81214 200 Series Pet Friendly Lightweight Bagged Canister Vacuum with HEPA, 2 Motor System, and 3 Cleaning Tools-Orange

I’m nearly 50 and this is my first canister vacuum ever. I’ve owned upright vacuums made by Dyson, Oreck, Shark, and Hoover for the most part over the years. Dyson seems to put more money into marketing than performance these days. Shark is great until they lose suction which happens within a year or so for me. And Oreck is wonderful but overpriced. So, I did a lot of reading. I knew I wanted a canister to be more maneuverable than an upright. I knew I wanted a bagged vacuum because bagless, while convenient, ends up with a filthy machine and dirt flying when emptying it. I knew I wanted a power roller. And I knew I didn’t want to spend an absolute fortune. So, this Kenmore fit the bill. When I received it, I vacuumed with my existing Shark Rotator Professional. Then I put the Kenmore to action to see what it picked up. The Kenmore picked up about another half a bag of dust. For reference my house is a little under 1800 sq ft. As of yet I haven’t noticed any loss of power or suction as the bag fills up. I love that you can switch from hard floor to carpet/rugs with the slide of a button on the handle and also change the suction strength in the same spot. I have all sorts of flooring from tile to hardwood to deep shag rugs and it handled them all with ease. The hose length is plenty long enough to reach my ceilings and the onboard tools are easily accessible. The self-retracting cord is a nice feature too. I estimate that a bag should last me about a month and there are plenty of third party bags on Amazon that are far less expensive than the OEM ones. My one minor complaint is that the handle is top-heavy and has a tendency to fall over if you’re not very careful about how you store it. Otherwise I’m very happy with my purchase

This is the best vacuum I've ever had in years. I would buy this again for our RV. It is a little heavy with having Fibromyalgia but I love it. Worth the money. The directions that came with it are the best I've had in years. Picks up the little gravel also.

This review is for the 200 series. While I like it that it's lighter than my 20 year old Kenmore Progressive 360 (which still works, but smells like a wet dog when I vacuum so I wanted something fresh and new), it feels cheap, so I fear it might not last for the long haul, but we'll see. What I like: 1) The suction is good, which is why I like to buy Kenmore vacs. Oddly, the suction isn't as good on bare floors using their floor attachment, which is much smaller than my old one, so I usually just stick my old one on. Carpet suction with the powermate (powerhead) is good, but not quite as good as the old machine, but that's not the end of the world, since it's still pretty darn good. 2) My large stash of Type C bags will fit this machine, so I don't have to buy bags anytime soon. 3) All of the attachments from my old machine fit and work on this machine, including the powermate, hose, and all the tools. Super cool! I will have replacement parts if any of these break on this new machine. 4) It's lighter in weight than my old one, which is nice. What I don't like: 1) The attachments aren't great, seem cheap, so I will be using my old attachments which are much better. For example the little dust brush attachment has thin plastic bristles that are super soft and bendy, almost like doll hair, whereas my old one has a very thick amount of horsehair bristles that are sturdy and clean very well. This new one? I can't imagine it cleaning very well at all. 2) The bare floor attachment is smaller, doesn't suck as well, and the small footprint means much more work to vacuum your floor. 3) And as others have mentioned, the way the hose comes out of the machine, straight up instead of having an elbow that takes the pressure off the hose when you pull it, is a terrible design. That's not going to last very long, in my opinion. I have to pull it very gently and carefully in order not to feel like I'm going to break it, or tip the machine over. The motors are the same in all models, as far as my research showed, so suction and motor function will be the same in all of them. If you get the 400 or the 600 series, you are paying for a longer hose, longer cord, and as in the 600 series, different (and it looks like better) attachments. I've edited my review to give it 4 stars instead of my initial 3, because, even though it's not as well made and good as my old Kenmore was in its heyday, it's still a good machine with great suction if you are on a budget.

