This is what we use. Compact. Reliable (though we just had to replace one) and powerful. Not cordless but it has such a small footprint it stores easily on the vans.

[Link: lowes.com]

We suck!

These really work well, look for the dust collector most of the way down the page.
[Link: internationaltool.com]

briremo, went to Lowes this morning and bought one.

Good man, I always knew you had good judgement! lol

Well my little friend, it sux like a $2 wh^r# on a Friday night.

And that, is good unuf for me.

For $500, you think I didn't know the minute I saw it why you really bought it?

Seriously though, it looks like a very nice machine. What possessed you to spend $500 on it when you can buy one so much cheaper? How does it "pay for itself" which is what a good tool should do?

I was not aware that your experience reached this far down the social register as to suggest such an intimate acquaintance with the talents of low rent working girls.

Alan

That's a good point Alan. I once had a lady of the night that looked quite, shall we say, "cracked up" yell out her price at me as I was walking down the street, and even she charged $20 (I politefully, but irritatingly declined, yelling back to her that as a babe magnet I am the one that gets paid, albeit at a much, much higher rate). Evidently OEX hangs out in a different stratosphere (sinkospere?) altogether, the one where the ladies charge $2.

Of course he could have been speaking allegorically, actually referring to the vacuum cleaners at the gas stations that you have to put $2 worth of quarters into, that don't "work" any where as well as his beloved Super CoachVac.

Serious? From you? Surely you jest.


Well, here is the deal. I had to old work in 2 pairs of speakers the other day in a super anal retentive guys home. I set up my rotozip with the vac attachment. Donned the supercoach vac and cut the holes over right over the beds. No drops. I didn't spill a spec of dust anywhere in the house and it was a one person operation. Total time to cut and clean up after 4 holes. Less than 3 minutes. Try that with any other method and the results won't compare. BTW the vac is only around $350 but with a bunch of attachments it came to just under $500. I vacuum hardwood floors and expensive oriental rugs in my clients home too. Cleaning the entire area before leaving is a must in my book. The home should be as clean or cleaner than when I got there. Shop vacs just cant do that. And if you try with their cheap attachments you'll end up with scratched floors.

To answer your question specifically. Let's say I only saved 30 minutes total on the 2 pair. This would include time to setup the drop clothes, shake them out and clean up dust on other furniture. Of course this 30 minutes is much less than what it would take but lets use it. At $85 and hour that comes to $42.50 saved in 1 job. Almost 10% of the cost. 11 jobs and its paid for.

I tried this with shop vacs only to have dust everywhere.

It simply is a pro type tool for a pro type installer. Anything less is truely sophomoric.

You aren't truly a pro unless you've got a Fein vacuum. I was at a jobsite last year and saw one of these in action, I immediately had to have one. It is ultra quiet, won't tip over, is completely dust free, and has a 16 foot hose! It is not cheap, nor are the bags, but it is the best.

[Link: feinus.com]

I can reach from the bottom, right past the dont climb above OSHA sticker. I am very versatile to say the least.

BTW, I always managed to keep my $2.

Come now, my nephytical friend of vacuums. Your little unit has less sucking power (90" compared to 100" of lift) AND weighs more than 2 times.

Plus, mine makes me look cool like Buzz LightYear.

Your looks like a cross between R2D2 and WeeMan

Thanks for the answer OEX. And ya, at 11 lbs versus 28 lbs. for me that a no brainer.

Now it's going to bother me that somewhere out there are CI's who are using cooler vacs them me.

hahaha

Don't forget that mine measures 57.8db at 1m during operation! This means that I can have a normal conversation with it running right next to me, clients are always amazed by it.