Vacuums: Healthy Home, Navigator Liftaway, or Multicyclonic Pet?

I jut recently bought the Shark for myself. We put in an upstairs and I am not lugging around a vac up and down the stairs. It has really long attachments for the stairs which I thought was perfect. Then I vacummed. The canister filled up halfway when I did half the house. I was amazed. I didn't know something could have so much sucking power. It is rated against the Dyson Animal as being the equivalent. So now I know my old vac really doesn't suck anymore! (no pun intended). It has two different settings, one with the brushes ON and one with the brushes OFF, so it makes it nice to pick up the crumbs on the hardwood floor with out the brushes rolling and shooting stuff everywhere. I ended up having my MIL use it (b/c she HAS a Dyson) and she likes mine better than hers. Not only for the suction power but the ease in using the tools. I gave it to my mother too who said her higher pile carpet was almost getting stuck it was suctioning so hard (but then again, she's got some REALLY plush carpet in her frontroom....) and she said my father enjoyed vacumming with it immensely. I am really happy with this purchase and once the construction is completely over I will be purchasing ANOTHER for the downstairs to replace the one that apparently doesn't work anymore.....

Both my sister in law and I have the Mulitcyclonic LiftOff. She has pets and I have kids. So far I've been very happy with mine. However, I'd recommend getting extra sponge filters (there are two, a round one for the cyclone area and a pad that goes underneath) so you always have a clean/dry one ready to go. And extra long hose would be helpful. I don't think it cleans hard floors too well, so if you could get a hard floor attachment (along with the extra hose) you'd be in business!!! It does a great job. My sister in law has two long haired cats that shed TONS and the vacuum does well to keep up with all the hair.

I don't know anything about the ones you've listed except I think the Bissell Healthy home was listed in a mag saying it was a good buy for the $$.

I have a Dyson DC07 and love it! I've got 2 cats and 2 kids so I'm always cleaning it seems. We noticed how well it worked the first time we shampooed our carpets. The water wasn't as 'dirty' as it had been with our previous vac!!! Now we moved a month ago and the house supposedly was cleaned and shampooed by professionals......well, I've sucked white dog hair (we don't have a white pet!) out of the carpet in my daughter's room and tons of dirt out of the rest of the house so far and it's only been a month!! I've had my Dyson for 2 yrs and so far the only thing that has broke is the flexible hose just the other day. One call to them and I have a new one being sent to the house for free cause they have a 5yr warranty!!

I do wish I did more homework on the different Dysons as I had to buy some of the attachments that normally come with other models.

Good luck and happy shopping!
S.

Not trying to throw you off with the addition of another opinion, so take this for what it's worth ~

We have a Dyson Animal and LOVE LOVE LOVE this vacuum! It was SO worth the investment, that I would definitely do it all over again. I have 3 small children and a dog who sheds like crazy, and tons of carpeting too.

You can probably find a decent deal on these at Kohl's - with a 20% or 30% off coupon.

Good luck in your quest for a new clean :)

I have the Bissell Pet Liftoff which I just got in July. I have a 7 year old, a 13 year old and a Bichon Frise. My dds have long thick hair. My dds "shed" but, fortunately, my dog is not a shedding dog. I love my vacuum. It is amazing what it pulls from the carpet (and it also shows me how bad my previous vacuum-a Hoover Wind Tunnell-was).

I love that it lifts off so that I can easily do my stairs which are carpeted and used to be such a pain to clean. Not anymore. I did have to purchase a bare floor attachment separately for my kitchen and bathroom floors. I ordered it directly from the Bissell website for only $15 and the shipping was free.

Every couple uses or so, I will wash the dirt canister, the motor filter (a sponge located under the canister) and the cyclone part. It is so easy to clean and help maintain the suction power. My previous vacuum had a circular paper accordion type filter that you could not wash so you had to shake it off and it never got completely cleaned. It also was about $30 to replace which I would have to do about once a year because it would start to smell.

I am very happy with my lift off.

I have the Healthy Home it is great machine! We have allergies and the double filters are great. Easy to empty too. My only complaint is that is a heavy machine. Heavy to carry up and down the stairs. I have a bit thicker carpet downstairs and it is just a bit harder to push.