I went for the Maxima primarily because I am cheap. After months of watching my nearly four year old Dirt Devil miss fuzz or string or many tiny particles, we decided a new vacuum was in order.
I had a few priorities. Cheapness I already mentioned. Our house is small and we have mostly hardwoods which means that I do not want to buy a Dyson for a handful of area rugs. With the hardwoods in mind, I also wanted something that could do a basic sweep on hard floors as well.
Finally, I had been fed up by the constantly troublesome adventure of looking for vacuum bags with the Dirt Devil. This also was a major sticking point for me. I can’t remember now which size mine was (B, Y, U?). I do know that it was apparently the size which is never available in my local grocery stores or in my local Target, Walmart, Kmart.
So my needs drew me to the Eureka Maxima 4700A. This was a vacuum seemingly made for me. 12 amps-about as powerful as I have seen. Bagless, Micro-filtration with a very easily emptied dust cup. A couple of tools, like the wand I occasionally use on the floor moulding or on the grill of the bathroom fan. 25 foot cord. This baby looked like it had it all.
I found mixed reviews for it on Amazon.com, but decided that the majority of the negative reviews sounded either like inappropriate condemnations (something like, “I gave this product 1 star because it arrived late”) or the customer had received a lemon (“mine blew up the first time I used it”). In either case, buying locally with the option of returning it would solve most of those potential problems.
Hence, I am now the proud owner of a Maxima and I am loving it. It really picks up everything on the rug (something I began to doubt was possible for a vacuum when I was making excuses for the Dirt Devil-and yes I replaced the belt). It is a little more iffy on the bare floors. You are still going to have to Swiffer, but I wasn’t ever really expecting much. The Maxima was not intended to be a mop. So I am still simply pleased that it picks up large items.
The dust canister is really very simple to clean out, but every once in a while you will have to wash off the filter. It does cake up after a while and require a run under the hose or faucet. Also, be sure that you let the filter dry completely before putting it back into the dust canister.
My biggest disappointment was that I paid 69.99 for it at Sears. We were on a tight schedule and I had not seen it offered at Lowes for 60.82. With gas prices I was not going to be saving a nickel after a return trip to Sears and then one to Lowes. This would be especially true if I caught a lemon at Lowes after knowing that I did not already have one from Sears.
The Eureka Maxima 4700A has served us admirably for upwards of three months, and I couldn’t be happier.
