Eureka 4870GZ Boss Smart-Vac Upright Vacuum

We've owned our Eureka 4870GZ for a year now. We bought it after reading all the great reviews. It has definitely lived up to our expectations. So impressed with how it vacuums up all the dog hair (we have a german sheppard). It's just night and day over our old bagless model that broke twice (ie lost all suction power) and simply pushed around the dog hair instead of cleaning it up. Wasn't a big deal to go back to using bags. It's cleaner this way, and it's worth it to finally have a powerful vacuum that we can trust to keep the carpets clean for our child to play on. We're also really happy to have found a solution that's cheaper than the dyson.... Pros: serious suction, picks up huge amounts of dog hair without hesitation, nice design, inexpensive, reliable Cons: the annoying vent on the front of machine that blows off the cards/photos from my table when I come by, it's a tad heavy, and it doesn't maneuver well in tight spaces...luckily we don't have too many tight spaces to dea... Read more

I love vacuuming - really! But I used to dread it because this machine is so heavy. I am in my thirties and in very good shape (I run 20 miles/week), but I hated pushing this monster around. I notice that one male reviewer dismissed weight as an issue, but if you don't want vacuuming to be your workout for the day, think twice before you buy this one, especially if you have stairs or a lot of square footage. My place was a small two-bedroom apartment with no stairs, but I was glad to see the last of the Boss. (It didn't die, my ex took it when we split up. He's over 6 ft, runs and does karate, so the weight doesn't bother him as much.) Another drawback is that the nozzle at the end of the hose and the plastic wands are quite brittle and crack easily. On the plus side, it does clean very well. I found the power paw to be very effective for dirt and cat hair on the sofa and area rugs (the machine was too powerful to use the floor suction on my small rugs). The dusting brush is grea... Read more

Don't buy it!!! The step switch fell off all the time, since purchase. In the shop 3 weeks - still awaiting parts! The repair shop told us they have seen quite a few of these. After reading many blogs on this problem, I cannot believe that Consumer Reports rated it as a "best buy".

STAY AWAY from this model ! I thought I had thoroughly researched it, and I tend to believe Consumer Reports. So I fell for this and it broke after only 10 uses ! According to the repairman, the broken part was the Connector to the Thermo-Reset. Apparently this model vacuum is the one most often brought in for repairs. Other issues are: the heavy weight, the unavailability of replacement bags, and the complicated construction (a lot of layers). Save yourself the aggravation and do not buy this particular vacuum ! If you are not convinced by me, please read the very long and detailed review by a vacuum repairman, which is included in the 1-star reviews here on Amazon. He tells you right away that this particular model vacuum is truly the one most often brought in for repairs !

This thing is the bomb! Powerful, efffective, dependable, good-looking, what more could you ask in a man... er, vacuum. I've had this for two years and haven't had a thing to regret or complain about. I don't have stairs or more than one level, but I don't think this would be too heavy for me even if I did. It comes with the power brush attachment, which should minimize how many times it would have to be lifted on stairs anyway. A great value!