I ordered the Kenmore 81714 Ultra Plush and it came in today. I gave it quite a workout as I've been vacuuming since it's arrival. The kids and I named it Kenny. This thing is so fun. I started out on the hard floors and it handled it just fine. I wish there was a separate power head with a fluffy brush roll to dust the floors, but I do think the suction on this Kenmore is amazing enough to not need it. This is my first canister and I felt a bit clumsy and clanked it everywhere. I think there's a bit of a learning curve to it, but Kenny followed me wherever I needed to go. Then I switched out the power head for the powered pet brush for the stairs. I do not own pets, but I bought this vacuum specifically for this attachment. My old Shark couldn't suck up the sand out of the carpet that the kids track it. I think the Kenmore handled it like a champ. It was a quite a workout using this attachment as I wanted the suction as high as it would go. There's a place on the handle to adjust the suction level. This would make it easier to maneuver on the stairs, but I didn't want to sacrifice suction. I needed a deep clean after using my Shark for years. Again I was a bit clumsy and knocked Kenny down the stairs, but he held on tightly. The hose took quite a yank, but didn't break. The motor didn't skip a beat. Kenny's wheel popped off but it snapped right back on. I decided to take him for a whirl on the upstairs carpet. We have medium pile carpet. I kept the height level on the lowest one to try to get deeper into the carpet. It didn't make it difficult to push, but I could hear all the dirt and dust that my Shark was missing all these years. I took my time with him. I did have to clean hair, thread, and yarn out of the brush roll. This is not an anti-cutting brush roll like my Shark. I feel like if you take the time to clean out the roll each time you use it (we have 4 girls with long hair), then it won't get too bad. After running Kenny for HOURS on my hard floors, stairs, and carpet we needed a break. He was getting pretty hot. I never smelled anything burning or funny smells, but with how hot the unit was getting, I felt he needed to cool down a bit. Finally, I took him around and used the different attachments for dusting. The machine dusted quite well. The suction on Kenny is AMAZING. I was able to use the dusting tool for the windows, wall, ceiling, baseboards, paneled doors, etc. Then I followed around the perimeter of the rooms with the crevice tool. I'm highly impressed with this vacuum. I'm so glad I bought it. I just hope it lasts and doesn't break on me. I bought the protection plan just in case because things just aren't made like they used to be. At the end of the day, Kenny pulled up an ENTIRE bag of dirt, dust, and sand from deep in my carpets that my Shark was neglecting for the past 4.5 years even with daily vacuuming. Gross. Also, really cool to see that Kenny is performing like I had hoped. I have 2 complaints. #1 how hot Kenny got. I was a little worried for him. I understand it's a 12 amp motor and will put out some heat, but it was hot to the touch and could burn skin. I worry about one of my kids touching or the motor overheating and catching fire or melting plastics. He started getting hot on the stairs so I hadn't been running him that long before I noticed the heat. The hot air blowing from the vacuum made a spot on my leg red because I had to wedge him with my leg so he didn't fall down the stairs again. He's a champ, though. #2 I wish the opening for the crevice tool was slightly larger. I had to keep going over the same areas where the baseboard meets the carpet. I may try to find a larger crevice tool to use instead.

