A Nearly Perfect Hand Vacuum

By DIY Maven

About a year ago I bought a Euro-Pro Shark hand vacuum (model V1510). When I fired up the little thing, I was blown away. It worked great...for about 10 months. Then I noticed things started to get a little sluggish. The culprit, I deduced, was a clogged HEPA air filter. No problem, I’d just find a Shark dealer in town that carries them. No such luck. Okay, I’d just hop on to Euro-Pro’s website and buy a new one. The part was 12 bucks. Not too bad on its own, but with shipping it came to 23. Huh? That’s like more than half the cost of the vacuum itself. What’s a girl to do? Replace the part–and then in 10 months replace it again for another 23 bucks? No; I’d be servitude to Euro-Pro forever. Instead I started researching new hand vacuums. My goal was to find one that had excellent reviews and had low operating costs.

Enter the Eureka Quick-Up (model 71A). After reading several pages of reviews on Amazon, I decided to fork over the 40 bucks and take the plunge. About a minute after it arrived yesterday, I fired it up, taking it through its paces. I knew my assessment of the 71A was going to be positive as soon as I plugged it in.

First, let’s discuss its features. The 71A has something you don’t generally see on a modestly priced hand vac: it has a motorized brush that you can turn OFF. Cool, huh? But why turn off the brush? For when you’re vacuuming delicate things or using the on-board crevice tool, which stretches 3:1.The vacuum also has something called a Riser Visor that is flip-down-able, for vertical cleaning. Other specs include a 5.5 amp motor, 20' power cord, easy-empty dust cup and, although it doesn’t have a HEPA filter, it does have a clean-air system.

As for its performance, the 71A is impressive. The suction, when using the crevice tool, might rival most uprights. The Riser Visor is pretty handy, but risers don’t generally get that dirty around here. Although it did great job on my area rugs, furniture and stairs how would it on the worst spot in the house...the little rug on which kitty sleeps Again, the 71A had no problem picking up her long hair.

The 71A doesn’t have it’s faults. Although it’s billed as weighing ‘only’ 5 pounds, it is heavier than my little Shark. Also, the handle is rather chunky and, overall, the machine is long for a handheld. I’m telling myself that all this beefy-ness is an indication of its quality, so I can live with it. I did read some reviews that commented on how loud the 71A is. I have to disagree. It’s about what you’d expect. Actually, it’s not as loud as the Shark.

But what about the operating costs, Mave?? The air filter on Amazon is about 13 bucks with s & h. On the Eureka website, the part is $3.49 with $6.50 shipping for a total of $10.22. However, a local Eureka dealer sells them for about 6 bucks--in stock.

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January 25, 2008

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About: Self-proclaimed Maven of DIY, I'm up for anything from gonzo rehab to dressing a room. Although...