Panasonic MC-UL915 Canister Vacuum Cleaner, Red Metallic finish

I’ve used and liked many Panasonic items over the years from TV’s to VCR’s and they’ve always been a dependable brand. I had no idea that they were making vacuum cleaners.

This is a fantastic vacuum and had a number of new features that make a difference. First off, it’s bagless, which I love. Over the years I have run out of bags more times then I can count and now I don’t have to bother with them anymore. The canister is really easy to empty when it’s full and as it’s clear, you can easily tell. There’s a build-in HEPA filter too.

The handle is part of the vacuum, it’s adjustable and pops out to become an extension hose. With the various attachments you can clean up any type if surface and it has a very tall reach, which is excellent for high ceilings. There’s even a brush attachment that’s great for cleaning dirt and pet hair off of your stairs.

The controls are easy to find, and easy to use. My previous vacuum cleaner had a hidden power switch and unmarked switches, The Panasonic has everything clearly marked and easily accessible. It’s lighter and quieter then my previous vacuum as well. The first time I used it, my husband asked who was using the blow dryer, and it was the vacuum.

Pro:

Bagless

Adjustable Handle

High reach

HEPA Filter

Quieter

Great for pet hair

Cons:

I have yet to find any!

A wonderful vacuum cleaner that’s highly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5

The thing to know about vacuum cleaners in recent years, and all home appliances, is that they are very poorly constructed compared to 30 or 40 years ago. It’s really sad. Remember that steel Electrolux your mother bought in the 1950’s and used for decades? With a rebuidable motor? That doesn’t happen anymore. Two years ago my kitchen was renovated with new, high end range, dishwasher, fridge. All three have failed. The range developed a severe and dangerous fault whereby it would not allow the burners to turn off. The dishwasher broke down twice. Just last night the $1800 French door stainless steel state of the art refrigerator went into a mode where it heated instead of cooling the food, destroying all the food. The repairman is here right now as I type; I had to pay for a $250 service contract to get him. Unfortunately, this is typical. Today’s appliances are made of plastic, even plastic motor housings, and are intended to be purchased with a service contract. When the service contract expires, chuck it out and send to China for another one. Your only choice is better quality plastic versus worse quality. Sad but true.

Now to vacuum cleaners. Their design has not changed much; there are still two families, uprights, which are primarily for floors, and canisters, which are primarily for hand vacuuming of surfaces but come with a floor attachment having a motorized brush for the rugs. Until now, I have always used the canister design.

The best vacuum I ever bought was a Panasonic canister model, in 1988. It has worked perfectly for all these years, and I still have it (relegated to cleaning the furnace now). Two years ago I thought “Well, this can’t last much longer” and bought a new fancy model from that ubiquitous department store which starts with an “S” and sells appliances labeled “K.” Four hundred bucks and very disappointing. It was not only made of plastic, but flimsy, ill-fitting, bendy plastic. I felt sorry for the engineers who were forced by their employers to produce such pathetic junk.

Because of my prior good experience with Panasonic, I was eager to test this MC-UO915. Also, I have never used an upright before. It is bagless – one of the few innovations of recent years which actually makes sense – and has that plastic see-through cylinder look that is fashionable due to the heavy TV marketing of the Dyson. You can watch your dirt swirl around.

The first thing you will notice about this Panasonic is that it is quite heavy. This is not all bad! The good part of it is that heavier means more material, more metal, better plastic, more rugged. (A good way to pick out something like a lawnmower or garden tractor is to buy the heaviest one you can afford.) It is quite well made, with the parts fitting together much more precisely than that “K” unit I mentioned. The less good part is that heavy obviously means unwieldy as you push it around the house, and this baby is a handfull. Although it does have a vacuum hose which can be detached and used for surfaces, actually doing so is inconvenient because the beastly machine must be maneuvered close to your furniture or whatever. So it’s mainly for floors. As for actual vacuuming performance on rugs, I was impressed – it recovered quite a bit of stuff from a rug I had thought was clean.

