Side by Side Comparison of: Hoover vs Crucial Vacuum

We bought our first one 6.5 years ago and is still working fine even after using it multiple times a day in our kitchen/dining area. This is the second one, as the on/off switch in the first one started to get flaky. We will also need a new lithium battery soon, so it made the most sense to buy another unit. A replacement handle assembly (needed to replace the switch) and new battery was nearly the price of an entire new unit. Now that we have the new unit, the old unit will be for spare parts.

With the first unit, we are on the third lithium battery, as those have lasted about 2 years on average for us. I also needed to take apart the vacuum head to replace a broken wire that powers the rotating brush. The factory wire frayed and broke within the swivel head after the first few years of use.

Otherwise, with proper maintenance (i.e. emptying the dirt cup every day or two, clearing the power brush of long hair strands/thread every week or two), and cleaning the dirt-cup filter, it has been an excellent vacuum with the needed power to effectively clean hard floors and rugs in our kitchen/dining area. Occasionally, we use it on small areas of carpet for spot cleaning. It is very convenient not to have cords, and stores easily out of the way, which is the reason we originally purchased it. Of course, it is not designed for wet/sticky dirt and residue.

Highly recommended overall. That is the reason we bought our 2nd one while this model is still available.

My home has hardwood floors throughout so I spend a lot of time sweeping and vacuuming. Sweeping out from the edge of the walls and the using the hardwood floor setting on my big corded vacuum. It's such a process. So I researched cordless vacuums that were good for hardwood and pet hair and Consumer Reports ranked the Linx #1. The product arrived today and I immediately put it to work, and walking around barefoot afterwards I can feel how clean the floors are.

Pro's: easy to assemble, turns easily and rolls well, light weight, canister easy to empty, great at picking up pet fur, two settings (hardwood and carpet), worked great along edges of rooms and on the stairs, carpet setting worked ok on rugs (not as good as my traditional vacuum, as expected), battery life is ok.

Con's: rollers caught up pet fur and human hair more easily than regular vacuums, remove battery to charge it (no docking station, but battery was very easy to remove, charge, install)

Battery life: the battery stayed strong throughout the whole house, not once seemed weak. After finishing the house I checked the battery level and it had a third life left. Now my house isn't large, 2 bedroom; so with a bigger house a recharge might be necessary.

I was disappointed to have a separate battery charger and not a dock. My sister has the Shark Navigator cordless vacuum which I have used before. In comparison, I would choose the Linx over the Shark Navigator. Battery life was longer, suction seemed stronger, turned better. The Shark does have a dock for charging, however. Overall I would recommend this

I read numerous reviews of all the vacuumns in this category prior to making this purchase. I am so glad I bought this one! It is the perfect tool for a quick daily clean-up of our hardwood floors & area rugs. With two dogs I am always surprised how much hair/dirt it picks up & it is very easy to dump the contents in the trash. It is so much quieter than our more traditional bigger vacuumn & it is narrow enough to fit UNDER many pieces of furniture. I do not use it on the carpeted areas but I'm impressed with how well it works on all the throw rugs. It's also the perfect size for the bathrooms & is small enough to fit in all the corners which is awesome. We charge it every other time we use it & so far the battery is lasting quite well. Great stick vacuum!