There are so many disappointing design choices in this model, that I was already gearing up to write a negative review. Then it died. Total cumulative usage time was less than one hour. The friendly customer support rep agreed that the PowerMate head I'd received was defective. There don't have any stock on hand. And, if they had, it would take 10-15 business days to receive it. The rep suggested that my best course of action would be to return it to Amazon. I chose the Kenmore Elite 21814 Pet Friendly CrossOver to replace our 24 year-old Sears-Kenmore Progressive 20612 canister vacuum, which had served us well until a few weeks ago. Pros: * The new model is a little quieter. * The suction control actually changes the speed of the motor. * The customer support representative was friendly and honest about my options. Cons: * The canister is a little wider and taller, so it takes more space in the closet. * The lump on the bottom to hold the canister on the stairs is a workaround for the fact that the canister isn't well balanced. I used to just set the old canister on its tail a step or two below the one I was cleaning. It had rails to ensure that didn't block the exhaust vent or pinch the power cord. The new one seems prone to toppling in that orientation. * The hose comes straight up out of the canister, which puts more strain on the hose, effectively makes the cannister even taller, doesn't swivel nearly as well (resulting in more frequent widing of the less-flexible hose). Our old model had a 360-degree swivel connection with an angle that made it much easer to tow the canister along and made better use of the length of the hose. * The handle assembly is bulkier, which doesn't matter (much) when using the wand, but it limits manueverability when using attachments. * The attachments snap into the handle assembly instead of a friction fit over the nozzle beyond the assembly. So you can't mount them in arbitrary orientations. You also can't easily use the nozzle to clean the lint and pet fur stucks to the bristles of the attachments before putting them away. And it's not compatible with the older attachments. * The dusting attachment is smaller and has stiffer, more abbrasive bristles than the old ones. * There is no longer a simple floor attachment. The "crossover" gimmick is the floor brush that fits into the PowerMate head. That brush is bulker. In the short time I was able to use the vacuum, I found places I normally use a floor brush, but the new one won't fit. And it feels like it might be a bit rougher on the floor surface as well. * There is no longer a simple fabric brush. I guess you're expected to always use the Pet PowerMate. The Pet PowerMate, in conjunction with the bulkier handle assembly, won't reach into sections between cusions as deeply or easily as the simple fabric brush would. I almost never used the old PowerMate Jr. (which was a bit larger and a lot heavier than the Pet PowerMate) because it wasn't any better than a simple fabric brush. Heck, I even used the fabric brush for carpeted stairs. * The fan blade duster is probably fine, but I don't think it's useful enough to justify the space it takes up in the attachments compartment. * The crevice tool is substantially shorter, so there are places it cannot reach as effectively. And instead of residing in the attachment compartment, it clips onto the already-too-cumbersome handle assembly. And good luck putting it back there without checking the illustration in the users manual the first several times. * I'm not a fan of the swivel mechanism where the wand attaches to the combo floor brush and the PowerMate head. The worst problem is that it severely restricts how far down you can bring the wand (as does the handle). The old model allowed lowering the wand until it was all-but-parallel with the floor, allowing you extended reach under beds, sofas, dressers, etc. * The swivel mechanism makes it hard to vacuum in straight lines when you want to. * The pile height adjustment pedal took a lot of force, and it often wouldn't advance the mechanism quite enough for it to snap into the next level. * The little rollers on the back don't seem as effective as the corner-mounted wheels on the old PowerMate heads. * On forward strokes, the PowerMate head is very hard to push, as if the front of the head wants to nosedive into the carpet. On the back strokes, it's much easier to pull but it doesn't pick up well. This was especially true on area rugs, even with the suction at the lowest level and the pile height adjustment set to high. * Comparing the underside of the new and old PowerMate heads, there's no obvious difference between the edge-cleaning abilities. In practice, however, the edge cleaning with the new model seems ineffective within 1/2 to 3/4" of the baseboard. * The dirt sensor seems to have some lag. When vacuuming up crumbs or sand, you can here ticking noises as the bits hit the sides of the metal tube. But that feedback is almost entirely out of sync with the dirt sensor light. After going over sections of carpet several times from multiple angles, the dirt sensor will often indicate each time you change directions (e.g., push-to-pull). Either it was wrong, or the vacuum didn't do a good job on the first six-to-eight passes. Neutrals: * The telescoping wand is fine, but the old wands were the right height for me. I suppose if you were taller or shorter, you might appreciate the flexibility. * Putting a light on the wand makes some sense, because you can, in theory, use it with attachments other than the PowerMate head. But it's not great angle for seeing what's ahead of the attachment. And should I have to use "carpet mode"? * The prefilters are identical to the 25-year-old ones, so they are readily available and inexpensive. The exhaust filters are larger.

Went back to a bagged vacuum after 7 years of thinking a baggless one was better......not so much, hate having to clean the container every time I dumped it!!! Had my previous Kenmore for almost 30 years and you can really tell that these are not as durable as the older models but having said that, it is light weight and seems to do the job just not sure what it's longevity will be. I saved the tools from the last one which are way more sturdy than the ones that come with the new one. It maneuvers great, has a ton of suction but takes getting used to the different features such as having to step on a leaver to use the power head, no place inside for the tools now they clip onto the outside. It performs well so I guess in the end, that's really all that matter!!!

Great cleaning ability, easy to use & maneuver. I've used all the attachments and all perform very well, even the pet-hair one. I have vinyl-laminate flooring, so I mostly use the floor brush attachment and it's great. The dusting brush is fantastic if you need more pickup than a Swiffer can give you--I used it to sweep & suck up sawdust from inside my new cabinets. Solid machine, highly recommend this model. Love the "champagne" color, too.

