dirt devil sd20505 customer reviews when looking to invest in major householdappliances, i find consumer reports to be helpful as well as consumer reviews on sitessuch as amazon. i always wonder when i read consumer reviews if they were written by apaid hack (for positive reviews) or by the competition (for negative reviews). i findif i put the two together i can get the clearest picture of what a product can and can notdo for me. i wanted a lightweight vacuum for quick cleaninghard surfaces that was still a powerhouse that could get the job done, so i looked vacuumsup on consumer reports. cs pegged this vacuum as the best performing vac in its class.
it has a larger than average motor for moresuction power and having a cord instead of a battery pack means it's lightweight butdoes not lose its power over time the way all rechargeable models can. the cord is alsoable to support the afore mentioned larger motor. the problem reported by users of this vacuum'spredecessor was that the positioning of the exit vents had a tendency to blow dust bunniesaround. they must have fixed that problem on this model because while using it overthe past year, i have had no such trouble with dust bunnies or their demonic cousinsthe large dust jackrabbits. the suction is excellent. basically when itcomes to vacuums, you actually *want* yours
to suck. some make the complaint this vacuumis it's noisy. yeah . . . news flash, it's a vacuum. it makes almost the same amountof noise as a full size vacuum because the motor is almost the same size as a regularvacuum. more suction means more noise but more suction also means less time going backand forth to pick up dirt. when it comes to noise vs time spent, i will choose less timespent cleaning every time. if you want something quiet, my granny had this little push thingthat silently picked up crumbs. as a child, i could never figure out where those crumbswent. perhaps to another dimension? as a side note, i had major renovations doneon my house recently. the contractor brought his industrial vacuum with him but all theworkers preferred my little stick vac. sucks
great, empties easily, lightweight to easilycarry from place to place. even after that huge workout my little stick vac still worksgreat! i don't want to say i'm in love with a vacuum but this stick vac and i are definitelyin a very happy relationship. another review from a happy customer if you're looking for a quick rating of thedirt devil's performance, it gets five stars. but as they say, the devil is in the details.below is a brief overview, with discussion to follow. pros:* very powerful suction * assembles quickly* large dirt cup capacity
* removal of dirt cup is fast* fairly quiet * electric cord length is about 20'* sturdy wheels * low-profile cleaning head* capable of hanging storage cons:* replacement of dirt cup requires precision * weight of vacuum a factor in some cases* plastic casing if you are accustomed to a battery poweredstick vacuum, you will be pleasantly surprised at the performance of this electric powered,lightweight, stick vacuum. it has the ability to pick up small and larger pieces of dirton both hard floors and those with carpeting. (it performed beautifully on tile floors,oriental rugs, and thickly padded, dense carpeting.)
and this is despite not having a vacuum'straditional beater bar with bristles. it does have a toothed, small, rubber strip that mayassist in lifting dirt to be sucked into the unit. to assemble, simply attach the cleaning headto the unit. the handle (stick) clicks into place and is attached to the vacuum. dependingon your proficiency, this can take from one to three minutes. the dirt cup is located on the front of theunit. that makes it very easy to remove and empty. however, replacing it is not so easyand fast. i couldn't align the cup to the unit by bending over the vacuum. to do it,i had two choices. i could put the vacuum
on the kitchen counter (not hygienic) or,put the stick under my arm with the unit resting against my body. in that position, i couldsee how to align the two pieces. being short, this may be a problem only for me and notfor most consumers. four plastic wheels move this vacuum; twotiny ones at the front of the cleaning head and two much larger ones in the rear. nothaving rubber wheels means no residue peeling off as you vacuum--a definite plus. the cleaning head is 1 â½" in height. thislow profile means that getting under a low sitting piece of furniture is possible. thecenter of the head is higher so, only one-half of the head will fit. that gives you severalinches of clearance to clean. beyond that,
