The other day, News Junkie linked (in jest) to the Dyson, a
$400 upright vacuum cleaner. From the page:
Dyson Telescopic Reach™
DC 14 Animal Upright Vacuum
The reason it costs so much is because it also acts as an animal pest control device, hence the name. Stick the long Telescopic Reach™ tube into a mouse hole and it'll snake along inside the wall, sucking up mice, rats, ticks, termites, and other assorted wall critters. The reviews say it works pretty well although you have to keep the canister emptied or the frantic clawing from the trapped mice tends to get on one's nerves.
However...
If you'd like to buy a normal kickass vacuum cleaner (and not go around killing innocent wall mice in the process), this is the one:
It's a Bissell Lift-Off. As an upright vac, it's got the usual power-mower brush built into the head that combs a carpet clean. 12 amps provides oodles of suction power.
But wait! What about those pesky cobwebs up in the corners of the ceiling?
No problem:
The canister pops off the chassis and becomes a hand-held portable. Pretty slick, eh? How they did it is very clever. It's one of those things that as soon as you see it you think, "How come everybody doesn't do it this way?"
Mine's a few years old and they've updated the line. The new one looks like this. It appears to be identical except for color. If you shop around, search for "Bissell Lift-Off".
More pics & info on this clever appliance below the fold.
Here's the main unit:
It has all the usual attachments, like a brush, scooper, extension tube and crevice tool. Along with the hose they all snap into the back of the unit.
And you know how the usual upright, even on its lowest setting, barely scrapes the carpet? When you lower this thing all the way down it almost rips up the fibers. And you know that spot in the middle that a normal upright misses, so you end up going over everything twice? This unit not only has an extra-wide head, but the brush is continuous all the way across so one sweep does it.
The unit also lays down completely flat for sweeping under beds, and the power cord has this nifty 'quick-release' thing where you can have it plugged in and going in about 10 seconds.
Here's how easy it is to empty:
And, unlike the Dyson DC-14 Animal Pest Eliminator™, when you empty the Bissell you won't have a bunch of frantic mice scurrying all over the place!
