I am no domestic goddess, and I used to think people were nuts for spending hundreds of dollars on a vacuum cleaner. No longer.

I have an old Eureka upright, and it doesn't work well, plus bits of the rubber trim have broken off, so I have to be careful against walls and stuff. Usually I have to go over the same areas three or four times to get Rose hair out of the carpet. Its probably been used twenty or thirty times and the bag is about 2/3 of the way to the full line.

I read in Consumer Reports that the Eureka Smart Vac Ultra is a Best Buy. So I went to Best Buy (co-inky-dinky?) to get one, and they were all out. So while I'm there, I'm looking at the Dyson, because everyone I know who has a Dyson swears by them, loves them, loves vacuuming with them. I want to know why. So I'm looking at it, and there's another brand called Vax that seems similar but less expensive, and I'm looking at that one too.

A sales girl comes over and I ask her why does everyone I know love the Dyson so much. So she gives me a demo. She is a Dyson owner herself and she loves it as much as everyone else.

Then I ask for a comparison demo of the Vax. It's a little noisier, but it seems to work just as well.

I ended up buying the Vax, and I got home, put it together in about five minutes, and vacuumed.

Once over every spot and it's clean. And here's the clincher. When I was done vacuuming, the cannister (it's bagless) is full. I dump out as much dog hair and dust and dirt, probably, as has accumulated inside my Eureka over the last three years.

I'm sold. I'm still no domestic goddess, but I'm sold on my Vax.