Hi. Let me start off by saying I was looking for a vacuum for the garage. It seemed to me that vacuuming is the most thorough way of removing dirt, sand, and debris from the garage as opposed to sweeping or using a compressor for blowing air. Of course, using our in house Dyson was not something that impressed my wife, and the shop-vac with the 6 foot cord and 5 foot hose didn't cut it. So I looked around a bit at cheaper upright vacuums, but ended up settling on this one for a couple of reasons- price, has a bag, the suction based on reviews.