Interesting. I have been cheap and only bought inexpensive vacums. One thing that impresses me about some vacums is the fan protection feature, where the fan blade is behind the bag, so if someone accidentally vacums up paper clips, metal binder clips, change, or some other metal, it doesn't have a high speed collision with the fan blade. I have not been so happy with the low priced (under $80) Hoover vacums I bought. Some of the Panasonic models have the fan protection feature(why aren't all vacums made this way? I guess it decreases the suction power, so a higher power motor is needed?). Some of the Panasonic models aren't so expensive. Some people like Oreck vacums since they are so light. The prices on Kirby vacums seem so high. Electrolux vacums are loved by some. I guess they are cheaper than Kirby, but still very expensive. Many people seem to want to buy vacums that are under $100 though and are basically disposable(I guess those are often just discarded when they break rather than being repaired).