you would have to move the piece of furniture.if you've ever thoroughly vacuumed, leaving a visible dust line just under a hard-to-reachitem, you'll appreciate this feature. the electric cord length is ample for cleaninga generously-sized area. of course, it needs to be relocated as you move from space tospace. the cord probably won't stretch up a flight of stairs, but the unit's weight(about seven pounds) might discourage you from using it there. the cord stores neatlywhen wrapped in the place provided. storage should not be a problem. it standsupright on its own. its size makes it an excellent choice for those with little storage capacity.additionally, the manufacturer has thoughtfully provided a very large `o' at the top of thestick, for storing the vacuum in a hanging
position. a possible negative feature may be the vacuum'splastic casing. it doesn't appear to be very strong. for example, hanging it on my garagewall with heavier items, means that i have to be very careful to not let them touch oneanother, for fear of cracking the vacuum's casing. or, if i hang it and it falls, willit still be useable? think of where you store bikes, carriages, strollers, suitcases, sportsequipment, etc. and try to keep them from your dirt devil. overall, this stick vacuum is devilishly good. i have owned a couple of dirt devil vacuumsin the past but this is the first corded stick
style i have experienced from this brand.i had issues in the past with the dirt devils losing suction after only a few months. notso with this model after almost 3 months of constant use. my home has laminate wood flooring all throughout.i have 2 furry papillon dogs and one cat who is always shedding. i have to do major vacuumingwith my electrolux full sized vacuum at least once a week but have been using the dirt devilevery other day to manage the pet hair as well as all the litter the cat tracks outof her box. the power air does a good job of sucking upeven large tufts of fur. it has an 11 inch head but actual suction area is only 4" centeredin the middle of the head. i am not sure why
the action suction area is only 4". thereis a rubber flap edge to help move along the debris toward the 4" opening. i guess thatdoes its job but it is already starting to show some wear and i am not sure it wouldreally affect the overall performance of the vacuum if it was completely gone. there is no roller brush mechanism in thehead so i don't have to clean hair or string off it like i do with my full sized electrolux.i do have to pull fur and things off the little plastic wheels however, pretty much everytime i use it. since there is no roller brush mechanism i would not recommend this for useon carpets (in fact, it clearly states on the vacuum that it is designed for hard floorsurfaces). the power air fits under my cabinets
and gets all the debris right along the edgeswell. it also fits under most of my furniture. i keep the power air in a utility closet upstairsclosest to where the cat's litter box is located and use it daily there. the handle has aneye at the end so i can store it on a hook and it rests flat against the wall. i thinkthat was a good design feature. the debris canister is simple to remove andempty. sometimes it requires a quick wipe out with a paper towel, depending on how muchlitter got vacuumed up that day. some people have mentioned that it seemedheavy. it doesn't to me. i have no problem cleaning my stairs with it (even with onehand). some fellow reviewers have mentioned that the vacuum is quiet. i don't know ifi am just auditory sensitive but i think it
is fairly loud but that is something i justexpect from a vacuum. if i had any complaint it would be that the cord is too short. i see that the price has come down here onamazon. i am seriously considering buying a second one to store by the kitchen to usein place of a broom and dustpan for nightly kitchen cleanups. i'll try and talk about what i like most aboutthe sd20505. i've included a picture of the filter assembly which is completely detachablefrom the "body" of the vacuum cleaner and can be taken apart individually to clean.why this was so important to me is because my previous vacuum(s) all had difficult toclean dust bin / filter(s) that would eventually
hamper the effectiveness of the vacuum overtime. the design of this particular vacuum allows easy access to the dust bin to notonly empty dust through the trap door at the bottom, but to completely remove the individualcomponents that make up the assembly for deep cleaning. that means after a few sessionsof running the vacuum i can simply take apart everything and give it a through clean withhot water without having any nastiness stuck in between the little grooves and crevices.anyone who's had a foul smelling vacuum in the past knows that a hard to clean dust bin/ filter can develop mold or bacteria growth if left unchecked. pre-filter(s) are alsocheap and plentiful here on amazon and the recommended life change of one is 6 months.
