I thought I would write this review after using this vacuum cleaner for just over one month. I bought it after reading rave reviews. Most vacuum cleaners start off with strong suction and relatively good performance, but what about longer term? I should say at the outset, that I live in an average sized single storey house, have a hairy German Shepherd, there are two to four adults in the house at anytime and I have shoulder length hair. This is all relevant, as will become clear! German Shepherds are renowned for the amount of fur they shed. Great balls of tumbleweed gather in corners and roll across wooden floors every day. So I hoover every second day. I should probably hoover every day, but I have a life. This hoover simply cannot cope. I have to empty the container twice during one hoover. TWICE! The process of emptying is also messy. When you press the buttons to open the flap, the dust and hair doesn't fall out neatly into your bin. It flies around, the lid swings about and you need to use your fingers to coax the debris out. It is a very messy business. But that is not all. The rollers get jammed with fur and hair to such an extent that I have to clean them out once during every hoover. This is also a dirty, fiddly job that leaves the floor or work surface covered in grit. Remember I just live in an average size house - not a mansion. Hoovers with wires are out of date now, but I was prepared to put up with the wire for stronger suction that would pick up pet hair from carpets and rugs. I still have to switch plugs once during a hoover which is a nuisance and I think I would prefer to go back to cord free. You forget what a pain having a cord is until you go back to using one. Suction has diminished since it was first bought, but it is still very good (it doesn't suck the rugs up anymore), but it starts to spit out Christmas tree needles, grit and bits of dried mud by about the third room. This drives me to despair; I have just had to sweep up after using the hoover because it created more dirt than had been in the room in the first place. I don't know why it does this; I thought it was because the rollers had got too full of dog hair, but it makes no difference to the problem. It is still spitting out debris across the floor and also when I pick the hoover up to lift it on to a step or over a door sill. Suction is poor to the sides and front edges. Many wooden floors have a wooden lip around the edge. It fails to suck up anything along these edges unless you poke them out with an attachment. I knew that the hoover couldn't stand up of its own accord when I bought it, but it is so frustrating. If you just want to bend down to move something out of the way, you need to find a wall to prop it against. Which designer of hoovers thought this was a good idea? It's a nightmare. One day it is going to fall over and break something. The marketing trades on the hoover's ability to fold forwards to help get under furniture. I haven't had cause to use this - the main front part of the hoover is small enough to get under most furnishings so that function isn't necessary. The fact that it folds in half for storage will be useful if you haven't got a tall cupboard. But if you have, its not a feature you need. So this hoover might work for you if you live in a tiny house, don't have pets, if you have short hair that won't wind around the rollers and don't have a tall cupboard for storage. But if that is the case, buy a cord free and something with a larger dust box and a cleaner method of emptying it. Oh and get one that can stand up or something will get broken. Don't waste £199 on this hoover. I wish I hadn't.