Vacuum cleaners

Comment:

I purchased a Riccar N2200 upright in 1994! Yes 1994.<br />I STILL am using this vacuum, at least 5/6 times a week. I have had up to 4 dogs, making daily vacuuming a necessity. The brushroll has been replaced, as has the motor, once. It is finally starting to slowly die, because of the way my Riccar has held up, and because of the way it had helped me take care of my carpeting, I will only purchase another Riccar. It does not make sense to me to purchase a cheap machine that will not hold up for the long run, and the Riccar is the machine that is up to the task.<br />They are not cheap, but in my opinion, you DO get what you pay for.

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Bottom Line

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

Comment:

A little earlier than I'd like to review, but since the one review so far didn't seem like the same vacuum, I thought I should put in my 2 cents. (The other reviewer noted that the vacuum was very light, super noisy, and did not have air tools: all discrepancies with our Simplicity Synchrony. I suspect they have the Simplicity Freedom.)<br /><br />Initial observations:<br />1) Heavy, but maneuvers easily. We have a large one story home, so this is not an issue for us. Also, for those who need to climb stairs, there's a loop handle that makes carrying the vacuum much easier without bending way over or having to lift your arms high. It's more like leaning slightly like your doing an oblique exercise and toting it similar to a tall piece of luggage.<br />2) Really like the convenient on/off switch for the beater bar (Carpet/Hard floor) on the handle. Power on/off switch is also on the handle. We had an Oreck XL that we took back to Costco after it quit working after just over a month of use. And yes, we took it apart looking for clogs and such.) We transition from carpet to hardwood floors and tile, so this is a very convenient feature for us.<br />3) For those with frieze/shag carpets, there's an easy to use dial that lets you choose between auto, low, high, and extra high. The shop owner where we purchased our Synchrony noted that the feature was useful for shag/frieze carpet because vacuums with auto only can get too low and eat up the frieze/shag carpet. IDK, but it sounds good to me.<br />4) Air tool works great. Unlike our plastic Dyson which would tip over when pulled short distances to cover the whole couch, the Simplicity stayed in place and did a much better job. On another side note, the Dyson air hose would come loose at the base and it would lose it's highly marketed suction ability. Not too much of a problem at first, but the slightest tug in normal vacuuming with the tools would cause this after a little over a year. Our Dyson lost complete suction ability when a plastic piece that mates the up and down track broke. Since it was part of the molded body of the vacuum, there was no easy fix.<br />5) We used the Simplicity at my Mom's house and it cleans so much better than her Hoover. (BTW, I don't get the high ratings on the Hoover. After owning one about ten years ago and using my mom's more recently, I'm not the least impressed with Hoover.) <br />6) Noise, based on the other review, I winced while turning it on expecting something akin to a Boeing 747 at takeoff. However, it was not any noisier than our Dyson and wasn't as noisy as our old Oreck XL or my Mom's Hoover.<br />7) We haven't owned ours long enough to comment on reliability, but it's my understanding that these are essentially the same vacuum (same factory and components as the Riccar vacuums), and the reviews I've read on those seemed encouraging enough for me.<br />8) We have two dogs: a Golden Retriever with long hair and a Vizsla with short hair and the Synchrony vacuum does a much better job than our previous vacuums. Also, it picked a lot of embedded dust out of my mom's couch that my mom's Hoover missed.<br />9) The bags secure reassuringly. Not as nifty as the Oreck's slide in and snap feature, but there are two hooks on the bottom of the plug and a crimp tab on the front that holds the bag securely in place.<br />10) This vacuum really does a great job of cleaning. I roll around on the floor and couches while playing with our 8 month old son, and used to always end up with dog hair all over me. Our house looks and smells cleaner after using the Simplicity Synchrony. I feel much better with our son crawling around on clean floors.<br /><br />I'll update the review if my opinion sours on this vacuum, but I'm impressed so far. Aside from cleaning better than any vacuum I've used, it's very solid, tracks really well, and is easy to maneuver. (By tracking well, I mean that it goes exactly where you point it. Compared to our Oreck that veered like a sidewinder rattlesnake across the desert, especially on our nice rug.) I suspect that's one of the advantages of having a heavier vacuum.<br /><br />The only other thing that would give me any hesitation is that Simplicity Vacuums only seem to be available in small mom n' pop vacuum shops. And, those places seem to be going out of business left an right around here. We live in the North Dallas suburbs, and the three closest vacuum shops had recently gone out of business.

How long have you owned it:

A month or less

Bottom Line

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.

(2 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

Comment:

My husband hates the noise and thinks I should use ear protection...it's that loud! It's pretty good at dog hair, but could be better. I miss having attachments, but that's the price I pay for having the lightest vacuum EVER....and that's what I bought it for.

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Bottom Line

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.