Hoover LINX Cordless Stick Vacuum Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Hoover LiNX Cordless Stick Vac (Model BH50010) List $179.99 (3/17/09)
Pros:
Cleans well - on/off brushroll for bare floors or area rugs/carpeting, excellent on pet hair
Control on handle - easy to use
Charge indicator accurate & useful
Dust cup very easy to empty & clean (including baffle tube when necessary)
Filter easy to clean
Stands up to store
Cons:
Awkward on stairs - no stair-handle, must support from below. I'm getting used to this, and it's easier if I use my stronger hand for the machine and weaker hand for the handle.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Hoover Platinum CSV is absolutely shines in two areas: ease of use (switching from brushroll on to brushroll off, going between surface heights & types), and cleaning ability, especially the tricky maneuver of getting pet hair off area rugs.
WORD TO THE WISE:
I got this information from Hoover after my battery failed: don't store the battery in the charger. (I stored it in the charger and only took it out of the charger when I used it.) There is nothing in the instructions about this, but storing it in the charger can cause it to fail. It's OK to leave it several hours or overnight, but then take it out of the charger and put it in the vacuum. The battery will continue to hold the full charge no matter how long it is stored in the vacuum. (Thanks to the 2 year warranty on the battery, they are sending me a new one at no charge.)
Read on if you are interested in more detailed comments:
Price:
I am sure that with time the price will come down or discounts will be available from the $179 list. I know that the Hoover Platinum Lightweight Bagged Upright (another model in this line) which originally listed for $399 is readily available online for $300 now. (Nov 12, 2009 edit: Price has finally dropped into the $150 range!)
Battery Life:
The battery life is quite good, and I like the "fade-free" aspect of the product - it works at full power for the whole time. It does a much better job so much quicker than my old vac and I am more than satisfied, since I can get everything I want done in a single charge.
Bagless feature:
I think I finally understand why bagless vacuums are so popular, even though they are more work: there is something so satisfying about SEEING how much dirt and pet hair you have removed from your flooring. But however satisfying it is to see what you have removed, it creates an extra step that you need to perform nearly every time you use a bagless vac - ANY bagless vac - if you want it to maintain its cleaning power. With my previous stick vac, the dust cup emptied fine, but I had to pull the dust off the filter with my fingers to ready it for the next use, and occasionally use another vacuum to clean the filter because it was not washable. The Hoover Platinum CSV, however, is exceptionally easy to empty and clean. The dust cup empties from the bottom, the baffle tube is easy to remove from the dust cup assembly if necessary (which it will be, if you have multiple long-haired daughters), and the filter can be bushed off with a dry toothbrush and washed when necessary. Long hair does tend to wind around the baffle tube (part of the bagless system). Fortunately, that is easy to remove when emptying the dust cup.
Carpet Cleaning:
I have used (and liked, and still believe it is a good stick vac, although with limitations) the Eureka The Boss Lite Cordless (96 b)Eureka 96 B Quick Up Upright Cordless Stick Vacuum cordless (rated 4 ½ stars on Amazon) for years on my hardwood floors and area rugs for quick cleanups, so I have a basis for comparison.
My old Boss Lite was great on bare floors, but only better-than-nothing on rugs. (I used to kneel down and wipe the surface with a well-wrung out sponge to get the hair off my area rugs because the brush-roll on the Eureka just wasn't up to it.) By comparison, the Hoover Platinum Cordless Stick Vac is amazingly good at getting surface pet hair, dirt, and sock lint off rugs. It won't deep clean, but it will help to make the carpet surface LOOK clean, which is all I want for a quick clean up.
Ease of use:
Easily goes from one surface to another seamlessly, except for certain very lightweight mats. Rubber backed bathmats and doormats require me to lift the vacuum up off the bare floor and onto the rug, but it does a good job on those at cleaning them rather than sucking them up. It cannot be used on the very lightest towel-weight throw rugs with no backing, even without the brushroll - it sucks them up. With ordinary area rugs, however, the Hoover Platinum CSV goes up and over the edge with amazing ease.
Edge cleaning:
This vacuum has excellent edge cleaning. I don't ever have to stoop down to get that random bit of whatever from near the baseboard. This is a MAJOR plus when compared to my old stick vac.
Clearance:
The Hoover Platinum CSV will go under about the first 9 inches of furniture with only about 2 ½ inches of clearance,- you can't go further than that, because the bagless dust cup gets in the way. But if you have more clearance - about 8 inches (what my kitchen chairs have under the crossbars between the legs)- then you can get completely under.
Was there anything I liked BETTER about the my old stick vac?
Yes, I liked the way it hung on the wall to charge. The Hoover has a charging base which charges the battery, and the vac, while it stands on its own (a plus), does require floor space.

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