Any suggestions on a vacuum cleaner?
One that will work well on pet hair? One that can be used on stairs and furniture as well as floors?
This is one of those emergency situations, where I have not even considered getting a new vacuum....until I was using mine today and all of a sudden there was a strange noise, and I look and smoke was pouring out of it. Needless to say, I no longer have a vacuum.
I have always had a canister for the ability to do furniture and stairs because I don't see how it is possible to do these things with an upright....and I spend more time on things besides floors than I do on the floors.
Any help will be appreciated.
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And I've had a LOT of vacuum cleaners, including the famous Rainbow (uses water as a filter) and Compact/Universal (very powerful canister).
Girlfriend had a basic Oreck XL that she loaned to me and I loved it.
I had to order the commercial Oreck, (red model) $199 on sale, new. They make more expensive HEPA filter models but, their workhorse is the XL.
I got lucky yesterday with the $20 slightly used unit.
Just always remember to change bags before they get too full!
I can say that it would not be what I would buy. If you don't like it on the stairs and hard to reach places, and that is most of my work, I can't see it as an option. I did look at one of the ball models once, and it seemed that it was too big to easily get under the bed and other furniture. And I am lazy enough that I might just stop doing those areas if it isn't easy. 
That feature really makes me often dislike as it is much less able to do what I want, but it is what my Wife wanted at the time and it was her bonus money. Our previous Kirby upright was too heavy for her to use and she wanted something new. I would have preferred to keep the old machine but it was her choice. Now instead of sharing the vacuum duties as we did, I now do it all due to her health issues. She uses a Swiffer duster to get under things doing the bedroom floors on the weekends and I vacuum later.
The little Red Devil is a really good unit thus far, being both light and easy to use. I have found it to be great in that I don't have to lug the Dyson (which while still light, is much heavier than the Red Devil) to our basement to use, giving us one on each floor.
Just my 2 cents, hope you find something that works best for you! 
Before you buy Oreck, you might want to read these articles:
https://www.google.com/search?q=oreck+bankruptcy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
fficial&client=firefox-a&channel=np&source=hp
I had a great Sears Kenmore bagged canister that lasted for over 20 years until the motor burned out, but it was heavy.
I have a bag-less Fantom Cyclone that will not even last one room before shutting off due to overheating.
I have a little bag-less Kenmore canister that works great but it is too small for a whole house. I use it on the stairs.
I much prefer bag to bag-less. When dumping the dirt from a bag-less, the dust flies in the air.
One method I use to pick up cat hair is to use a wet shammy. Thank you, Kim and Aggie! It picks up pet hair better than a vacuum.
I guess you can tell I'm still searching for the perfect vacuum cleaner.
