Tater wrote:

I've been borrowing a friends Dirt devil and really should get my own
vac, any suggestions?

Check the newest issue of Consumer Reports, March, 2008. Their
highest-rated upright is a Sears Kenmore Progressive Direct Drive,
#35922 or 35923, $300, but in 6th place (out of 307 uprights tested)
is a Hoover Tempo Widepath U514-900, only $60 (Amazon says $67). It
was slightly noisier and cleaned bare floors slightly worse. The
highest-rated Dirt Devli placed #26.