Rating: 
- Very Good
We
found a new vacuum cleaner from Germany which we thought
was rather interesting in its fundamental design. In
Germany, EIO is a strong competitor to Miele, and has
been for years, but has not been exported to the USA
until now. It uses the same basic motor
as the Miele, but there the similarities end. The bottom
line on this vacuum is that we think it provides terrific
value for money and when we tested it for emissions,
a topic near to every allergy sufferer's heart, it came
out roses. It does however have some quirks.
We're presenting the EIO
vacuum cleaner in two different models. They are
actually the same machine with a different label on
them and different packages of hand tool and motor accessories.
The advantage of this approach is that you could start
with a lower priced model and then decide on your upgrades
later. My recommendation is to start with the "Family"
model at $499.95 which comes with an excellent turbo
head, then add the power head later if you find you
need it. If you have a lot of carpets, then just get
the "Estate" model, the top of the line with
power head, right from the start.
For those of you who like details. Here
is a compilation of several testers' product pluses
and minuses. We tested the EIO "Family" model.
Pluses
- The EIO vacuum cleaner comes with a
system of 3 main filters out of a total of six. It
has a 3 layer disposable HEPA dust bag, an active
charcoal and motor protection filter cassette, and
an S class suspended matter HEPA filter. We tested
the EIO vacuum cleaner and it had near-zero or zero
emissions. From the allergy sufferer perspective this
is a dream machine.
- All EIO models come with an adjustable
wand which we think makes for ease of use when doing
different applications.
- We loved the bags that come with the
EIO. They are the biggest ones we have seen in a vacuum
cleaner this size.
- EIO made a slightly larger vacuum cleaner
than its competitors allowing for the larger fabric
dust bags and tools on board, but it is still light
and easy to move around.
- The EIO 360° swivel hose made the
vacuum very easy to maneuver.
- The electronic Max-Min suction control
allows you to clean low to high pile rugs more effectively.
For instance, the max setting removes pet hair from
upholstery while the min setting was useful for cleaning
drapes and lampshades.
- The hardwood floor brush was low enough
to get underneath the heating system and furniture,
and the quality of the brush was impressive.
- The roller head attachment worked very
well on kitchen and bathroom floors.
- Overall the quality of the EIO hand
tools seemed excellent. The turbo head seemed more
powerful than we had seen used with other machines.
Most people will be perfectly content with the EIO
Family Vacuum, which comes complete with a turbo head.
- It is easy to change the filters on
this vacuum cleaner. They were very accessible. The
HEPA filter needs to be changed after 50 hours of
use.
- The EIO will tell you when it is time
to change the vacuum cleaner bag. This is an important
feature, as most people do not realize that vacuum
bags need to be changed before they are full to the
brim.
- EIO is a vacuum cleaner with a defect
record of a fraction of 1% and a reputation for holding
up over time. A boon for those who are tired of their
vacuum cleaners breaking down every two years.
Minuses
- In order to get an adjustable wand
and no external wiring, EIO came up with a unique
solution for their power-brush vacuums. It works off
a power-pack which we found lasted an hour without
running out. You do need to remember to charge up
the spare pack in case it runs out on you while you
are vacuuming. We also found the power-brush to be
a little erratic to begin with and it seemed to switch
itself off unasked. Then it settled down and behaved
beautifully but we could not figure out what we might
have done to cause it to be erratic.
- The hand tools are on board and can
be changed pretty easily. They were not so smooth
to change as some more expensive vacuums such as the
top of the line Miele, but were more than acceptable.
- As with other vacuum cleaners at this
price range, most of the controls are on the canister
instead of finger- tip convenience on the handle.
It was necessary to keep bending down to adjust the
suction such as when the vacuum moved from carpet
to floor to upholstery. Getting finger tip controls
just costs a lot more and it would be unfair to expect
a vacuum cleaner at this price point to have this
feature.
- The plastic logo on the handle fell
off repeatedly while testers were using it. It was
hollow underneath and appeared to serve no function.
It was difficult to snap back into place. A little
glue was the answer.
- There are two floor tools that come
with the Family model. We thought that was excessive
and got a little confused as to which tool to use
when.
- EIO is not a household brand here in
the USA and the number of authorized repair centers
is limited at the moment. The good news is that the
EIO repair and defect record is near flawless.
- In the model we tested, the retractable
cord pulled out in a jerky fashion but retracted flawlessly.
We were not sure whether we had a defective model
or whether they were all like that.
Summary
We liked this vacuum cleaner a great deal.
And just in case you are interested, we have tested
and evaluated a number of vacuum cleaners this summer
that did not pass our stringent quality requirements.
See all the vacuum cleaners at Allergybuyersclub.com
First Published: mid-August 2002
Updated: May 2007
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