You can see by the pictures that the design of this little machine is influenced by the cylinder cleaner family, and really that's what it has turned out to be. All of the other reviews will tell you about the power of the little machine, (and it is powerfull enough...), so you can take that as read, but the really clever thing about this machine in my opinion is that it succeeds in being somethings that it isn't - it's probably best described as being a hand held mini cylinder vacuum cleaner, in other words it succeeds in being something else !. Ok... you're never going to get the performance of a VAX C89 bagless cyclonic cylinder cleaner, but if you're vacuuming whole floors, you're not going to use a rechargeable one anyway.
This cleaner really comes into its own on staircases, small spills, skirting board tops (where the dust always seems to gather),on the coving & light fittings where cobwebs always seem to form, cleaning the car, and so on, In other words, for the small jobs, and in those terms, it just seems to be unbeatable. So why only 4 stars ?.... emptying is straighforward but you have to take off a filter cover inside the drum, don't get me wrong, it's easy enough (you just pull it off) , but the filter cover itself just seems a bit of a flimsy fitting, unlike the rest of the machine which seems well made. Overall though, we're very pleased with this bit of kit, a good product with a unique innovative design and ideal for the jobs where you can't be bothered to get out the big machine !, so in that sense, a clever bit of design, in that it acts like a portable mini cylinder cleaner - nothing else in the market place that I'm aware of so I suppose it's in a niche market - well done Black & Decker - a winner !