My old vacuum was a 24 year old Electrolux that my husband purchased when he sold vacuums for a month at the ripe old age of 16. I don't know why at 16 he spent $800 on a vacuum, but he did, and it's been his longest lasting relationship besides his mom. He loved his Electrolux so much that for years he wouldn't let me buy a new one because "they don't make them like that anymore." I told him he's right, they don't, they make them better...cordless!!!
His....I mean "Our" Electrolux vacuum never died, we still have it. It has a bunch of attachments, still sucks amazing, but is incredibly bulky, hard to use and requires purchasing bags and dealing with the cord accidentally retracting a million times mid-vacuuming. With all its cons, it's still a revolution in my husbands eyes.
After a month and a half with this new vacuum I am finally able to write a review.
Pros:
1) I can see the dirt! The clear canister is incredibly rewarding to me. I love seeing how much filth I'm sucking up and it makes me want to vacuum more. Even my kids are excited by this feature. I vacuum waaaaay more than I ever vacuumed in the past because of this. It's very easy to empty the canister, taking just seconds.
2) It's CORDLESS!!! It might as well be the invention of the microwave. I can vacuum without limits, I feel so free!!!
3) Battery light indicates how much life I have left in the battery. I can vacuum for about 40 minutes on a full charge. There is never a weak suction, when the power runs low it shuts off. There is either a good suction or no suction. The charger lights up to reveal when it's ready again. I'm takes about 3 hours to recharge.
4) Size. It's so light and easy to move around. My kids (ages 6,5,5 &3) now fight over who can vacuum. I sit down eating bon bons while they take turns vacuuming the house.
5) There's a switch for tile/hardwoods floors and another for carpets. I have pure white shiny ceramic tiles covering my foyer, kitchen and kitchen seating area. I hate them, with a passion. I used to sweep at least a dozen times a day. Because this vacuum is so easy to use and portable, I just vacuum my floors now. See ya later, broom.

Now it's time for the Cons, because I would be lying if I didn't name a few;
1) I wish it came with another battery. I could vacuum all day long if I didn't have to spend 3 hours waiting for it to recharge. I use this time to fold laundry, which unfortunately this vacuum doesn't do for me. That's another con.
2) There are no attachments or even attachment kits available for this. Some times I want to get in the deep, dark places that are too hard for my vacuum to reach and it can't. So I don't clean them. So they are still dirty, and then I have to listen to my husband to complain about how his Electrolux could do it all. And that hurts. I'd like a small, fancy suctioning wand, is that too much to ask?
3) Hairy bristles. We have four long haired ladies in our house and I regularly have to cut our hair out from the bristles underneath. Maybe its because the bristle area is smaller than our big, bulky Electrolux, but I have to clean that area more than I did with the old vacuum. It's like another armpit to shave everyday, a small extra hassle.
4) The secret clog. I have had to do maintenance once on the area between the bottom and the frame. I used a skewer to jam in there when the vacuum stopped suctioning once. I pushed my suctioning limits when my dog ate her bed leaving stuffing all over the house. I wanted to save myself the effort of bending over & picking up the stuffing and instead caused myself 1/2 hour of unplugging. It was pretty disgusting. I recommend bending over for big stuff in the future. That may not be a con since it was my own laziness and sheer stupidity that caused it.
Overall I am very happy with this vacuum and my husband approves since I actually not only vacuum now, but vacuum ALL THE TIME now. I wouldn't do it it weren't convenient, easy to use and rewarding. Seriously, dumping the dirt cartridge is like getting rewarded with stickers in school. If it weren't already clear, I recommend this vacuum.

The BEST. Lightweight, cordless, and yet does a GREAT job on both my low pile carpet and my tile floors. This has become the vacuum I use every day and now I only pull out my big vacuum about once a week (if that)! I have 3 German Shepherds that have free reign of the inside and outside (dog doors - bless them) so I know what I am talking about when it comes to dirt, sand, mud, grass, etc. Do not be fooled. This little Hoover is a trooper. The cup is small and I have to empty it after every room with my crew of dogs, but that is so simple and easy that I just dump it in the basket as I leave one room and move on to the next. I purchased an extra battery so that I just switch the battery out as needed and always have one ready to go. I vacuum EVERYTHING with this little guy - floors, bedspreads (Oh NO - the dogs got on the bed!!!), tile, the back porch, the garage - EVERYTHING! It is so light and easy, but a hard worker. I love mine. It is my number one tool.

I've been using a linx for many years and have had to replace batteries about every other year. It's expensive, slightly annoying, but definitely worth it. No complaints.

top quality replacement. great battery life and the vacuum feels stronger than ever. kept me from having to buy a whole new vacuum

Our old battery wore down after a couple of years. The vacuum worked but the run time of the old battery reduced to about one third. It happens fairly quickly which allows you time to get a replacement.

