Customer Reviews
Terrible quality! 
2008-08-16
I bought this vacuum cleaner (not from Amazon) about 2+ weeks ago and it just died on me. The motor went bust for no reason in particular. I was in the middle of vacuuming my carpet and it just died. I hardly even got to use it 5 times since I bought it.
I had read the other reviews that it's got poor build quality and was prone to breakdowns etc but I was reluctant to believe them. I guess I learned the hard way. Avoid buying this vacuum cleaner if you can. For the price I paid, I deserve far better quality than what I got, and you should too.
Needless to say, I'm absolutely disappointed and would not recommend this product to anyone.
I love it, and I hate it 
2008-08-16
I have a love/hate relationship with this vacuum. I bought it to replace a 35 yr old Eureka upright that I loved, but this one does have some pros and cons.
Cons:
Bagless-Call me old fashioned, but who wants to mess with loose, flying dirt while emptying a dirt cup?
Filter clogs and needs frequent cleaning
Small (really small) dirt collecting canister
Exhaust system is on front of unit, so it blows dirt around rather than picking it up on hard surfaces
Electrical cord is short (20 ft)
Pros:
Really, really great suction
Light weight
Inexpensive
On board tools
Unit doesn't tip over when using the stretch hose
Telescoping handle
After over 1 year of constant use, it's still working like the day I bought it.
I would say that this unit's best use is vacuuming small apts/homes or area rugs. If you're looking to vacuum your big house with this, you'll have to empty the dirt cup and clean the filter at least 2-3 times. If you need something to clean your bare floors, look elsewhere. I bought about 3 other cheap vacuums after my old Eureka died, and none of them had any suction power, so if you're looking for powerful suction, and you're willing to do a little extra work to get it, this vacuum will suit you just fine.
Suction Please !!!!! 
2008-07-27
This is the second little vacuum that I have bought in the past few years. The only reason I bought another one, is because I'm afraid if I don't get one now, they'll stop making them. At least I'll have a spare.
I have three dogs and I need to buzz around the house a couple times a week for a quick clean - up. This vacuum does a great job of sucking up hair...it actually pulls the hair away from the wall at quite a distance !!! It is also light as a feather and that helps my shoulder and my arm tremendously.
I like that it is not too noisy and I can hear the doorbell or telephone ring in the background. I don't have any carpet in my house, so I can't vouch for that.... but for me, it's a great little machine and I have recommended it to many elderly people because it is easy to handle and clean up is a breeze. It has made my life much easier and the price is excellent.
Great suction for small and inexpensive vacuum! 
2008-07-17
Pluses:
1. This little vacuum is a great product for the price if you want to have a small vacuum on hand before company comes or just for in between cleaning days, or for those who have trouble lifting larger vacuums.
2. I've found this model to have the best suction (12 amps - same as most large vacuums) for the size and it will easily pickup any small object as well as dirt, pet hair, and dust on any low fiber carpeted areas.
3. I've used it on my upholstered materials and it does pick up well. The hose helps get in the tighter spots.
4. It works great on stairs.
Drawback:
1. The vacuum does not do well on hard surfaces or long fiber carpets, and I wouldn't recommend it as the main vacuum for a household. As I stated, it would be okay for someone who has a hard time lifting larger vacuums.
2. I would like to see a longer cord, especially when used for stair cases.
3. Depending on use, the filter is short lived and seems expensive to buy. I've found that I have to clean the bagless area and the filter once every two weeks.
NOTE: What I've learne
Works great until the wheels fall off.... 
2008-07-12
This vacuum works great until the plastic molded wheels fall off. The wheel design is poor (cheap), and after less than a year of normal use on my vacuum a wheel came off. Unfortunately once this happens you are done.
Due to this design flaw I don't recommend this vacuum unless you plan to buy a new one each year.
BETTER THAN MY DYSON... no lie 2008-07-11
Get power with comfort! The Optima with comfort grip looped handle has 13 adjustable positions so every user enjoys the perfect height and grip. The specially designed telescopic handle extends to clean both high and low areas without awkward bending. The Optima has a 12-amp motor for deep-cleaning carpets like a full-size upright, but weighs just 11 pounds. The on/off brushroll cleans bare floors easily while the no-tip design stabilizes the vacuum for safe above-the-floor cleaning.
Broke after 6 months 2008-07-01
This seemed handy but it broke after 6 months even though I religiously cleaned the filter and emptied the canister. Eureka refused to fix or replace the vacuum because I didn't have my receipt and was quite rude about it too. What a waste of money.
Nice Idea, Poor Construction 2008-06-18
I was looking for a light weight, simple bag-less vacuum cleaner and the Eureka Optima seemed to fit the bill. At first, I liked it because it was light, small and seemed to do a decent job of cleaning. Then the problems started. First of all, the dirty little secret with bag-less vacuums is that while they have no bag, they have filters. With this vacuum, you need to clean the filter every two or three times you vacuum or it significantly looses suction. Also, as soon as the filter starts to collect dirt, the noise level goes way up on the machine. It's to the point where the vacuum is almost painfully loud to use. Second, as others have noted, the wheels fall off. The wheel are snapped onto the machine and over time, the become loose and fall off. Since it's all plastic, there is very little you can do to reattach them. Would it really have cost them that much more to put real wheels on it? Finally, the machine vents to the front which causes loose debris in front of the vacuum to blow away unless you have it angled just right. Not an issue on carpet but you notice the dust bunnies blowing around when you use it on tile.
Overall, I cannot recommend this unit and mine will soon be going in the trash. It's not worth the frustration of the painfully loud motor and wheels that won't stay attached.
Broke within less than a year 2008-06-15
My husband and I bought this vacuum after we bought our first house, because it was a good deal, and without any children we figured we didn't need anything too heavy duty. That was $65 down the drain.
The canister is so narrow that hair and dirt clogs the filter within minutes of vacuuming because it has nowhere to go. Eureka claims their filters last 6 months or more, but we were replacing filters every two months (when we could find them, they were difficult to find in stores).
Every time I dumped the canister I had to pick all the hair and dirt off the filter so I could use it the next time, which was an absolutely disgusting task. We tried washing the filter, which Eureka claimed you can do, but it barely removed any dirt, took days to dry, and made the filter smell terrible from then on out.
Then one day about 11 months after we bought the vacuum it just stopped working right in the middle of vacuuming. After searching online we found that many people have had this happen and it's because the motor overheats and shuts itself off. So we let it cool, which took about a half hour, til it felt like there wasn't any heat coming from it anymore. So I turned it back on to finish vacuuming, within 5-10 minutes the vacuum shut off again.
We couldn't get any help from Eureka with why our vacuum was overheating or how to fix it. We threw it out the next day and bought a new vacuum. We won't be buying from Eureka again!
durable for the job 2008-06-09
When I bought this vacuum, I had just moved into my 1-bed apt was looking for something to clean carpet, tiles, and the wood floor of the living room.
I like the fact that you can turn off the brush roll.. any other vacuum like that would have cost me $180+. This was a bargain buy,and using it now, makes my well spent money very well worth it. I don't have any pets, so wouldn't be able to help you with that, and the carpet only covers a 15'x15' room.
I read the reviews on here before buying and many people complained about the air exhaust blows the dirt away, that doesn't happen with me.
I rated it one star down because of the length of the cord, and the annoyance of cleaning the filter.
Good luck with your search
