Have you ever lugged one of those up 2 flights of stairs?? I about DIED!! My aunt has an old victorian house in Great Falls, Montana, and I was staying there so I was helping out. The vacuum was on the bottom floor and the area I was to vacuum was the top floor where the bedrooms are. That was the worst experience in my life!
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But if you can find one around today, they clean really well!
Edited to add AGAIN:
We have a built in vacuum system. The pipes are inside the walls of our house, and there are 3 outlets where you plug in a long hose which attaches to the vacuum attachment, but it also include other attachments. All the dirt going into the garage where there main vacuum part is. A simple canister contains the dirt, we empty it about once a month. The vacuum is so quiet, too. Mother could vacuum on Super Bowl Sunday and we wouldn't even notice. We also have a Hoover Steamvac for a deep clean. Both are very fantastic products, and I'd recomend them over all other vacuums available.