Nice being able to use one battery while charging the other. Highly recommend using a 3 hour outlet timer so the battery is never overcharged.

The Hoover Lynx is already a great little vacuum but to get more cleaning done and to prevent it dying on you when you're just about finished it's nice to have a second battery which is why I got this. They take about 3 hours to charge which is a little long in my opinion but with the two batteries I now have I can get about 25-30 minutes of cleaning. It helps to conserve by switching the vac off when bending over to grab something or moving from one spot to another.

I have 3 vacuums (2 stick uprights and 1 pet hand vacuum). I've now purchase 2 extra batteries. Since the batteries only last 15 mintues, it's wonderful to be able to switch out a battery when needed. I actually purchased the charged too, and two batteries. However, if you are going to buy the stick Linx vacuum off of Amazon.com, Amazon has reduced their price by $30, so it would be worth it to buy an entire vacuum, instead of a battery and a charger. You'll be paying the same price.I love the fact that I can leave one in the vacuum, then change it out when it runs out of time. All of the Linx batteries seem to be interchanable.Lastly, I just ordered a few products from Hoover directly, as they had a 72 hour sale for everything 15% off and free shipping. Even with the 15% off, (and the free shipping), this item is still $10 less on Amazon.com than on the Hoover site. And, I still have not received my other items from Hoover yet. This product is $49.95 on Amazon.com's site, but $69.95 on Hoover's site (plus shipping)

Bought this to replace my Electrolux cordless stick broom. I'd owned two and loved them, but after the battery for the second one died after 4 years (common), I opted to try a bit more powerful cordless option. This cordless works well, and is pretty powerful. Comes with two settings: wood floor - no rolling brush; and normal with rolling brush. I use it for only spot-cleaning (I have a dog who throws her dry food every meal), but the charge on the battery last for an entire week. It does require a good 6-8 hour re charge when dead. Pros: good power, 2 settings, bagless tank easy to remove and clean. Cons: 1) to clean the roller brush and the compartment you have to remove 6+ small screws to take off the entire faceplate; 2) it does not have a removable hand tool like my Electrolux did (vacuuming car interior or under sofa cushions. These are the only reasons it gets 4 stars instead of 5.
I have a Roomba that runs every day and a fabulous Shark vacuum for weekly deep cleaning. Against those two very, very good vacuums, this Hoover holds its own as a spot cleaner- cordless vac option.

This is my third LINX stick vacuum. Obviously, I am a satisfied, return customer. Obviously, this product doesn't last forever.

My first lasted 2 to 3 years before the roller was jammed by catching on a cord - the roller motor burned out/died within seconds. I've read of others having a similar problem. The moral of the story is that if you jam the roller, you must IMMEDIATELY shut the vacuum off and clear the jam.
My second is now 22 months old and making weird, moaning noises for several seconds after being shut down. In anticipation of its death, I've ordered my third.
I live in dusty Arizona and have a constantly shedding dog -- the LINX manages both well. Good edge coverage both from the front and sides.
Obviously, I have accumulated chargers and batteries -- I'd recommend at least a back-up battery.
Good luck. Stay clean.

Mine is about 2 1/2 years old now, I don't use it very often - but it does come in very handy. With three dogs in the house, it is nice to have for when something gets tracked in. That typically happens not long after vacuuming with the big vac. Sometimes I wonder if they do it on purpose, they HATE the big vacuum..

In the time I have had it, I am still using the original battery, HOWEVER....... I discovered that the battery holds a charge longer if I remove it from the vac after each use. Also, from what others have said, don't leave it in the charger once it is fully charged.

It is not a deep cleaner, but does a great job for what it is.

Love!!!

I am loving this vacuum. It is amazing especially if you have small children for those everyday dirty messes that get carried through the house.

It quickly changes from bare floor to carpet super easy. The suction is great on bare floors and it pretty good on carpet too. I will say it is not deep down suction on carpet but I wasn't expecting it to be. But it is good enough on carpet to only use a heavier duty vacuum on the carpet once or twice a week depending on your need.

