I decided that the next time I needed to buy a new vacuum cleaner that I would do some research and get a great one, that I would love! But unfortunately, whilst in the middle of clearing up a big mess the kids had made in my living room my current vacuum cleaner packed up and I was left with a floor half covered in flour.

I sent the hubby out to go and pick up the first available vacuum cleaner that he could find, and just prayed that it would last longer than the one that was now dead in my hands!

I only have 2 rooms in my house that have carpets in, so I was surprised when my old vacuum packed up as it was only a couple of years old...maybe all the raisins I suck up on an almost daily basis are not good for the mechanics?


What did hubby bring home?
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Hubby duly went to Argos and bought a Panasonic MC-E4061, he had chosen this model for various reasons.

1. It was one of the few in the price range he wanted which was less than £100 but more than £40 (deemed as too cheap to be any good in his opinion).
2. It was a bagless model, he knows how I always struggled to find the right type of bags for our now dead vacuum.
3. It had a function where you could fold the handle down to make the vacuum half the height.
4. It was a Panasonic, the name is one he knew and trusted for electronic equipment.

I had told him that I needed an upright vacuum as I'm not keen on the drag along type, it's just a personal thing of mine, I'm sure some people would prefer a drag along to an upright. I also told him not to spend too much, as I would have been happy to have a cheap one for then and replace it in a few months when I had done some research.


Trying it out
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Taking the vacuum out of the box I was quite impressed (although I wasn't too impressed with what hubby had spent, I think it was in the region of £70-£80 which was more than I wanted him to spend), it was a lovely sleek looking bagless model, in black and maroon. Hubby was quick to show me the button at the bottom of the handle that then let you swing the upper part of the handle down, which then allows you to carry the vacuum around with much more ease, and would take up less room in the cleaning cupboard.

It had all the usual parts that seem to come as standard, a little brush attachment, a hose extender attachment etc. I do on occasion use the hose extender but not any of the other attachments.

I started up the vacuum and thought that a jet had flown into the room, it was quite noisy compared to what I was used to, but was hopeful that all the noise meant it would clean up better than I was used to as well! There is a pedal on the right side at the bottom which you press to allow the vacuum to tilt to your required angle for use.

It works really well and my carpets have never looked so clean! So I have to conclude that hubby has done a good job, and the vacuum was worth it's price after all!

Also hubby insists on using this on our hard floors and laminate flooring, although it makes a huge noise he is happy to use it for this. It does work well and sucks up all manner of dirt from the laminate floors, but due to the noise I personally would prefer to use a brush.


Still going strong
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My vacuum is now over a year old and I have to say that it is still going strong, I often use the hose to suck up all the raisins and other crumbs that get pushed under my sofas and find this a very easy bit to slot in and out of the vacuum.

My children are 5 and 3 years old and make a huge mess, so this vacuum really does have a lot of work to do in my house. As you can imagine with 2 small boys I have often sucked up the odd toy and pencil crayon and can report that I have managed to retrieve said objects with no damage to either object or vacuum cleaner!

The filter does get fuzzed up on a regular basis, however if you give it a good bash on the side of the bin all the dust bunnies will eventually come out and the vacuum then sucks much better! The part that collects the dust is easy to clip in and out and the filter system that does need emptying regularly is easy to take apart and put back together again. You will find that the filter needs cleaning out long before the compartment that stores the dust needs emptying.


Would you recommend this vacuum to others?
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Yes I would as I have been more than happy with the performance, although the handle does swing down for ease of carrying about, it's not quite light enough to be moved around by anyone who is frail. I don't struggle too much with getting it up and down the stairs and I am a bit of a weakling, but I wouldn't want to be carrying it up and down more than 1 flight of steps!

Overall it does a good job, the filters need cleaning out a little more often than I would like, but at least it shows that the filters are working I suppose.

4 out of 5 stars for this one, if it needed less cleaning then it would be 5!