other than that i will echo the other statementsmade by reviewers here that the vacuum is indeed very strong and quite loud. definitelynot something you can use very early in the morning if you don't want to wake everyoneup. i also see no reason why this vacuum could not power though stiff "cut pile" carpets;just keep in mind it has no roller brush on the bottom for hair but should work well enoughfor general dirt and dust. i'm really happy with my purchase so far;i'll update my review down the road if any mechanical issues arise. first off, let me say that if you are lookingfor a high-powered vacuum that will pick up dirt as well as a heavier, more expensivemodel, you will be disappointed. however,
if you are looking for a moderate upgradeto a "dust buster" style hand vacuum, you will likely be pleased with this one. we boughtit to keep in our finished basement, as we rarely seemed to muster up the motivationto carry down the heavier full sized vacuum we keep upstairs. this vacuum works well enoughfor 90% of our vacuuming needs in the basement, although we will still need to use the fullsized vacuum every once in a while for a deeper clean. we use it mostly to vacuum up cat litterand other dirt on smooth floors and low pile carpet. it works well enough on this task,although we sometimes have to "pass" over spots several times to fully pick up everygrain of cat litter. this vacuum also works moderately well on normal-pile carpet, providinga light surface level cleaning. what i liked
about this vacuum over other similar modelsis that this model has a small manual rotating brush that helps to scoop debris towards theopening (a kind of manual beater bar). as you push the vacuum, the brush rotates dueto friction with the floor. imo this is an upgrade to similar models that just have aslit that the debris gets sucked into without any brush to help guide it. the cord on thisvacuum is plenty long, and emptying the dirt tank is easy - we find we need to empty itabout every other vacuuming job. overall, this vacuum met our expectations for an inexpensive,light-duty vacuum to use in the basement, and it dramatically reduces the number oftimes we need to lug down the heavier vacuum. this thing is like an original dust busterwith a jet engine. it's all lightweight plastic,
and i worry a little about longevity (beenusing it almost daily for a few months) but so far it's been great. what i used to dowith a broom, takes a fraction of the time with this noisy little thing. yes, it's loud,don't use it while kids or roomies are napping, but it sucks up everything i've aimed it atso far. it has removed ages of tiny dirt from between the old floor boards, and also gobblesup bits of food and crumbs leftover from meals around the base of the high chair. it's "looks"like a lot of fun to use, so i can usually huck finn my 5-year old into running it. emptying the canister can be slightly lessthan effortless, depending on what kind of gunk you've sucked up. a few gentle taps onthe side of the trash can usually does it.
the filter is supposed to be washable... ithink... so far i have just taken the hose of the other vacuum and given the filter ofthis thing a once-over. seems to work well with the occasional filter cleaning. for years i used an early-generation dysonand thought it was great. when it came time to replace it, ("never loses suction" mayhave an expiration date of about 7 years.) i didn't want to spend $$$ on a vac that doesevery floor. "settled" with this thing for the hardwood and an inexpensive hoover forthe carpet. the reality is i don't end up vacuuming the whole house at once, i do oneor two rooms at a time throughout the week as-needed. with this thing, i only have tolug around the amount of vacuum i actually
need. better product and value than i expected orhoped for!! i have all hard floors, own a white cat, and hated trying to use a broomand dustpan to sweep since that just seemed to fan the fur and dust around. this vacuumis amazing! it has enough power to pick up everything, and is lightweight enough to bevery easy to use. it's very easy to maneuver and even has what looks somewhat like miniaturesqueegee on the bottom to (i assume) keep dirt and dust from being blown out the back.that, combined with the 10 amp motor, might be part of the reason the suction is so powerful.i love that it has a filter, is bagless, and is very easy to empty. it even gets everythingout of the corners! not only does it get all
the regular dirt and dust bunnies, it alsogets all the dust and every little piece of cat litter from around the litter box area.that was always a challenge with the broom and dust pan. i tried a swiffer before aswell, but i was still following up with the broom and dust pan. i am so glad i chose thisitem!! i would recommend it to anyone. we just moved into a small home where thereis no carpet. it's all that nice linoleum that looks like hardwood flooring.we decided to grab this unit because of our dog who sheds his short coat like crazy. (inonly a few days, we already saw doggy "dust bunnies" in some of the corners.) anyway, we received the unit and it was easilyput together. (i still read the short user
manuals.) all the pieces clicked into placeand was ready to go. the cord is long and i was able to plug it in and reach far. itis hefty but not heavy. light but not flimsy. if felt right and when i turned it on, itwas a bit loud. (we don't have any carpet, remember?) but talk about power! this thing is greatand i can feel the suction as i easily glide this over the floor. we purposely swept ourplace beforehand to see if this thing would pick up what we missed. it sure did! we sawdog hair and debris picked up and collected in the canister. the canister is so very easy to empty. i triedemptying it by holding the entire unit over
the trash and pushed the button.i also tried it by removing the canister. replacing the canister is not tricky. justpay attention (and read the manual) and you should be okay. again, since we had no carpet, we had a fewshort rugs lying around. although this unit isn't for use on carpet, we tried glidingit over the short carpet and we were met with the expected resistance. you can feel it suckon the carpet really well, yet it didn't suck so much that it removed the carpet from thefloor. the price is just great for this unit. i expectedto pay 2-3 times as much. oh and one other thing...(1 day) prime isjust great. i actually ordered my unit online
on a late saturday afternoon and i expectedto receive my unit on monday. but, i was pleasantly surprised to find this unit on my doorstepthe very next day. (sunday!) if it had a swivel head, it would be nearperfect for a $50 vac. i've been disappointed by more vacs than politicians.so i'm not an easy sell with vacs. i like this one. it has two large wheels and two small nylonrollers in front to keep the head from scratching a hardwood floor. suction is strong due tothe strong motor. i know it's fashionable to have a stick vac with the motor near yourhand--this seems bass ackwards to me. i'd rather have the weight on the floor than carryit around. besides strong suction, the filter
capture very fine particles. most times youcan just tap it against the garbage can to remove most of the accumulation. you can alsorinse it with water--be sure to let it dry before putting back in vac. the standard toe-kick at the bottom of kitchencabinets is about 3: (the toe kick allows you to stand next to your base cabinets withoutstubbing your toes.) the vac head width beyond the width of the motor chamber is just enoughto reach under the toe-kick if you run the vac fully sideways along the cabinet base--alittle more room here would be good. one reviewer wrote repeatedly that she orhe could not figure out how to put the dirt cup back on. i've tried all the ways i canto figure out how this could be difficult.