Super light weight. So easy to maneuver. Is amazing at being able to fit in the smaller tighter small bathroom areas too. Is perfect for throw rugs too. Suction is enough to clean them good without it sucking the rug up into the vacuum like heavy duty vacuum cleaners.

4 star rating because it really does meet my expectations of what I assumed it would do. Would give it 5 if it were able to eliminate the need for a heavier duty vacuum on the carpet.

Very very very pleased with this vacuum. Would absolutely recommend to anyone.

I love this cordless vacuum cleaner. I had one about fifteen years ago and man, they've come a long way in how long they can clean. I have a very large kitchen (about 25'x20') that can use a quick vacuuming daily. I also use it to clean up the cat's hair after I've brushed them and it's so much easier than dragging out a big vacuum. I even use it to vacuum their "shelves" that sit at the window that is their favorite place to lie when I brush them. The amount of cat hair this little vacuum takes up is unbelievable.
So while it's very convenient for me, it's also very annoying. The cup, which sits on the vacuum and collects all the dirt, keeps falling off the vacuum. I'm constantly putting it back in its place and then cleaning up all the dirt that fell out of it when it fell off the vacuum. I thought it was something I was doing but my husband has the same problem.
When it comes to emptying it, the very cheesy plastic button feels like it's going to fall off any day now. Why they put such a lousy button on it is beyond me. I know other people love it and I can't read over 5,000 reviews to see if anyone else has had similar problems but it has a warranty and I also bought a separate warranty for it so I'm hoping that they might consider giving me a new collection unit for the vacuum. Had it not been for that, I would have given it 5 stars because it's so handy.

Update: December 2016: I just put a bungee cord around the collection unit and it took care of the fact that it kept falling off. This little vacuum is still going strong with absolutely no problems. I wash the filter when necessary and I bought so many extras, I have enough to use to either the vacuum or I die! I really like this little rig but I still won't give it five stars because of the fact that the dirt collection box would still fall off if I hadn't put the bungee cord around it.

Update: April 2017: Still chugging along with the bungee cord but when I run it on the rug speed, it has the most annoying squeak! I used some silicone spray on it but I'm not sure where exactly to put it. I decided to let my husband fix it since I wasn't successful. All in alI, I think it was worth the price we paid for it, and it still serves its purpose in cleaning up after I brush my cats. Due to back problems, I don't use it every day, but I am impressed at how long It holds a charge. The cup doesn't fall off any more with the bungee cord, and I don't think I could have done better. I just have to get rid of the squeak!

It has performed well so far. We have had it more than 2 months.

sent it back

I like this vacuum for daily pickup of cat litter and received excellent warranty service from Hoover when my battery started to show as defective within the two year warranty period. After a short phone conversation and a test, I received my new battery in a couple of days.

Great, does exactly what I wanted it to do, just wish it wasn't so darn expensive and only lasted 2 years with regular use before devolving into a uselessly short charge. Hoover, you can do better!

This is sort of a forced option--if you have the Vac you need the battery. My wife and I love the Vac and have two batteries (one is always charged) but out of the two one lasted about 12 months. Being Lithium-ion they produce a lot of power but are not cheap to buy.I recently have gone on a trial of charging and then removing them from the charger. Any charged batteries in the Vac I pull up a bit (to prevent contact with the Hoover Vac) in case anything might drain off the charge. You will also get longer life out of the battery if you fully de-charge before the recharge. Both the charger and the Hoover Vac are not supposed to drain the battery once charged and left in the Vac or charger but who knows? On any batter the more you charge it the sooner you wear it out--regardless of the product.So, I do recommend this product--unless you tire of the Hoover Vac. Best price was from Amazon.

