Dirt Devil (non Power Pak model) that doesn't clean as well as it looks.

I received this vacuum cleaner as a house warming gift and have to say that ever since then, vacuuming has been more of a chore than usual. I'll go through the type of floors I have, features of the vacuum itself, and why this little machine didn't quite clean out the competition in my eyes. To be fair, I should say that the model I have is not the Power-Pak model which features an electrically driven attachment for carpets.

Features, Ease of Use and Ergonomics
At first glance, this Breeze looks sleek and modern yet foreboding enough to send the dust bunnies in your house running for their lives. One of the greatest features is its canister design. Not only does it allow you to see all the dirt you just sucked up, it snaps off easily for easy emptying which negates the need for annoying bags. The only thing that does need to be replaced is the exhaust filter that the manufacturer recommends you replace every 6 months. The Power Pak model comes with a HEPA filter. The Breeze can either stand on its side and be wheeled around or can easily stand upright if you want it to stay stationary. The on/off switch, which is a huge bright yellow impossible-to-miss button, is very easy to tap on and off with your foot.

Attachments
My place is wall-to-wall low pile carpet with tile in the bathroom, kitchen and a couple of other places. So here's how the various attachments lived up to their intended jobs.

The Breeze comes with 3 basic attachments as well as with the obligatory extenders and hose (which has an irritating habit of becoming easily tangled).
Dusting Brush - This attachment is the shortest of the 3 and has a circle of brushes at its end with a large opening in the center where dirt gets sucked up. It did a great job of getting into hard-to-reach places and sucked up everything it came near. I use it mostly for corners and wall edges.
Floor Nozzle - Granted, I don't have a lot of hard surface floors, I felt it did an ok job of picking up the dirt off the kitchen floor. Some spots I had to go over again when larger chunks of dirt were present.
Carpet Nozzle - For me, this attachment is the show stopper. If you take look at the bottom side, there's a long, narrow brush that spans the width of the attachment where brush rollers would normally appear on conventional upright vacuums. On top there's a little switch that allows you to change between "low pile" and "high pile" mode. It basically raises and lowers the brush. I didn't find much difference in the Breeze's cleaning effectiveness between the two settings. Because the base of the carpet attachment is relatively small, it doesn't glide very well over my carpet regardless of the setting. This can make the back and forth motion very tedious and tiresome. Moving forward it was ok at best. But when you pulled back you have to use both hands if you want the head to keep enough contact with the carpet to suck up the dirt not picked up on the first go around. I had to go over some spots 3 or 4 times before it picked up the dirt. In some cases, the attachment sometimes came loose since I was pushing down harder and harder to get the thing to suck more up. I thought this may also be due to the fact that I was used to pushing a much heavier, electric picker-upper that made satisfying crackling noises as it picked up dirt. I’d say it’s a combo of that and the Breeze’s poor design. Additionally, this attachment just feels too light-weight and flimsy. I like to push something around that has a satisfying amount of weight to push around. (Imagine buying a computer mouse that’s much, much lighter than your current one. You’d probably think it was cheap and unsubstantial too!)

Other Comments
To add to the above, the Breeze doesn't leave the smooth, clean lines that a conventional vacuum leaves. I don’t know about you folks, but I really like the "just vacuumed" look. You’ll be hard pressed to get it with the Breeze. However, I'd be curious to hear what people who've bought the Power Pak model think of their Breeze!

You can visit www.dirtdevil.com for more details on the Breeze or call 1-800-321-1134 for questions.