screws hold the pieces together, so all we needed for assembly was a basic Phillips-head screwdriver. 

Put together, the whole thing is about 45" high.  The mop head, with the cover fitted on, is a rectangle with a slightly curved back edge (I'm sure there's a geometric name for this shape, but I flunked geometry), 11" wide by about 6" across at the widest point front to back.  The handle fits onto the mop head in a ball and socket joint, allowing a full rotation of the head to get into tight spaces (but it won't fit behind the toilet, sorry, I tried). 

The cord is about 18' long, and winds around a pair of catches on the handle; the top one is a quick-release style.  This is long enough to do my entire kitchen and breakfast room, or the bathrooms, without having to stop and move the cord.   

The top of the handle has a downward curve set at an upward angle, with a control switch under the curve.  I've read other reviews that indicated the control switch gets tiring to use, but I think it's been redesigned since then; this switch is a very simple lever that you hold up to produce steam.  How much steam you get depends on how far up you hold the lever.

The tank holds about a pint of water, and fits very neatly onto the back of the handle, on top of the water filter.  It is easy to remove and replace.  The filter is composed of tiny green and white beads; when they turn blue, it's time to change the filter.  Using distilled water will lengthen the life of the filter. 

One of the microfiber covers was already fitted onto the mop, the other was included in the packaging.  I ordered 2 more sets of 2/ea mop covers, which arrived today.  All I had to do was add distilled water, plug it in, wait for the water to heat, and I was ready to go.  The ready light, indicating that the water had heated, took a while to come on the first time it was plugged in.  The owner's manual said it would, and that after that it would not take so long again until the filter was changed.  So far this seems to be the case; the next time I plugged it in the unit heated very quickly.

Usage:
Our kitchen and breakfast area has unglazed Mexican tile brick; it's currently unsealed, as we are not quite finished with a kitchen remodel.  Two bathrooms have ceramic tile floors with fairly wide grout spaces.  An issue on one of those bathrooms has been the cat's litter box.  As she got older (she lived to be 20) and her hips got arthritic, she didn't always get all the way into the box and sometimes missed the litter, which resulted in urine soaking into the grout.  (Here's a tip, by the way, original formula Listerine helps kill the bacteria that cause a lot of the odor in cat urine and spray.  Mix equal parts Dawn detergent, Listerine and water, apply, scrub, rinse, and repeat.  It may take two or three tries, but it really has worked for us.) 

I first used the mop in the bathrooms, after vacuuming the floors.  It did a very good job removing dirt, and further deodorizing the area where the littler box used to be.  It didn't help the tile floor of the shower very much; guess those mineral stains will take a lot more elbow grease.

Then I mopped the kitchen floor.  Wow.  This space is about 9 feet wide by 24 feet long.  The bricks in the floor are not evenly and smoothly laid.  I seriously doubt if any of them are really level.  The surfaces of the bricks have various crevices and indentations, giving it "character" or something.  (We didn't build the house, or pick this floor!)  And they are porous, in addition to being rough and uneven.  I have worn out every type of mop made trying to clean this floor.  These bricks are mop-killers.  The best way so far has been the old hands and knees with a large stack of old towels routine.  I'm too old and too fat to crawl around like that very often.  So far I've only done the area in the kitchen proper (ran out of distilled water).  So I can actually compare the "before" and "after" effects of the mop.  The results are very clear, and I am VERY happy!  The size and shape of the mop head, coupled with the center-mount ball and socket handle, allow the mop to get into the toe kicks; the swivel action is easy, even on these uneven bricks.  And the amount of dirt it pulled up was amazing.  I swear, it hadn't been THAT long since I'd mopped!  But the floor in the kitchen now looks better than it probably has since it was laid 30 years ago.

It does take a full tank of water to do my kitchen.  I used the sanitizing feature in a couple of specific places, which used more steam.  The unit does get very hot, and you will want to let it cool some before changing the covers.

One word of caution:  We have recently replaced our carpeting downstairs with hardwood laminate, Mohawk in the bedrooms, Wilsonart in the living & dining rooms and halls.  I'm not 100% happy with it, because it seems to always look dusty, streaks when it's mopped, and we have yet to find a cleaner that really makes it look nice.  I'm going to try a water/vinegar/alcohol suggestion I've seen and see if that works, but it won't be with the steam mop.  The mop's directions specifically say not to use alcohol or products containing alcohol.  I did use the mop to clean one particular area (kitty had an accident) and while I think it helped get the area clean, I do worry about too much water on the laminate product.  It's not made to withstand that much water, so if I use it on the laminate, my husband will be following me with the terry-cloth mop to dry it.

For me, the job this Bissell steam cleaner does on this horrid kitchen floor makes it well worth the price!

Update:
Today I went over the whole kitchen floor, including the so-called (on the blueprint, anyway) "breakfast area".  I started in the kitchen proper, where I mopped last week, and when I was through, I checked the cloth.  It was a little grimy, but not much, which tells me that 1) the mop must have gotten that floor cleaner than it's ever been with regular mopping, and 2) it seems to stay cleaner longer, probably because dirt attracts dirt, so with less dirt to start with, you don't get as dirty.  I used 3 covers to do the whole floor, and just a tad over a tank of distilled water.  It took all three covers to clean the "breakfast area" -- which has two outside doors, to the garage and the back porch, so it was pretty grimy.  WAS grimy.  Now it's so clean, this old Mexican tile almost looks pretty!

2nd update, for laminate floors:
When we first put in laminate floors last year, I mopped them all with a weak solution of Murphy's and water.  Then I rinsed the floors with clean water, wiping them down with a towel; the old handsnknees method.

BIG mistake.  This put a film on the floor that nothing seemed to get up.  I tried a solution of water, vinegar and alcohol, as someone suggested, and it was... better.  Not great.  You could still see every filmy footprint when anyone walked down the hall, and the living room, while better, still had that dusty appearance that has made me grit my teeth so hard.

I finally just bit the bullet, crossed my fingers and used the Bissell steam mop on the floors.  First I mopped a small area, maybe 5 feet long, across the hall, going with the "grain" and direction of the planks.  Then I followed up with a flat mop that I got years ago from Seventh Generation that has replaceable terry-cloth covers, drying the area just mopped.  I tried to regulate the steam so that it was only about half-blast, with the switch only half-depressed, to keep the floors from getting soaked.  I changed the mop cloths on both the Bissell and the drying mop several times.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!  For the first time, there are NO footprints or smears on the hall floor, even after several days.  Finally, regular vacuuming and dust-mopping will be all the maintenance needed most of the time, as Wilsonart likes to advertise.  I am finally happy we put in the laminate.

We're in the process of putting in new baseboards, so furniture is being moved around a lot.  As each area in the living and dining rooms is cleared of furniture, I do the mop-and-dry routine, and the floor looks better than it ever has.

And yes, I've ditched the Murphy's!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 89