One nice thing about the battery power for the Hoover stick vacuum is that it has a good store of charge which permits one to vacuum a pretty large area (living room, dining room, and kitchen) and still have power left over. I have two of these batteries and between the two, I am able to vacuum daily (something I never did before). But the vacuum is so easy to use and clean that it changes how one uses such a device. It takes about 3 hours to go from depleted to fully charged. The Hoover stick vacuum has a 3 LED charge indicator. It also uses blinking as an intermediate value so that one can get a sense of how much charge is remaining. Last indicator is one LED blinking. At that point, you probably have less than 2 minutes before the units stops.

I had several tests for this item. Would it pick up kitty litter, hair and food? How would it do with beach sand? Would it work on high and low pile carpets? Yes, it works well. The codicil is the dust catcher has to be empty to pick up heavier debris like litter and sand. The dust catcher needed to be emptied frequently . It is wonderful for cat hair. Amazingly wonderful. We recently had a down pour which made mud pies on the patio of sand from the beach and ash from brush fires. After it dried the Stick took up an inch of debris. Cordless is the way to go. Charging the battery seems to be iffy maybe because we used a power strip surge protector. It is now plugged into the wall socket and seems to be charged. Before the charge lasted only about an hour. An indicator that the battery needs charging is the carpet brush stops rotating and one can hear the change. It is light weight and small enough to clean around toilets and other narrow spaces.
Back to floors, we have tile, hardwood, carpet and area rugs. The Stick does a great job on high and low pile area rugs however it doesn't do well on the transition of rug to tile or hardwood. The solution was to turn the area carpets over and clean the back side to clear the animal hair from the edges. Our purple Shark does better on the wall to wall carpet. Best use is for quick kitchen, bathroom, patio cleans on tile, hardwood and area rugs. Will use daily near the litter boxes.

I am torn on how many stars to leave. I REALLY like the vacuum itself. It does a great job and is super easy to move around. However, I am very disappointed in the battery. I have to charge it once or twice a week. I was really hoping I could find something that would last a couple of weeks at a time. Yes, we do vacuum once a day but in told, that is about 2-3 hours a week MAX and are just not happy with the battery life.

I wanted a rechargeable one that I could just grab and vacuum with and not worry about plugging in the cord. Since we have the hassle of a small battery life, we might as well have a cord at this point. We have started to take the battery out between every use since, on several occupation, the vacuum died in the middle of using it.

I had planned on buying two as a Christmas gift for my parents so they could have one up and down stairs but have started looking into something with a longer charge.

Look, if you do not vacuum all that much or do not care if it dies while in the middle of cleaning, this is a great vacuum. It does a wonderful job over all and I really do love it in every way, except the battery.

Great little cordless,powerful,holds charge well. They decided to make the roller brush larger than the Shark Navigator so it is not as Slim to go underneath furniture but it picks up small trash better but does not do as well as the shark with long hair either human or pet. Because of the small design the hair wraps around the roller brush which the shark the brush is smaller so does not do that

I'd have given the Hoover Linx more stars if it weren't for the fact that our long-haired dog means we have to spend more time cleaning the vacuum than using the vacuum to clean the carpet. The dog's long, silky hair wraps right around the revolving brush in the vacuum's head. The fur snarls tight against the brush and requires patience and dexterity for removal. Plus it's a dusty, dirty job. Other than that, it's a lovely little vacuum.

This is an OK cordless vacuum cleaner but I had hoped it would have more "suck" power than my current Sharp Navigator Freestyle cordless vacuum. Then again, how much power can an 18-volt vacuum cleaner have? I guess I was hoping for something that doesn't exist! My wish for better pickup ("sucking" power) via a cordless vacuum cleaner is because I have indoor-only cats and need something "flexible" (no cord to have to manipulate) than can pick up the fine kitty litter that they track from their litter box. Neither cordless vacuum (the Hoover or the Sharp) does a very good job with this task, unfortunately.

This cordless vacuum cleaner does a reasonable job on carpet, in between thorough vacuuming by my corded vacuum cleaner, and it also does an acceptable job on bare floors (I like the option of turning off the roller brush). I do like the way the battery is charged--outside the vacuum cleaner unit--rather than having a bulky charging unit the cleaner has to set into (as does my Sharp Navigator Freestyle). This fact (battery charging outside the vacuum unit) means I can store this new Hoover Linx inside my utility closet...nice! I am a Hoover fan (I currently have a large corded Windtunnel vacuum cleaner) so I'll keep this cordless vacuum as backup for my older, but still very functional, Sharp Navigator Freestyle.

