Well Carmine the fact the Miele D'Art has a small dust capacity means owners were usually changing them in less than a month. Regardless of the "bottom fitted," dust bag, for the price paid for a premium machine the D'Art wasn't successful. It clogged too often, had a great foot pedal activated cord rewind however and the ability to have its handle turned into a suction tube. NOT the most ideal vacuum for elderly people who may find grasping and bending over difficult. The whole idea of the Miele D'Art was offering customers something different in an upright design. Not a standard vacuum cleaner by any means not only judged by its various body finishes, colours or spec. That the design clogged on the very basis of its function however must be questioned. You really don't like the idea of bagless do you? Bagless mini vacuums aren't that bad - its what the owner's expectations have of them that often go against their "natural," function.
If you were to offer me a free Dyson upright and a free Oreck or even a free D'Art, I'd take the Dyson!
I was referring to the Electrolux Intensity in my post not the Miele Art series. I was never impressed with the Miele Art. My feeling is that Miele was capitalizing on a market of baby boomers in the early 2000's who had more money than sense. These were the target market buyers of these lightweight uprights for small living quarters [recall the artzy fartzy designs and colors]. When the tech sector went bust in the USA, and the baby boomers found themselves with 1/10 of the wealth they had once amassed, the Art series died. Along with the teckies who never recovered their money status either. Soon to follow was the home market. Once an American dream, the truth of the bust of 2008 in the USA is that home ownership is no longer an American dream and status symbol of working Americans. Most Americans from now out will be renters not buyers. Not a bad thing. THis was the norm in the US prior to WW11.
Carmine D.
PS: Sadly, some veteran posters and readers here may recall I predicted this would come to pass, [economy tsunami], on the weekend of MLK holiday in 2008 when Ben boy Bernanke pulled several all nighters to keep the US markets from tumbling after a weekend of market collapses overseas. Our Forum censors locked the thread. Said it had nothing to do with vacuums. Don't take my word. The unabridged version of the thread is still here. Have a look if you time. Interesting reading for those inclined IMHO.
This message was modified Apr 8, 2010 by CarmineD