All I know is that my mother had a kirby and had nothing but expensive troubles with it. My neighbor across the street bought one from a door to door salesman and paid over $1500 for it. That to me is too much. I bought an Oreck. It was just over $400 (after tax and shipping) for the upright, a canister/hose vac, and a small cordless.
I love it. One might say it really sucks (ok...bad joke, I know)
