Kenmore Elite 81714 Pet Friendly Ultra Plush Lightweight Bagged Canister Vacuum with Pet PowerMate, HEPA, Extended Telescoping Wand, Retractable Cord, and 3 Cleaning Tools-Champagne

I own the same model of this vacuum from 25 years ago. I loved that vacuum more than I can say. Tried to get it repaired, but they no longer sell the parts, which is unfortunate. The newer one, though, has all the features I loved plus one that I really need, but didn't know I needed. I also own a Miele canister vacuum so I'll share some notable differences.PROS1. This vacuum has a light (and it the light is operational even when you disconnect the powered floor nozzle and use only the part made for hardwood floors). Mieles with similar price points do not have any light, and the light is really useful for illuminating where the dirt is under couches and under furniture, esp if you have pet hair.2. The suction is incredibly strong and adjustable. Could probably suck up a small cat from about 30 feet away. j/k but it's intense. Miele's has great suction too.3. The on/off switch is located on the handle, so you don't have to bend down. Miele has the power switch on the canister itself. Ostensibly you can use your foot to turn the switch on/off on the Miele, but I've had to bend down often to get it to turn on, and often the canister is far away, so if you want to turn the suction up or down or turn off the machine momentarily, say to pick something up, the location of the switch makes a big difference.4. The floor cleaning nozzle is two-in-one (one powered for carpets and one unpowered made for hardwood that just glides effortlessly and picks up everything on the first try). When I have used the (un)powered Miele floor brush attachment, it often makes smaller bits (like cat litter) shoot all over the place. Miele has a similar tool, but you have to bend down to change the nozzle head and it still doesn't pick up small bits on hardwood as well. With the Kenmore, you just use your foot to pull out the floor brush from the motorized nozzle. Easy and quick and no fussing with finding a different attachment and bending down to affix it.5. All of the attachments (including the powered pet mate attachment) are stored inside the canister with a lid. Miele's storage is flimsy and not contained, so I found that the attachments would routinely fell off their caddy.6. Power cord is retractable (same as Miele, but the button on the Kenmore is larger and easier to use).7. Both the suction tube connecting the floor wand to the canister AND the power cord are significantly longer than the Miele's. I have a very small apartment, and this still annoyed me. If you want to be able to clean without having to plug and unplug the vacuum regularly, the extra length is lovely.8. The floor nozzle on the Kenmore can almost go flush with the ground and the attachment still stays level so it can vacuum under furniture effectively even if it's quite a distance back. The Miele's floor attachment pops up (becomes unlevel with the floor) when you try to make the handle level with the floor. I do have to say, my 25 yo Kenmore could go completely flush with the ground, perhaps even lower and still remain level. So I'm bummed that the new one can't go completely flush, but it's still able to vacuum more flush than the Miele.9. Kenmore is cheaper than most Mieles.Having enjoyed most of the above features on my 25 year old Kenmore, I was disappointed by the Miele.CONS1. The canister and wand on the Kenmore are heavier than the Miele. The weight of the canister is annoying if you need to carry it up and down stairs. And although I don't have any stairs, I imagine the Miele would be easier for stairs.2. The wheels don't work perfectly on the Kenmore (they were fabulous on my older model). So while canister vacuums are always a little clumsy, I find maneuvering with the Miele easier.That's about it. I like having both vacuums, but if I had to choose one, it would no contest: I would go with the Kenmore. If money weren't an object, perhaps the top-of-the-line Mieles would match the features on this Kenmore, but for twice the price or more.

I've only had this a few weeks but it works really well, much better than my old bagless Dyson that was also a lot more expensive. Somewhat difficult to maneuver but I've gotten used to it. I like that it has a floor attachment and a place to store it in the canister. The variant I purchased did not come with an upholstery attachment, but I bought a universal 1.25" attachment and it worked like a charm to clean my couch.Cord length is more than sufficient and I love how there's a button to retract the cord automatically.Will update later on as I have more experience with the vacuum.

