PowerForce Helix

I had a Bissell upright when I lived in the US. I hated the "drag it around behind you vac" we bought when we moved to NZ, so I was delighted to find a Bissell upright here. Many years later, and abuse by the spouse (sucking up plaster dust) over time meant it was time for a new Bissell. Bought the Powerforce Helix. When I took it out of the box, I was disappointed to find all light, cheap plastic put it together yourself parts. Then I plugged it in. WOW! way better than the $1,000 Dyson! They spent all the money on the motor, apparently, and I'm ok with that. Our floors have never been cleaner. We've got both tile and a deep plush carpet, and it does both just fine. It's been several months now, and no loss of suction.

Two things to consider:

1. The cord isn't long enough - can only really do one room. I can live with it.

2. More importantly, the hose isn't long enough. I have to physically lift the whole vacuum up to do kitchen windowsill or anything off the floor, really. This kinda defeats the purpose of the purchase, since dragging around the Dyson was my big gripe. I'm hoping to find a hose extention on the site.

One more thing: there doesn't seem to be a place for the narrow head appliance. The brush head sits on its post, the too-short arm fits on its post, but there's nowhere to put the narrow head on the vacuum itself.

If Bissell fixed these issues, particularly the too-short hand held hose extention, it'd be 5 stars. 4 stars for the excellent, sustained…