bit-tech Shopping: Electrolux Oxygen 3 Ultra EL7020A Vacuum

• Crevice Tool
• Dusting Brush
• Upholstery Nozzle

Rating: 6

Time with product: 1 Days

Strengths: Quiet motor, good suction, good rug beater, good floor brush, two year warranty

Weaknesses: Light plastic construction, light duty hose, small bag

Summary: Recent Consumer reports magazine article persuaded me to choose the Oxygen 3 Ultra. Having seen Electrolux machines in the past, this one seemed a bit lacking. The overall construction of the cannister, hose and accessories seems weak, made of light duty plastic.Care should be taken when opening the bag replacement compartment as the light plastic hinge could easily be forced and broken.The quality of its operation appears to live up to expectations and as long as the tools are handled with care, the machine should last a while.When buying, select the lowest price retailer since paying the MSRP is way too expensive, but when bought at an online venue at about $350, the price is fair.

Rating: 4

Time with product: 14 Days

Strengths: Quiet, Lightweight

Weaknesses: Hose keeps disconnecting, no place to store accessories, No furniture or wall guard, small bag, should be 1.2 the price.

Summary: Electrolux has been had a long standing reputation for product quality. So when you have something negative to say, it is hard to overcome the name branding, and see it for what it is. I was surprised that the functional and material design of this vacuum cleaner was way below what I thought an Electrolux should be. While using the canister model EL7020 the hose kept snapping off one side or the other and the power-head (whatever) would lose power. Then, if you are busy vacuuming, the hose might completely dislodge. The only attachments with you are the crevice and soft brush. While in themselves, I didn't have a problem, but they snap into the upper handle (A cheap handle and hose) and very easily fall off. There is no place else to keep attachments with you. So anything else is kept in the closet 2 floors from where you are working. The bare floor brush is excellent. It is wide, soft and has suspension rollers to keep the tool off the floor. There is not a furniture or wall rubber guard around the canister. So while going around items or doorways there is the likelyhood of damage from the canister. The cord winder worked well. There is another problem. The motor power can be set to Min (Low), Auto or Max (High). If you set the cleaner to low or high (Why didn't they call them that?) the unit will always revert back to auto if it is powered off. Not unplugged, just powered off at the handle. There is no manual override button to maintain a desired power setting. This is frustrating since you have to always keep readjusting the power back to the desired setting. Speaking of the handle, the control buttons are difficult to get used to and remember. You have to hold the top button down to power off the unit. It seemed like I was always unsure just how long to maintain the hold or was I even pushing hard enough. The buttons should be an on/off period and be different sized so you don't have to keep looking at some tiny print to see which one you want to a particular operation. Also, having the handle buttons is nice, but they eliminated and power control on the canister itself. You don't have an option to power/off the unit at the canister. You must use the tiny hose buttons or just unplug it. The power-head worked very well. The motor is very quiet. Overall, this makes a nice $250.00 canister vacuum cleaner and NOT a $500-$600 unit. You're definitely just paying for the name here.