I have a Hoover Linx vacuum and for some reason, these batteries don't hold up well. Both batteries that I've tried have either not worked or have not been able to hold a charge. Not sure if it had to do with a faulty charger, but I gave up. It's a shame because the vacuum itself is really handy and has good suction.

Needed 2 of these as they only run 15 tof 20 minutes

Seems to be losing power

One battery worked 100% the other only 50%

I returned this as it didn't work in our vacuum cleaner. It may be the vacuum and not the battery, although when I called Hoover with the "symptoms" they said a new battery was needed and the machine was a few months past the 2 year warranty. I'm tossing the vacuum and returning the battery.

It arrived by USPS on 2-11-14. It sat in the mailbox for about 30 minutes. It was very well packaged . When we removed the battery from the packaging it was too hot to touch. I set in on a bench in the garage to cool off. After 6 hours it was still very hot so with gloves on I put it in the new battery charger that arrived the day before. After 4 hours of charging I put in in the stick vacuum. The battery was by then warm and the vacuum worked. Don't know how long it will last. Never received an untouchably hot battery before.

We have one of these in our office, and I was impressed by how well it worked and how light it was. I purchased for quick cleans in between regular vacuuming. Then I used it at home. With real carpets. And a dog. It was never up to dog hair, barely picked any up. I've had it now for several months. It still works ok on bare floors, but it has a clog somewhere that I can't get to. It continues to underwhelm me.

we purchased this vacuum just recently as i needed a cordless vacuum where the cord wouldn't get tangled in the wheels of my wheel chair. After considering the price of this vacuum compared to that of the Dyson, based on many of the reviews we went ahead and purchased it. We returned it almost immediately. Was very disappointed in the suction on this vacuum. It was very weak and the overall build of the vacuum felt flimsy. We returned it and instead purchased the dyson which surprisingly had great suction, plus was of a much sturdy build. In fact, any sturdier and it would have been to heavy for me to use. We did not purchase our Dyson from amazon but did purchase it through walmart because it was cheaper.. HOWEVER ... i DO NOT care at all how walmart shipped the item, nothing at all like amazon prepares their items for shipment. The vauum was shipped in only the box it's purchased in at the store and the small dot of tape was the only thing holding the box closed which of course came open during shipping. I do not recommend getting costly items shipped to your home from walmart and would consider the higher cost of the amazon item just to have safe mind that it was being shipped protected from any damage.

Actually I really loved this vacuum. it picked up all the dog hair from my area rugs and hardwood floor for about 11 month. and then it start not working on rugs. we looked and carpet roller didn't work because the part has broken. We still hard warranty so we took it to the Hoover service center, they told us 2 weeks, and another 2 weeks, and then another 2 weeks. after pass 6 weeks, they said, Hoover is looking for our warranty information and it will take 2 weeks plus 2 weeks. Month later, the person at the service center said, part is coming and ask for another 2 weeks.
My husband is VERY patience person, but finally he told them, this is not acceptable, the service center person, gave my husband customer service center at Hoover. we complained... no respond. I still don't have the vacuum back .
So, it is great for about a year and then, you will get lost it in Service center. I gave 2 starts because at least it was great vacuum for an year.

I purchased one for myself and liked it so much for quick pickups between major cleaning that I talked my elderly mother into buying one. I really didn't end up using mine that much due to short battery life. I really had to move fast to do my entire small house. But what is really disappointing is that after about 2 years both are broken. My Mother's vacuum roller brush stopped working. Mine, there is something wrong with either the battery or charger. On top of that, the cost to replace them is almost as much as the vacuum itself! (about $50/each). I tried to care for my battery and not let it drain completely, but now it doesn't charge more than one light on the vacuum. Hoover needs to sell the battery AND charger for a reasonable price. Until the cost of a replacement battery comes down significantly, I cannot recommend this product.

