Sum Guy wrote
Kuskokwim wrote

Are there any reviews by an objective, unbiased source (e.g.,
Consumer Reports)?

Yes, CU has rated vacuums:

I bought the Nov CR issue last night, but apparently it's not the
issue that contains an indepth review of vacuum cleaners - just a
table showing a handful of best performers. This is the Canadian
version, and the special Canadian insert that shows the equivalent
cdn models isin't even showing the correct model numbers.

I was going to buy a one-month access to CR's online website, but
when I got to the point where I was filling out my CC information, it
said that it was a _recurring_ one-month charge unless or until I
cancelled it, which I immediately swore at them. They just lost some
direct revenue because I wanted a one-time charge to my card, not to
have to deal with cancelling it so I wouldn't be charged for a second
(etc) month.

It would be nice if there was a code inside the CR magazine such
that if you bought CR at the news stand that you could use the
code to access the CR website for a limited time (one month?).

And just how long do you expect it would take before that ended up on the net ?

I purchased a Sears Kenmore "Elegance" model 23107 (black color) which
is same as 23106 and 23105 (purple and yellow). The Elegance black
model ($399 CDN, on sale) is the same as the US Ebony 28614 model
($288 USD). We get screwed up here in Canada over the exchange rate,
seeing how the CDN dollar is almost at par with the USD.

All of the sears vacuum cleaners (including the really expensive
"Blue" (US) or Intuition (Canada) have the same canister unit and
beater-bar roller brush. The Blue/Intuition has a beater bar unit
with a detachable hard-floor cleaning head, but all units have a
small powered accessory head for cleaning stairs and furniture.

There's a lot of talk about suction and hepa, but it's all noise. How the
beater-bar interacts with carpeting is where your real cleaning action is.

Not if you dont have carpet.

All vacuums have enough suction to bring dirt/hair into the capture
bag or container once it's been dislodged by the beater bar.