All right! Something up my alley... I am a vacuum enthusiast.
First off, know that most of the brands I list are more expensive than what you would find at Sears or Macy's, and that I would recommend trying to buy them used on eBay or something. Nonetheless, I would argue that their higher quality makes it worth it.
There are some decent brands out there. The three that come to mind off the top of my head are Miele, Sebo, Simplicity, and Kirby We have had a Miele Callisto for close to eight years now, and have been quite satisfied with it. We have two long-hair cats, so hair is definitely a problem, and one of the nice features on the Miele is that the beater bar is designed so that you can pull it and clean it in a matter of minutes. Strong points for the Miele include quietness, power, and quality of design and construction. My only complaints are that the on/off switch has gotten a little finicky with age and that the lid that covers the attachments storage area is sometimes a little balky in opening -- both rather small issues, and ones that I have learned to live around. The Miele (a German bbrand) is like a Mercedes-Benz with the durability of a Lexus.
Besides the canister vacs, in past five or so years, Miele rolled out a totally new line of uprights that is probably the sickest line of uprights I have ever seen.
The Sebo is another nice German brand, but I've never used one, so the only feedback I can provide on it is that it is supposed to be about as nice as the Miele.
Simplicity is a step down in price and quality, but still a decent vacuum.
The Kirby is a durability and performance legend. Here is an article about it:
Kirby Vacuum Cleaner - Why so popular? | eBay
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Quote:
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Most of our customers who buy a kirby are tired of buying a plastic vacuum that has to be replaced every few years. I have seen tons of kirbys that are over 30+ years old. Think about the money you would save. If you spent 200 dollars per disposable plastic vacuum and went through say 10 of them in 30 years. Or you spend 250 to 400 on a nice reconditioned kirby vacuum on ebay, then properly maintained it and it was your only vacuum...........quite a savings. The kirby vacuum is not a disposable vacuum and is sold new in the 1500 to 1800 dollar price range and even at that is worth it.
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