A cordless vac that Meh may never see...

Absent a huge pile of them getting loose as refurbs, I doubt that this vac will be available anywhere except Home Depot. It’s Ryobi’s One+ HP version, and it is the Mjolnir to the iLife G50’s tackhammer.

Caveat: I have not tested the G50. But my impression from the reviews I’ve seen is that it is roughly comparable to the Tineco A10 that I foolishly bought from the A-hoes a while back.

I had come to Regret that acquisition.

The half-fast recharge rate on my Tineco’s battery had never been one of its endearing characteristics, nor was the price of a spare. And then there was the half-vast dust container that had to be emptied every few minutes. And the half-pass size of the choke points in the powered-brush head and the main unit which became insta-clogged on the bits of shredded cardboard that the cats distributed in its path. And the half-assed level of actual suction that failed to bring bits of cat litter (etc) up the tube from the floor. At least it came with two suction-side washable final filters, which it desperately needed because they’d both be fully clogged by the time the battery ran out, but usually sooner.

So I wanted a replacement. And my parameters were pretty strict. It needed to have a replaceable battery that was likely to remain available and preferably would power more than one device I either already had or might want to acquire. It needed to have suction at a level similar to a conventional upright. It needed to be a brand that had been around longer than “since we listed this item on Amazon”. It should have an upholstery attachment that made it useful for decatting the backs and seat cushions of the recliners. It needed to not be as ludicrously expensive (and overrated) as a Dyson.

Basically, the realistic candidates came down to one of the Black & Decker models (which shares its 20V battery pack with a bunch of power tools) or this Ryobi (whose batteries I already had.) This HP version isn’t stocked in the stores; they sell the smaller, lighter, less-powerful one instead. I guess they think it won’t sell there because it’s not a featherweight juggling-baton substitute. They are wrong. I am convinced that if people get the chance to try this thing out head-to-head against the competition, the typical reaction is likely to be “I’ll take THIS one, you can unbox a fresh one for the demos, I’m taking this one that I already know works.”

So, why am I saying this here, in a place where it’s probably never going to be available to sell?

We can dream…