Had it about nine months now, and like it for the most part. As with most stuff now, it does have a bit of a plastic feel to it, so I treat it with kid gloves. Suction is great, and I like the Pet PowerMate attachment, though the bearings in that could be better. Despite the claims, it can get hair tangled around it which needs to be removed, and the bearings are now sort of "screechy", which they weren't a few months ago. Sometimes I notice the beater bar in that is not moving as the belt is slipping, but cleaning it usually gets it back running. The mechanics of the larger floor/carpet PowerMate seem to be holding up OK (knock on wood). The small unpowered brush attachment is nice, but the larger one has a pivoting head which causes it to tilt at weird angles rather than remaining flush on the surface you're vacuuming. It takes some getting used to. The hose does not get crushed easily like one YouTube video claimed (I've stepped on it many times). I'm more worried about it someday losing the electrical connections, or having the swivel end piece or joints break. Hopefully when things start to fail on this, they won't be impossible or too costly to replace. My main gripe I guess, is that the "full bag" indicator hasn't lit once since I got it. It took me about the first month or so to figure that out when I couldn't understand how I had used it so much without changing bags. Luckily I never overheated it or anything, but I'm careful to periodically check it manually now, as it did the same thing when the second bag filled up. I may think about contacting them, but it seems like it would be a hassle and risk to ship back even if they took care of the costs. Don't mean to sound too harsh on this thing as I do like it a lot, but I've been spoiled by vintage Kirbys that lasted for decades (not the newer self-propelled junk). I suspect it's one of the better ones in its class and probably similar to much of what's being manufactured today, even with higher priced brands. * As an update to this, I went ahead and attempted to contact support back in mid-June. It did not go well and was likely the worst experience I have had with support calls. I was on the phone for a total of two hours and fifteen minutes calling maybe four different numbers I was given. Each rep would eventually tell me that it wasn't their responsibility and that for my particular case, I would need to call the next number. With the exception of a very helpful man at the second to the last place in California, no one seemed to be a native English speaker and they were frustrated with me not understanding them, so I tried to get as much as I could from it and avoid asking them to repeat everything. Ironically, the very last call ended with the woman telling me I would need to contact the first number I called when the whole thing started. I explained to her that I had already done so, and she insisted that I call them back and write down exactly what they told me. At that point, I had already promised myself several times that I'd give up and stop, so I didn't call anyone else. In their defense, after looking up my zip code there was mention at one point of contacting the nearest service center, but it was out of town and I'm not sure what their response would have been anyhow. I'm thankful that my issue isn't anything I can't live with, and feel sorry for anyone whose vacuum is broken in some way which prevents it from functioning. Hopefully, I'll be able to source parts and fix mine myself should that need arise.

I've purchased and used a lot of much cheaper machines from Walmart and other stores. All of them performed just okay when new but none of them lasted very long due to poor quality plastics and pieces breaking. I remembered my mom's Kenmore WhisperTone that she has had for 25 years and it is still running great and looks great too. Here in Canada, Kenmore was available at Sears but there are no longer any Sears stores in Canada. I looked at the Kenmore site and found that I had to buy it on Amazon to avoid paying duty charges. I chose the Series 700 Ultra Plush for its features such as the HEPA bags and filter, the powerhead that steers and does carpets and hardfloors and has a LED light, the tools all fit inside the canister, it has a bag-full LED, an extending wand (that locks at 4" increments), and it comes with the small powerhead that is good for stairs and car floors and it fits inside the canister too. The bare-floor tool and the small brush tool have horse-hair bristles, not plastic. The machine looks very classy with the shiny champagne color. It has tons of suction without being too loud. The rear wheels are big so the whole thing rolls pretty easily. A word about the hose, where it plugs into the canister, it has a nice swivel joint. If you see photos or videos of older machines, the joint often is seen having an elbow, like a 45 degree bend in it and you can tell that it swivels. The photos of this newer version show the joint is straight so I was concerned that it did not swivel which I thought would be stressful on the hose. I'm happy to report that there is still a swivel joint so the hose will not tangle if you walk around the machine. The entire machine and the tools are built well and I expect that this machine will last for many years. Thank you Kenmore!

Good Machine all be it for few minor quirks. Good suction easy to use. A tad heavy but not bad. Carrying it up 3 flights of stairs is a bit much but not bad. Lights are great for dark spaces. Tool changing is easy all be it at times not so easy maybe I am still learning. Now for the cons....cord rewinder sucks it is slow and only rewinds a few feet at a time. Also the power brush will disengage and disconnect when you use it under wide objects. Since you have to go under furniture with the handle angled because the brush will not go flat staright in is stays slightly raised if you go in straight and not on angle. Then when the handle is engled the brush release will disengage and your brush is stuck under the funrniture and the farthest point from you. Otherwise so far it is performing well and worth the money. Will be curious oof it longevity. It relaced a 35 year old Kenmore my parents purchased. Will be curious to see how long this Kenmore lasts.