There are so many disappointing design choices in this model, that I was already gearing up to write a negative review.Then it died. Total cumulative usage time was less than one hour. The friendly customer support rep agreed that the PowerMate head I'd received was defective. There don't have any stock on hand. And, if they had, it would take 10-15 business days to receive it. The rep suggested that my best course of action would be to return it to Amazon.I chose the Kenmore Elite 21814 Pet Friendly CrossOver to replace our 24 year-old Sears-Kenmore Progressive 20612 canister vacuum, which had served us well until a few weeks ago.Pros:* The new model is a little quieter.* The suction control actually changes the speed of the motor.* The customer support representative was friendly and honest about my options.Cons:* The canister is a little wider and taller, so it takes more space in the closet.* The lump on the bottom to hold the canister on the stairs is a workaround for the fact that the canister isn't well balanced. I used to just set the old canister on its tail a step or two below the one I was cleaning. It had rails to ensure that didn't block the exhaust vent or pinch the power cord. The new one seems prone to toppling in that orientation.* The hose comes straight up out of the canister, which puts more strain on the hose, effectively makes the cannister even taller, doesn't swivel nearly as well (resulting in more frequent widing of the less-flexible hose). Our old model had a 360-degree swivel connection with an angle that made it much easer to tow the canister along and made better use of the length of the hose.* The handle assembly is bulkier, which doesn't matter (much) when using the wand, but it limits manueverability when using attachments.* The attachments snap into the handle assembly instead of a friction fit over the nozzle beyond the assembly. So you can't mount them in arbitrary orientations. You also can't easily use the nozzle to clean the lint and pet fur stucks to the bristles of the attachments before putting them away. And it's not compatible with the older attachments.* The dusting attachment is smaller and has stiffer, more abbrasive bristles than the old ones.* There is no longer a simple floor attachment. The "crossover" gimmick is the floor brush that fits into the PowerMate head. That brush is bulker. In the short time I was able to use the vacuum, I found places I normally use a floor brush, but the new one won't fit. And it feels like it might be a bit rougher on the floor surface as well.* There is no longer a simple fabric brush. I guess you're expected to always use the Pet PowerMate. The Pet PowerMate, in conjunction with the bulkier handle assembly, won't reach into sections between cusions as deeply or easily as the simple fabric brush would. I almost never used the old PowerMate Jr. (which was a bit larger and a lot heavier than the Pet PowerMate) because it wasn't any better than a simple fabric brush. Heck, I even used the fabric brush for carpeted stairs.* The fan blade duster is probably fine, but I don't think it's useful enough to justify the space it takes up in the attachments compartment.* The crevice tool is substantially shorter, so there are places it cannot reach as effectively. And instead of residing in the attachment compartment, it clips onto the already-too-cumbersome handle assembly. And good luck putting it back there without checking the illustration in the users manual the first several times.* I'm not a fan of the swivel mechanism where the wand attaches to the combo floor brush and the PowerMate head. The worst problem is that it severely restricts how far down you can bring the wand (as does the handle). The old model allowed lowering the wand until it was all-but-parallel with the floor, allowing you extended reach under beds, sofas, dressers, etc.* The swivel mechanism makes it hard to vacuum in straight lines when you want to.* The pile height adjustment pedal took a lot of force, and it often wouldn't advance the mechanism quite enough for it to snap into the next level.* The little rollers on the back don't seem as effective as the corner-mounted wheels on the old PowerMate heads.* On forward strokes, the PowerMate head is very hard to push, as if the front of the head wants to nosedive into the carpet. On the back strokes, it's much easier to pull but it doesn't pick up well. This was especially true on area rugs, even with the suction at the lowest level and the pile height adjustment set to high.* Comparing the underside of the new and old PowerMate heads, there's no obvious difference between the edge-cleaning abilities. In practice, however, the edge cleaning with the new model seems ineffective within 1/2 to 3/4" of the baseboard.* The dirt sensor seems to have some lag. When vacuuming up crumbs or sand, you can here ticking noises as the bits hit the sides of the metal tube. But that feedback is almost entirely out of sync with the dirt sensor light. After going over sections of carpet several times from multiple angles, the dirt sensor will often indicate each time you change directions (e.g., push-to-pull). Either it was wrong, or the vacuum didn't do a good job on the first six-to-eight passes.Neutrals:* The telescoping wand is fine, but the old wands were the right height for me. I suppose if you were taller or shorter, you might appreciate the flexibility.* Putting a light on the wand makes some sense, because you can, in theory, use it with attachments other than the PowerMate head. But it's not great angle for seeing what's ahead of the attachment. And should I have to use "carpet mode"?* The prefilters are identical to the 25-year-old ones, so they are readily available and inexpensive. The exhaust filters are larger.

I'll start with the bad. This has one terrible flaw between the handle and the powerhead. The handle will tilt right or left, but it does not swivel the head in any direction. So, as you're vacuuming back and forth, the head just wants to go the same direction. You pull back and turn the handle to hopefully push forward and slightly change direction. No. It doesn't work. The other downside is that it's heavy. Heavier than my battery powered Dyson. Now for the good. The power and suction seem to be better than my Dyson. The powerhead is able to get deep down in the carpet. The case is designed amazingly to hold ALL of the attachment perfectly. So, you're not ever looking around for an attachment. The powerhead for upholstery is very nice. You also don't run out of power. So, when I want a quick touch up, I'll use the dyson. When I want to do a deep clean I pull this out. But, I really hate the non directional power head.