I am doing my first gear review as an intern here at Electrical, so I thought I would follow the format that Mr. Andrew Mason paved with his excellent Ettore Master Squeegee Professional Series review. I will warn you that I am not as funny as him, and will not try to be. I promise to make no jokes about the vacuum sucking. Just a good ole' unbiased review.Background:I will be reviewing Hoover's Platinum Lightweight Bagged Upright (with canister), model number UH30010COM. Here is the product description taken from the Hoover website: The Hoover Platinum Collection „¢ Lightweight Bagged Upright removes more dirt from carpet than other lightweight bagged upright models tested.* The unit also comes with a versatile, portable canister vacuum for floor to ceiling cleaning. Includes Hoover's best five year limited warranty. In case you were wondering, the asterisk is *Per ASTM F608. I dont know what this means. Maybe you do.The manufacturer's price is $269.99, which seems pretty reasonable for a good suction device. Packaging- N/AI cannot comment on this as I did not get the privilege of being present for the unboxing party. I will, however, link you to a video of someone unboxing Hoover's Type A Vacuum Bags. Even though these are not the same bags the Platinum Lightweight uses (it uses Type Q), I wanted to give this guy props for purchasing his bags before getting his vacuum. It's always wise to think ahead and be prepared.Documentation- 10/10Nothing to complain about here. The manual is very helpful and covers everything from assembly, controls, and operation to troubleshooting frequent problems. It is full of black and white pictures which highlight the areas in question in blue. The descriptions are well written and easy to read. Both the manual and the brochure are available online in PDF format for your digital manual archive, in case you lose it or spill coffee on it. Performance- 9/10I tested the Platinum Lightweight Bagged upright on the rugs in the front staircase, cat stairs, rug in front of the sink/dishwasher, hallway and lounge carpets, and the control room carpets. Lets break down how well it performed on each surface.Front staircase rugs/dishwasher rug- Excellent. The Hoover picked up almost all of the white crusties that have developed in front of the dishwasher, as well as the little leaves that people trail in on the staircase rugs, saving me from having to bend down and pick them up individually.Hallway/Lounge carpets- Perfect. The Hoover cleans like a dream. Silent in operation, it glides across the floor picking up all visible particles. It is extremely lightweight (less than twelve pounds) and has good wheels for transporting it from room to room. The cable length is very generous and I am able to vacuum the entire upstairs lounge without having to unplug and change outlets. The cable wraps around the back in typical vacuum fashion, and clips onto itself for clean, easy storage. I did not wrap the cable over-under (sorry Steve).Control Room carpets- Works just as well as it did in the lounge, even though the carpet seems to be a different material. I did, however, find it a bit difficult to vacuum the vertical carpeting on the walls of the hallway and the seating area in Control Room B.Cat stairs- For those of you who do not know what the cat stairs are, I am referring to the four carpeted stairs that lead from the laundry area to the kitchen. These get a high volume of kitty traffic so they tend to accumulate hair rather quickly, hence the name. If any of you have ever tried to vacuum carpeted stairs with an upright, you know how much of a pain in the ass this can be. The Hoover has a unique feature they call the stair cleaning handle „¢, which is located near the base of the vacuum. This is nothing more than a sturdy plastic grip, but it shifts the weight and gives you more control over your suction, making your day a bit easier. Because of the design of the vacuum, it failed to reach every corner and crevice, leaving behind some cat hair and undesirable remnants. Hoover seems to have anticipated this problem, and has thrown in a hand-held canister vacuum along with the Platinum Lightweight Bagged Upright. This is not some afterthought throw-it-in gimmick. This portable canister comes with a carrying strap, floor brush, dusting brush, telescoping extension wand, and a (gasp) crevice tool! Sayonara, remnants! Here is it's own product description: A lightweight, yet powerful portable canister is included for hard surface and above floor cleaning needs. With a crevice tool, dusting brush and hard floor attachment, this portable canister cleans hard to reach and delicate areas. There you have it. Hoover thought about your needs ahead of time and facilitated them.Aesthetic- 9/10This is a sexy unit, folks. Its sleek slate and silver bag cover is made out of some sort of synthetic cloth/mesh and is soft to the touch. It unzips to reveal the HEPA bag, which is made with HEPA media. HEPA media traps 99.97% of dirt, dust and pollens down to 0.3 microns for better air quality than bags made with standard paper of allergen media. The power button lights up as soon as you plug it in, letting you know it's on and guiding your eyes to it if you happen to be vacuuming in a dim environment. There are two settings, LO and HI, which make sense to me. Perhaps the most innovative feature is it's Check Bag Indicator, which illuminates when the bag is ready to be changed. I only hope that I happen to be interning on the day when that LED fires up so I can have the pleasure of changing its bag and knowing I made a difference.Customer Service- N/AThankfully, the unit has been running immaculately since it's purchase, and no one has had to contact Hoover. The website says that it includes a 5 year warranty, which seems to be pretty standard for vacuum manufacturers, including competitor Dyson. If anything were to go wrong during this period, an Authorized Hoover Warranty Service Dealer or a trip to your local Hoover Sales and Service Center should solve your problem. Should you have trouble locating one of these establishments, a simple call to the Exclusive Hoover Platinum Collection „¢ Member Service Line (1.877.MYPLTNM) should point you in the right direction.Value/Conclusion- 9/10I once thought the only vacuum worth buying was the Dyson Ball, due to their brilliant marketing campaign and various YouTube demos. The Hoover Platinum Lightweight Bagged Upright has shaken my beliefs and convinced me that it is possible to get good suction for under $400.

Impressive first post kevinhein. Welcome to the forum. Intern\_8033 would be proud.

SR-1, you brought up some good points. I did not check the carpets to see if the Hoover went above and beyond the call of duty. This information will be included in a follow up report, the next time I bring my magnifying glass and black light into Electrical.

If only you had a carpeted brick on which to test it.

The handheld canister vacuum looks excellent. It seems to come with a shoulder strap as well? If it was rechargeable battery powered for total portability, I'd probably be walking around my apartment with just that for cleaning. (Mind you, my apartment is small.) Even plugged in, seems pretty nice.Very nice. Welcome to the forum.

man, i've been looking for a good vacuum compatible with the cat stairs for YEARS.

kevinhein wrote:[...]as well as the little leaves that people trail in on the staircase rugs, saving me from having to bend down and pick them up individually.This problem could be ameliorated by people having the decency to take their shoes off before walking on the carpets, as is custom in many parts of the civilized world.Silent in operation, it glides across the floor picking up all visible particles.A slight issue with the methodology here. Fine, it picked up visible particles but did you bend down and feel the carpets? Did you check to see whether it was lifting dirt from the base or whether it was just picking up grit from the fibres? There's a difference. Granted its one you'll probably only recognize if you routinely fall over on the carpets or lie on the floor listening to Sleep's Jerusalem.I've recently switched over to a Sanyo 1100W vacuum for this exact reason. There is only a two year warranty provided but given that the machine has been operating for around 25 years, that hardly matters anymore. It will lift carpets from the floor and probably extract the nuts from a low-flying parrot. Not easy to use but also no grit.Thank-you for your review, regardless.