I spent the better part of 30 minutes at Target, looking for a way to keep the dust and cat hair out of my bachelor pad for good.  I use a regular broom, but it’s messy and the dust just gets shoved under the fridge anyway.  The cat hair is a mess, it gets stuck in the bristles, and there’s nothing I can do to keep THAT part clean.

While browsing the vacuum cleaner aisle, I was shocked to see the $599 models at a Target.  They looked intimidating, and for a guy living in a fairly small space, there’s no place to STICK a vacuum after use.  Those models looked bigger than my fridge, to be honest.

I checked out the smaller models, too, but even those had features that made little sense.  All I wanted was something simple to grab the dust off my ceramic floor, and be just powerful enough to snag cat hair and stray cat food that gets spilled.

The mid-range smaller vacuum models were all fairly reasonable, starting around $99 for the top of the line model, and averaging around $60 for the basic ones.  They all were complicated and still too large, though.  I don’t mind spending the money, but I think most of the features on these units was more for the lazy who wants to vacuum once in a blue moon, having to wade through dust and dander and hair and other grotesque floor oddities like using a machete in the jungle.

I’m not the cleanest guy in the world, but I can do a simple sweep and vac every morning.  Since I’ve been working and playing too much lately, my place has become the dust bowl, battling the entire State of Kansas for possibly the most dust on the ground.  A simple sweeping wouldn’t do.

I almost grabbed a $69.99 model that was bright red with a cool looking filter, when a slim and unimpressive box caught my attention right next to the model I wanted.  It was called the Shark Duo, a bagless convertible stick vacuum.  No price, no information.

The box was unassuming, but it said that the vacuum was really a hand vac (think Dust Buster style) that comes with an attachable handle (the “stick” portion).  It’s not chargable, but I have outlets everywhere.  It looked perfect for me:  only 5lbs, so I don’t have to lug it around, no filter or bag to deal with (a washable filter is there, and you can wash it in the sink), and I can convert it to a hand vac when I need to clean up the couch or bed or scare the living daylight out of my cat.

I grabbed said cheap-looking vacuum, and checked out.  I was shocked when my total came to under $20.  $15, plus tax, to be exact.  For a nice vacuum.

Unboxing the unit was no big deal, they didn’t even tap or stable the box.  Just two simple fold tabs.  Inside the box was an instruction manual, and 3 chunks of plastic:  the handvac portion, the stick handle, and a floor brush with wheels.  Cheap, but simple.  Assembly took under 30 seconds.

I plugged the unit in, and ran first for the bedroom, where the cat hair accumulated over 1 week of not cleaning was possibly more than my cat has on its body.  5 seconds pushing the VERY quiet and VERY light Shark Duo through the bedroom floor and the place looks spotless.  It grabbed EVERY chunk of hair (even from a few inches in front, near the floor molding), EVERY piece of cat food and kittie treats, and it even swallowed whole a little mess my princess made from overeating (that had since dried up).  I was impressed.

The cord is a little short at about 8 feet, so I moved it to another part of the room and was done in another 30 seconds.  Off to the living room, where I bumped a FULL ashtray of cigarette butts.  10 seconds, 3 sweeps, and that was gone, too.  The kitchen was another minute, sucking who knows what out from under the fridge and oven.  I was mighty impressed by this little, cheaply built and unattractive stick vac.

The dust canister is a clear purple, reminding me of those old one-piece iMacs.  It’s perfect, because you can see how much dust and garbage has collected, but it’s not totally transparent, so you won’t gag.

I emptied the dust bin (very full), and cleaned the filter in my sink.  Total vacuuming and cleaning time: 5 minutes.  My condo looks spotless.  Replacement accessories are available on their website: 3 replacement filters for $7.95, and it looks like I can change the purple transparent body to a blue one for $7.95.  Or you can throw the thing out and just buy another, the price is so low.

If you’re a single person living in a small apartment or condo, this vacuum is perfect.  It’s cheap enough to be disposable, it has impressive suction, and it just works.  It may not be AS good as a $70 model or even a $500 model, but by being simple and lightweight, I bet you’ll vacuum three times as much as with a heavier, bulkier model.  I know I will.

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