connell10's Full Review: Eureka 431A Optima Bagless Upright Vacuum
I just purchased the Eureka Optima to replace an old Hoover full size upright. Compared to the worn out Hoover, the Optima is far superior.
The Optima is inexpensive ($56 at Target) and compact, weighing about 11 pounds. The non-retracting powercord is long enough to allow a large vacuuming range. I would guess it is approximately 20 feet in length. The Optima includes attachments: a dusting brush and a crevice wand. The attachment hose seems sturdy and has a surprisingly long reach. One nice design feature is that the vacuum will not tip over while you are using the attachments. The hose is mounted low in the vacuum and if you pull too hard, you will just pull the vacuum closer to you.
There is a beater bar that is turned on or off for use on carpets or hard surfaced floors, respectively. As is always the case with the brushes on beater bars, it picks up hair and debris and must be cleaned occasionally. A nice touch is that Eureka made a "clean out port" where you can remove a cover and easily remove any objects that are clogging the base.
This is a bagless vacuum. I would estimate the capacity of the dust cup at 1 gallon. This is large enough to prevent constant emptying, and is close to the capacity of my old full size bagged vacuum. There is a dust filter, non-HEPA if that matters to you. This is the only drawback of the bagless design. You must clean the dust filter occasionally, or it will clog and dramatically reduce suction. I found it to be a little messy and difficult to clean. In the end, I went outside and beat it against my palm to get the dust/dirt out. Other than replacing the filter when it clogs, which would defeat the point of having a bagless for me, I can't think of a way around this. Fortunately, this doesn't need to be done with each use. When the filter becomes extremely dirty, you can wash it in the sink, up to 6 times according to Eureka. I must emphasize that the dust filter must be reasonably clean or you will lose suction.
As for suction, I have no complaints. Both the vacuum and the accessory hose provide strong suction (you turn a large round switch on the vacuum body to switch from floor to accessories). The Optima pulled up LOTS of dirt, dust and hair from a carpet that had been vacuumed with the old Hoover just a couple of days before. It also worked very well on my hardwood floors, the only issue being that the exhaust air blows out the lower front of the unit's body, sometimes blowing dust or other objects away from the vacuum. This can be minimized if you vacuum with the unit tipped back from vertical, but is a minor annoyance once in a while.
Eureka really pats themselves on the back for the adjustable round handle. The adjustablility is nice and when you collapse the handle to the lowest position it allows for very compact storage. The round handle is fine too, but to be honest I've never had an issue with a traditional handle.
There is a stair handle on the front of the Optima that makes it much easier to pick up the unit to clean stairs. There is suction very close to the edges of the base, so you don't leave more than 1/2 inch of unvacuumed carpet in corners. The light weight also makes it easy for use on stairs.
One thing I didn't really like was that the base does not have a release button. When the vacuum is upright, it is held in a vertical position by friction, and when I lean it back to vacuum, it usually just overcomes the friction and tips back. Sometimes I do have to give it a tap with my toe to get it to free up though. This is a minor issue, and with use, I would suspect it will loosen up a little. Perhaps I am just used to the full size where you push the release button with your foot and it tips back freely.
The only other minor complaint I have is the tiny hard plastic front wheels on the base. The rear wheels are good sized, perhaps 2 inches in diameter. The fronts are about the size of a nickle, and don't do a lot on tall carpet. The wheels are not height adjustable. Again, this is a minor issue for me, it is not hard to push this light vacuum even with the tiny wheels, but I suspect it would just feel better to push around with bigger and/or softer wheels.
I like the Optima's sleek, modern appearance, but on my list of concerns about a vacuum cleaner, looks are near the bottom. It did catch my eye when I was shopping with its vibrant green color - the first thing I thought was, "Is that a Kawasaki?"
This is a new model and I haven't used it long enough to have many observations as to durability, but it seems well made. There are no obvious flaws, and I "geeked" it pretty good (Meaning that I looked at it very closely because I appreciate the art of industrial design - like I said, "geek").
The bottom line is that this seems to be a very good value for the money. The complaints I have are all minor, and the Optima does everything I could expect well, especially in light the cost of the unit.
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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