Customer Reviews
Great value and it's powered by Lithium Ion batteries. 
2008-09-09
I have several of the older Versapak battery power vacuums and consumer grade hand tools. The original battery powered hand vacuums used Nicads, then they were upgraded to the "gold" version which were NiMH batteries. These each used two drop in packs with a total of 6 sub C cells for a total of 7.4 volts. These worked well but the voltage was adequate but not over powering. The actual vacuums (original Versapak) were built using a hard injection molded plastic which meant if you dropped it the body or battery hold down would break.
The design is similar but the batteries are retained using a spring loaded clip on the battery.
What I really like is the the built-in narrow extension tool which allows the vacuum to get into narrow areas. The built-in feature is a real plus because accessories tend to get separated from tools like this. In addition, there is clip on crevice tool which snaps into the extending nose of the vacuum. It, along with a brush, are stored in the back side of the vacuum. Overall, the vacuum design is similar to older models but improved.
The best part of this battery powered hand vacuum is the use of Lithium Ion batteries. These are small 1300 milliamp hour A123 cells which are extremely rugged and good for a 1000 charges. Best of all is they hold their charge for months, not days or weeks which are typical of Nicads or NiMH cells. Nothing is more frustrating then wanting to use a battery powered tool and when you want to use it the battery pack needs to be recharged. The VPX charger takes longer than I like, but that's a normal consumer grade charger. It's a shame because these batteries can be quick charged in 15 minutes with a more powerful charger.
I motor is a brushless motor that takes time to break in, so a new motor needs to be used a bit to get the most out of it.
Decent Hand Vac 
2008-07-07
The VPX Hand Vac is quite powerful and does a good job when the collection chamber is empty. However, with a dog that sheds alot, the chamber quickly fills and needs to be emptied frequently. This isn't that big of a deal because emptying is easy to do. Battery life is not that great and one can barely clean two couches and one set of stairs before the battery dies. Also, if one of the two batteries die the unit shuts off. Which means if you don't have more than two batteries you can't use your drill for a while and then hope to clean up the entire mess without recharging a battery. All in all I am glad I own this as I have a small place and between this unit and my Roomba I can effectivly clean up any mess, but I would not recommend this product to others.
Disappointing. A poorly designed and very expensive dud. 
2008-04-21
I purchased this 14.4V vacuum simply to keep on my truck when small clean-up jobs don't warrant my dragging the large shop vacuum off the truck and into a customer's home. As an example, maybe I had to drill a couple of small holes into wood or drywall to mount something and there's a little bit of drill dust to pick up off of the floor. Makes sense, right?
Regrettably, this is definitely NOT a hand vac for anything other than normal household dust, the occasional hair and large particles of dirt. It's NOT worthy of being called a tool by any stretch. Finer particles sail right on through the vac's filter and straight on into the motor and switch. On two occasions, one with some masonry drill dust, the other with drywall drill dust, the vacuum just stopped working and the switch bound up after about one minute of operation. I had to disassemble much of it, use compressed air to blow out the dust from within the vacuum and then use some expensive non-conductive spray cleaner/lube to get it back up and working again. Now, it sits idle most of the time and just gets used to pick up larger particles like wood chips, shavings, etc.
So, I wasted roughly $95 total on it with the extra charger/battery purchase and yet another individual battery purchase. That's simply not practical thinking or good design on B&D's part in my opinion. Why make a 14.4V $40 hand vacuum that then requires at least one charger and two batteries - all to be purchased separately for another $55- as part of an integrated tool system when the vacuum's motor, switch and filter design cannot stand up to minimal shop type of use? Truthfully, any one of the numerous handheld Dustbuster types of rechargeable vacuums would no doubt perform as well, if not better, and for much less than this costs.
This handheld vacuum is clearly an expensive clunker in the otherwise creative and well-thought out VPX line. Shame on B&D for designing and marketing a handheld vacuum that does not stand up or perform as it should. The benefit of having interchangeable lithium ion batteries over built-in Nicads is negated by its ineffectiveness.
In direct contrast, however, their 7.2V VPX hand saw is well worth the $60 I paid for it, and that price included the charger and a battery.
Dissapointed 2008-02-13
Black & Decker VPX0320 Dual Port ChargerBlack & Decker VPX0111 7-Volt VPX Battery PackVpx Hand Vac
I was about to contact Black and Decker. Something has to be wrong. I fully charged the two batteries and inserted into the Vac. I ran it for 5 minutes, put the vac away, and ran it for 5 minutes a week later and the vac recharge light comes on. There are two expensive batteries fully charged, can they only run for two 5 minute intervals? If thats it, they should scrap this product.
Don winans
its okay 
2008-01-26
I just got the hand vac and at first I have to say I bought it because the first person who posted the review raved about it. Unfortunately, I will be returning it.
First off, Amazon didn't mention any where that the batteries and the charger were sold separately, but that's not the reason I'm returning this. Secondly, this hand vac doesn't stand out and really works similar to many others. The cyclonic action was not impressive as some others. Dirt and "stuff" still got caught on the filter and the suction slowed.
Thirdly, at 7volts(x2) it didn't seem like it totaled what a 14volt should The suction was no that impressive. Lastly, the on/off switch was pretty hard to work. My wife couldn't work it, and this was the real reason its being returned.
Black and decker replaces versapak vacuum 2008-01-22
2VPX Hand Vac, Design Performance, Cyclonic Action Keeps Suction Power Strong, All Access, Accureachtm Extension Nozzle, Crevice Tool & Upholstery Brush Allow You To Get Into Hard To Reach Places, Cyclonic Action, Stronger Suction, Longer, 3 Stage Filtration, Clean Air Exhaust, Use VPX To Clean Up After Your Projects.
In VPX heaven! 
2007-11-24
IMHO, VPX is a revolution in tool design. I was so excited when I saw these tools. This system has what I consider to be the best industrial design you can find in the consumer tool market. I started with the inflator and since then I've bought and tested all the different components except for the USB/Inverter.
I find the tools to have plenty of power and its very useful to have a common battery as well as one thats ready to go when you need it! They also take a lot less space than my old tool system which my wife always thought took a lot of space. My VPX setup takes half the space and does more! This one is a keeper!