Overall, for my own situation, I find the canister arrangement is more flexible and works better – my house has only a few rugs but many wood floors, nooks and crannies. The rug/floor attachment is light and the canister itself sits on the floor. Nevertheless, I recommend this Panasonic, especially if you are going to use it mainly for large rugs rather than tight corners. As such things go these days, it is well constructed of good materials, the fit and finish are excellent, and it should last better than most. (Although I note that Consumer Reports did not find Panasonic uprights to be at the top of the reliability statistics.) Also, this is being sold at a very modest price, 1/2 or even 1/3 of some competitors, so you could afford to supplement it with a second unit for hand vacuuming.

For that, I have a radical suggestion. Consider a small shop type vac, which has a strong motor and costs less than fifty bucks. These are not fancy and people turn up their noses at them for household use, but they are a great bargain for a no-nonsense powerful vacuum. Just search for “shop vacuum” on Amazon. When it only costs $49.95, who cares if it’s plastic?

PS: I agree with the other reviewers who were annoyed at the big paper stick-on label which is so hard to remove. Why is that the idiots in a company are always in the marketing departments?
Rating: 5 / 5

The Panasonic JetSpin Cyclone upright vacuum cleaner is an excellent machine. It’s well built and designed, relatively quiet, and has good suction and cleaning power.

The vacuum is very easy to assemble. The only things you need to do when you take it out of the box is connect and insert the hose, and attach all the tools to the body (except for the bare floor brush since it doesn’t snap onto the vacuum). The vacuum is very well made and feels sturdy. It’s not exactly a lightweight vacuum, but it’s no worse than any other comparable upright (a Hoover Windtunnel for example). Lastly, the vacuum is an attractive red color!

Using the Panasonic couldn’t be easier. There is a nice long cord that you remove by simply swiveling the upper cord hook. On top of the vacuum is a huge and easily accessible power button along with the red and green lights that indicate when the carpet is clean. The indicator lights are a nice touch, especially for someone like myself who likes to know that the carpet is as clean as it can be. Better still is the fact the lights are very visible up top, instead of down by the beater bar like on some other vacuums. The vacuum is very easy to push and pull and has a large rubberized handle. The handle is adjustable and also pulls out so you can use it as a cleaning wand to attach tools to. (I’d like to mention here that I had a previous upright Panasonic that worked the same way, and it would always tip over when I used the tools, on this one that is not a problem.) The hose attached to the handle is of the stretchy variety and is plenty long enough to reach an 8′ ceiling. The tools that come with the vacuum are a bare floor brush, a crevice tool, a motorized hand tool, and a furniture brush that you can slide the bristles off of. There is a large switch on the vacuum by the head release foot pedal where you can turn the beater bar on and off. This is nice for when you want to quickly switch to bare floor cleaning, but don’t want the beater bar shooting particles around.

While vacuuming carpets the head of the vacuum automatically adjust up and down so you don’t have set a pile height. I like this system since my carpets are not all the same pile. Additionally the head of the vacuum is very low in profile and easily gets under beds, couches, and coffee tables. You’re not going to get the whole machine under there, but you can stick the head in a few inches. Lastly, the vacuum cleaner is not very loud. It’s noticeable to be sure, but you can still carry on a conversation without shouting. Much better than some Hoover machines I’ve used in the past.

The vacuum cleans well and has decent suction through the hose. I didn’t notice any left behind dirt or pet hair. The dust cup is very easy to empty out, you just push a button and the bottom swings down. You’ll have to reach inside to pull out some pet hair because of static cling, but as bag-less vacuums go it’s a pretty good system. You can wash out the dustbin and all the filters except for the HEPA filter which is below the dustbin. Panasonic recommends replacing that filter yearly.

All in all… not much to dislike, it’s a very nicely done vacuum cleaner.
Rating: 5 / 5