J'ai beaucoup hesite avant d'acheter cette balayeuse a cause du prix. Mais je ne regrette pas du tout mon achat au contraire! Cette balayeuse a une suction extraordinaire. Elle me fait beaucoup penser a l'electrolux de ma mere, avec les meme accessoires et certains autres en mieux, comme la brosse pour le ventillateur. L'attachement pour les poils d'animaux a sauve la couverture sur laquelle mon chat aime dormir et qui etait pleine de poils. Le pouvoir d'aspiration de cet attachement est vraiment intense. Jadore l'option de pouvoir passer du tapis au plancher simplement en poussant une pedale avec le pied. Et il se remet facilement dans le moteur pour tapis. En fait, tous les accessoires, rallonges, etc, sont faciles a ajouter et a enlever pour avoir la configuration que vous desirez selon l'endroit que vous balayez. Le morceau en long pour les coins difficiles est accroche sur le manche et apres l'avoir enleve pour l'utiliser, j'ai du faire quelques exercices mentaux pour finalement comprendre qu'on le reattache en le tournant sur le cote. Je ne suis pas la plus forte des personnes, j'ai 60 ans. Il y a des moments ou j'ai du prendre une pause, les bras en l'air pour le ventilateur ou pour lutter contre la suction du petit moteur pour tapis et poils d'animaux. Ce n'est pas le plus leger des aspirateurs. Tous les accessoires sont dans le couvercle, mais en meme temps j'adore avoir tout a portee de la main. Il suit facilement, comme tous les aspirateurs traineaux, vous devez surveiller qu'il n'accroche rien sur son passage. Le couvercle ou l'on range les accessoires me semble fragile, je me promet de le manipuler gentiment, mais c'est la seule piece qui me fait peur. Le fil est facile a faire enrouler dans l'appareil grace a un bouton sur le dessus. L'aspirateur se range facilement, vous pouvez inserer le tuyau sur un bouton integre a votre aspirateur, il y a des explications plus claires sur le pamphlet ou regardez la video :). En gros, je suis tres impressionnee par cet aspirateur. J'espere qu'il me durera longtemps. Bemol, les sacs sont chers mais il me semble que vous pouvez au moins faire un mois avec chacun si vous en faites un usage normal. Il faut aussi changer le filtre HEPA de temps en temps. Je suis allergique a la poussiere et j'ai vraiment senti une difference dans l'air. Pour ce que ca vaut sur ce commentaire a la compagnie, la livraison avec Amazon c'est passee sans incident et a temps. Preparez vous a monter une grosse boite si vous ete seul(e) et pas jeune jeune lol... En resume, si vous n'etes pas une personne tres frele, je recommende absolument cet aspirateur, il est fantastique!

Just got it today, and it doesn’t work!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS BULL!!! Oh I am so angry and frustrated I’m actually crying!!! Because I bought a Kenmore upright and the thing was junk (I’ve always been a fan of canisters) but I missed the return window and now this? There’s a massive short in the power head. I plugged it all in and the power head wouldn’t turn on at all (and yes I kno how to use it) I’ve owned kenmore canisters my whole life! I kept trying to push the head on the carpet with the handle in different angles and it would power on for a second then power off, then on, then off then wouldn’t budge at all! So $550 plus dollars, and I have a lemon that doesn’t work AT ALL! And no vehicle to return it! But believe me I’m doing everything in my Power to return this hunk of junk! I’ve lost enough darn money on here I’m not being scammed anymore. Too bad it looked nice (although right from the hop there were things that disappointed me anyway. Like the button for height adjust is flimsy, and the power head is light and flimsy, not like my other kenmore series. I needed a vacuum for the upper floor so I don’t have to lug one up and down all the stairs cuz I have a bad back, and sciatica and pinched nerves, and tight hip flexors, and here I am with no vacuum still! Need to stop making and selling junk, it’s getting ridiculous! Things were built strong and to last back in the day, and now everything is like playschool toy junk.

You cannot beat Kenmore canister vacuums for longevity. My 30-year-old Kenmore vacuum is still going strong. I bought this vacuum so that I do not have to carry vacuums between floors at my home; now there is one on each level. I like ALMOST everything about this new vacuum. My key points: PROS: Excellent suction; simple design with less electronic gadgets to break; excellent quality hose; can use either HEPA dust bags or regular dust bags (much less expensive); very light and maneuverable. CONS: Short hose length (6ft long; old Kenmore hose is 8ft long); all attachments are cheaply made (shame on you Kenmore!); comes with a regular dust bag installed and NOT a HEPA dust bag as you would expect based on the advertising (not a deal breaker for me). SUMMARY: Despite a couple shortcomings, I highly recommend this vacuum; great value for the money!