the only way i've found is if you remove thefilter from the cup and then don't replace it properly. the filter must be pressed downin the cup fully for the cup to be able to mount correctly. when in doubt, read the instructions. the unit worked well on short and long napcarpets and hardwood floors and tile. a full size vac with a roller would work better ona carpet but they tend to suck up the edges of rugs. so i still want a full size vac forcarpet. but for occasional carpet cleaning and for rugs and hard floors, i prefer a goodstick vacuum and this is the best i've come across so far. the 20 foot cord is just barely long enoughto be practical. even longer would be better.
i think 20 feet is a minimum, 30 feet or longeris optimal. so, for $50 this unit is a great choice.so i rate this a great value for the price and a good choice for a lightweight vacuum.it would be great it if had a swivel head but the ones that do tend to break too easilyime, so i still rate this unit 5 stars compared to the compettion. as soon as you push the "on" switch the powerfulsuction of this little stick vac grabs onto the floor like a leach - no kidding. thisis the vacume to have if you have pets. we have four dogs and two cats. i needed a light-weightvacume i could pull out in a hury to pick up pet hair in between regular vacumes. thisthing quickly pulls in pet hair that's six
inches from the machine! my husband had boughtme the dyson dc44 animal digital slim mk2 which is cordless so i could do the wholehouse without stopping. this little dirt devil leaves the dyson in the dust. the dyson'sfloor attachment is so narrow it takes a long time to do an entire room, and it doesn'thave a fourth of the power of this dirt devil. i still like the dyson stick for real quickpick-ups, but with this little dirt devil, i can completely vacume 1200 square feet offloor in less than fifteen minutes. the only thing i would change on this dirt devil stickit its twenty-foot cord; when i begin vacuming i don't like to stop until i've finished thewhole floor. i have to unplug my dirt devil and plug it back in five times to finish.i realize the manufacturer probably wanted
to keep it as light as possible, but i'd ratherit be a pound heavier with a longer cord over having to stop and start four more times.a light-weight 20 foot extension cord will solve that problem. whether you have one petor a small zoo like me, i think you'll really appreciate having this dirt devil to helpkeep pet hair off your floors. i bought this based on the reviews and itwas a great purchase. i had an old (like 12yrs old) eureka hardwood floor vac that was basicallya handheld on a stick and it was pretty much worthless. my entire home is hardwood on themain level so i have around 2000 sf to sweep and thought i would try this. wow. it is incredible.the suction is so strong, it will almost take the varnish off your floors. it's very easyto use, very lightweight and easy to empty.
my only complaints are the short cord (i usedmine with an extension cord so i would not have to keep unplugging and moving to anotheroutlet) and the loudness. it is extremely loud, like jet engine loud. i can live withthat because when it's running, it drowns out the sound of my kids fighting which isalways a good thing. i would definitely buy this again! the mailman showed up this morning with thissweet little dirt devil power air lightweight stick vac and i have to tell you, i'm impressed.i stumbled up the stairs with the package - a little heavier than i expected - zippedopen the box and had the dirt devil totally assembled in less than 2 minutes. i didn'teven need to look at the directions, assembly
is so simple - and no tools are required. dirt devil has always made a good product,so i expected good things. still, i was impressed with the power of this stick vac. i've beencooking all morning and hadn't yet swept up the floor, which was decorated with flakesof oatmeal and bits of the papery skins from onions and garlic. that lasted all of about60 seconds. the machine made as swift a job of it as my full-size vac does (without havingto haul it out of the closet!) and still has a small enough footprint to stand permanentlybeside the broom, though there is a convenient hanging loop, and the heavy-duty cord is longenough that i will not need to constantly reposition the plug. all parts are eitherquality plastic or metal and the canister
is see-through so you can easily see whenit needs to be emptied. thanks, dirt devil! i'm going to enjoy thisfor years to come.