Dirt Devil Breeze Vision is a Disappointment

I bought the Dirt Devil Breeze Vision in April 2002. I was particularly interested in finding a small bagless canister vacuum to use on hard floors and a staircase, and this item seemed to fit the bill. Although the Dirt Devil name is a good one, and although the vacuum has some nice features, I am generally disappointed in its performance and poor quality.

On the positive side, the vacuum is compact, light, and has a large container to collect dirt. It comes with a 20 foot cord which avoids constant unplugging and it comes with a floor and a carpet attachment along with a small on board crevice tool and brush.

On the negative side, the hose connection does not stay connected. Because it is so easily dislodged, the vacuum can't be pulled along as one might expect. Instead it has to be carried everywhere. The vacuum comes with a strap for easy carrying, but one should not be forced to use it. This problem started happening very soon after purchase, and I was always sorry that I didn't try to return it to the store.

The vacuum does a nice job on hard floors but it simply does not have the suction to do stairs. It took me a while to realize that the stairs were getting dirty fast because the vacuum wasn't doing its job.

Finally, the vacuum quit working recently and on inspection we found that the cord is frayed at the spot where it enters the machine. Knowing the cost of repairs and feeling that it is not worth spending that kind of money (I paid $90 in Target 2 years ago and it's selling for less now.) we tried to open the body. Unfortunately after removing lots of screws, we can only get the body open half way. If we could easily open it, it might not be so hard to change the cord.

It seems wrong to me that the cord has gone bad after two years of light use. All of this have convinced me that I should have purchased a new Eureka mitey mite to replace the one that I had for many years. If not for my burning need for a bagless machine, I would have done that.

At this point, I think I'll start shopping for one of the 'stick' vacs or maybe a better canister. I doubt I'll ever buy another Dirt Devil after this experience.