If you're like me and you spill Cheerios on your kitchen floor, you'll go for the broom and dustpan to clean it, not the vacuum cleaner, both for their likely proximity and ease of use. I know that the hard-surface tests feel somewhat unrealistic, both in terms of debris type and volume. Sand and sawdust don't require a brush like hair would, however, and therefore seemed to be an easy target for the vacuums, all of which, with the exception of the Dirt Devil, picked up at least 90 percent. Vacuum cleaners struggle with pet hair on hard floors when their rollerbrushes are disabled, and Cheerios are larger objects to pick up. I did, however, expect it to perform better with the fine particulate mix. I didn't really expect it to do that well with pet hair either, especially when I considered that seven of eleven vacuums failed at this test. After all, the $499.99 Dyson DC50 Animal couldn't pick up any Cheerios in the hard floor tests. I didn't expect the Dirt Devil to pick up a lot of Cheerios. The Dirt Devil collected 15 percent of the Cheerios, 77 percent of the sand/sawdust, and a negligible amount of pet hair. As with other models, Dirt Devil recommends disabling the vacuum's rollerbrush to clean hard floors so it doesn't scratch them. I knew that hard floors would be challenging for the Dirt Devil because they had been challenging for nearly every other vacuum, at least in some respect. The wand-release button is responsive, and I liked that the wand nests inside the vacuum body, making it conveniently accessible without encumbering other vacuum functions. You'll also note a fourth control, which is the wand-release button at the base of the handle, which unlocks the wand from the vacuum's body for use with the extension hose. In fact, you'll find only three main controls on the vacuum: a power switch and a brushroll on/off pedal, both located within reach of your left foot, and a switch that raises or lowers the brushroll's height for different floor surfaces. The Dirt Devil Dash was easy enough to use and I appreciated the no-frills controls. I thought the pedal was responsive enough and appreciated that it was easy to reach and trigger with my foot. This pedal looks almost identical to the one found on the Hoover WindTunnel 3 High Performance Bagless Upright vacuum. Similarly, the Dirt Devil comes with a pedal that turns the brushroll on or off. This control switch changes the height of the vacuum and its brushroll, but I found the switch occasionally stubborn and hard to move from floor type to floor type. Like the Electrolux or Eureka, the Dirt Devil's roller brush is adjustable, with four choices ranging from bare floors to high-pile carpet. It picked up all of the debris I scattered onto our hard floors, and I like the fact that it's machine washable. The Vac + Dust works much like a Swiffer would, only with the added benefit of a full-strength vacuum cleaner. I really appreciated this wand extension when using the Vac + Dust Floor tool, which is one of three accessories you'll find with the Dirt Devil the others are a 2-in-1 crevice tool with dusting brush and the Turbo Tool, designed for upholstery or stubborn, hard-to-clean areas. Then again, the Dirt Devil comes with a wand extension, which gives the added reach you might need. The Dirt Devil's hose is 6 feet long, which is not terribly generous, especially when compared with the Eureka's 9-foot hose. The wand nests inside the vacuum, with the handle serving both the wand and vacuum itself. Like most vacuums, the Dirt Devil includes an extension hose and wand, for use with crevices, upholstery, furniture, or detailing. The Dirt Devil features a 25-foot cord, which should give you plenty of lead to vacuum a large room or even multiple rooms, depending on their size, without unplugging the vacuum and switching to a different outlet. Colin West McDonald/CNET (photos) Katie Pilkington/CNET (collage) Each of these bagless uprights features dustbins with subtle differences.
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