I switched over 20 years ago when I moved into a house with hardwoods. Never looked back. It's canister all the way for me. As a matter of course, a canister goes places an upright can't -- such as under the furniture, up the drapes, wherever -- at least not with the added time and effort of attaching a hose to the upright.

I have a couple Mieles (one for upstairs, one for basement), they are well worth the expense and perform expertly. The higher-end models have nice features such as power head, you definitely want a power head for any carpeting you do. It's not hard to pull a canister behind you. The hose on the Miele is decently long and flexible, and a gentle tug on the canister rolls it toward you. I wouldn't say it's light, but it's not all that heavy; the lower-end model I have for the basement is smaller and lighter than the "good" one I have upstairs, but I can easily pick up the canister and move it with one hand if I need to, it's not terribly heavy.

I have never had a Miele in for service. My current one upstairs is going on something like 15 years with not one single service call. Not one. I was taking it in once a year for cleaning and HEPA change but haven't done that in a while -- I really do need to. I did have a Miele die on me after something like 20 years, but the death was sudden and nothing fixable. But after 20 years with no service call? Like I said, well worth the expense. They're tanks.

ETA: I suggest going to a good vacuum store near you rather than ordering on-line. That way you have them demo the different models, and you can play around with them yourself before deciding if you'd like a canister.

Bought my Miele 17 years ago for hardwoods and rugs. It was the best product I have ever purchased in my life. I love it. It rolls very easily, is lightweight, and makes no marks on my floors. I have used it on 170 year old hard pine floors, regular oak floors, and now on herringbone wood floors. I used it on kitchen tiles, jute rugs, antique rugs, shag rugs. I have never had to have it serviced. After 17 years it is still going as strong as ever. I find it much easier to maneuver than a upright, and I have a bad back so appreciate how easily it glides along behind me. The heads are very easy to attached and switch out. My husband has all sorts of lung issues and it seals well and really helps make our house as dust free as you can hope for.

I think it's a personal preference. But I recently bought a Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog Bagless Canister Vacuum from Amazon, and I'm rather sorry I did, for the following reasons:

Pro:

- The suction is REALLY strong. Holy cow! It pulled up dirt and fuzz from our LR rug so well it was almost terrifying. I have used a lot of vacuums - Kenmore top of the line cannister, Hoover Windtunnel upright, Sebo upright, Hoover battery-powered Aire upright (no cord, it was wonderful!), Dyson V7 stick, three different hand vacuums, and now the Miele. The Miele is easily twice as strong suction as any of the others, and that's not even on the strongest setting.

- This is bagless, with a washable HEPA second filter. I do REALLY like this feature, makes a big difference and saves money with no expensive filters/bags to replace. My cat sheds constantly and the air after vacuuming with the Miele is almost as clean as using a Rainbow (my uncle sold them and for decades it was the only vacuum my mother would use).

Cons:

- I do prefer uprights to cannisters. They work better in my house; you can turn and twist to vacuum at angles much more easily. My house isn't large and there's a lot of furniture corners and area rugs. Cannisters are great in big open spaces. But if you have to back up or go sideways very often, the cannister and the cord are a hassle, and there is just no way around that issue.

- I have tall ceilings. The Sebo upright had the easiest extension to use, bar none. Pull out the handle, twist on the attachment, and that was it. No need to stop the vacuum, unlatch and change heads, etc.etc.etc.

- Cannisters do glide, and they will not scratch your floors. They may or may not mark your walls/corners, paint and material durability differ so much it's impossible to say. I will note the rubber bumpers on the Miele leave rubber marks on my bathtub walls (they scrub off); but the tub is painted so again, it might not mark up unpainted porcelain. YMMV, no one can guarantee this kind of issue.

I will say that Miele seems the most solid, heavy and well-built, but if anything the model I have is a little TOO well-built. The extendable wand is steel, not aluminum, and it is HEAVY. The cannister itself is also a bit heavier than average.

If I were to do it over again, I'd buy the Sebo upright. It just suits my house and my cleaning better, altho one is stuck with buying/emptying bags and it isn't much cheaper than the Miele.

Hope whatever you end up choosing, you'll be happy with. HTH.

I have a Sebo cannister. like it much more on wood floors than a Dyson upright.

It has soft bumpers all around so it doesn’t damage or mark anything. The bags are a bit expensive and it’s a bit inconvenient to switch off the power brush setting to switch from floor to rug.

After much, much research, I ended up with the exact same vaccuum @jakkom has. The Blizzard---the white one, right @jakkom?

I had uprights (Dysons) before this, and they had good suction, but the suction on the Blizzard is really awesome. It's easier for me to clean it out. I don't clean the filter enough, but youtube has easy videos to help with that.

What's GREAT about the Miele is that the important parts of it are very, very sturdy and tough, and I can't say the same about the old Dysons, which I kept together with duct tape in more than one place. My teens are tough on a vaccuum, and this Miele is doing great. It has 2 buttons on the top for you to step on, and one of them says "Comfort" and that winds up the long, long cord really snappy-fast. German engineered. It was worth what I spent.

Mrs. S - glad you are happy with the Miele! I agree, it is much higher quality than the Dyson. Yes, those auto rewind buttons on cannister vacs are wonderful. It was the one feature I think I really missed when using an upright, LOL!

Mrs. S - glad you are happy with the Miele! I agree, it is much higher quality than the Dyson. Yes, those auto rewind buttons on cannister vacs are wonderful. It was the one feature I think I really missed when using an upright, LOL!