I'm not really a vacuum cleaner expert, but I've had quite a few ones purchased from regular stores such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart etc., and none has been as good as this one!!!! Even though the vacuum is rather large in size, its weight is surprisingly light, comparing to even smaller units. It's also very quiet and it does a great job of picking up everything on the carpet. I was using it to clean a floor full of Styrofoam crumbs, and it picked up all of them, despite the static! I am very pleased with this vacuum's performance, and I hope it will last a long time!