The instructions also say to wash the spongey filter after EVERY use and dry completely, yet they only provide you with one filter - I purchased a second one to use while I waited for the the first to dry. The vacuum doesn't have much suction, yet picks up a lot of dust and hair. It doesn't come anywhere close to a corded vacuum, but is very nice for quick pickups. I loved mine for vacuuming the dog hair off my bed and getting the Arizona dust picked up.

The plastic handle broke and I called Hoover and the surly agent quickly shipped out a replacement. I reinforced where the handle where it attachs to the vacuum with tape - this seems to be a fairly common problem.

It's really a shame that a replacement battery and charger aren't more reasonable - it would be a great product then. I always bought Hoover products because parts were available and reasonably priced. No more, Hoover has gone downhill. The cost for this vacuum is too high to only use lightly for a year and a half. It will cost $100 a year for the battery and charger, if the main unit doesn't break.

BE PREPARED TO REPAIR TO LESSEN DESPAIR.

There should be a rule that no review can be done on a vacuum cleaner until it has undergone 6 months of daily use. My guess is that many of the 5 Star Reviews on the Linx would drop considerably.

I loved the Linx for 4 months. It was sweet. Then, without warning, the roller stopped working. I've treated this machine gently. It was only used for ten minutes a day, with roller brush, on two 5' X 8' rugs and two ottomans where cats like to sleep. I emptied it daily and cleaned the foam filter once a week with compressed air.

Repairing appliances is one of my many hobbies so I preceded to "fix it." The first problem was evident as soon as I disconnected the swivel head. There are two one-inch long male pins that plug into the female connector plug of the main housing. These pins were dangling. (SEE: UPLOADED IMAGE) I removed the small cover that holds the spring-loaded release button and found the reason. The male pins are held in place by paper thin plastic clips. This is inexcusable for a plug that connects two bulky halves of a vacuum cleaner and is under constant stress when in use.

Both of these puny and fragile retaining clips had broken.

After testing and experimenting, I discovered that the brush would work only if the handle was twisted all the way to the right or left. This indicated a short circuit in the wiring.

Taking the swivel head apart to expose the motor is not an easy task. (SEE: UPLOADED IMAGE) Once this was done, all tested okay using lead wires with alligator clips on one end and bare wire on the other end. This meant that the problem was in the female connector plug inside the main housing.

When the cheap retaining clips holding the male pins broke, this allowed the pins to swivel freely from side to side. This motion expanded the female connecting plug preventing a good connection.

Fixing this problem is simple. Apply a good layer of electrical solder to the pins and then grind them down using a Dremel or grinding wheel until the pins slide into the female connecting plug securely with no play. This works.

Next, I applied aircraft epoxy to secure the pins back into place. After it dried, I applied a second coat. Every consumer in America keeps epoxy on hand, right? After the epoxy dries, make certain that the spring loaded clip that holds the swivel head to the main housing will fit down in place between the pins. If not, use a Dremel to lightly remove enough hardened epoxy to allow proper fit.

Total time in repair: 2 hours. Next time, it will take only 1 hour.

When doing my initial shopping, my first mistake was assuming that 4.5 Stars based on 1,740 reviews meant that this vacuum was a jewel. OOPS!

I immediately began reading all the 1-Star reviews. This is something I should have done before buying this vacuum. Lo and behold. Many other poor souls have suffered the same problem.

Maybe my review will help another DIY'ER repair a broken Linx.

Here's the drawback: Once a DIY'ER gets inside of an appliance, in most cases, it voids the warranty.

There's no two ways about it. The Linx is delicate. It is not designed for general housecleaning. It is for minor touch up jobs for no more than 15 minutes at a time. If you are constantly bumping into walls and furniture legs, it won't last long. The same goes for aggressive twisting of the handle. The durability of the plastic tabs on the swivel assembly is limited. For some unknown reason, the dirt cup has developed hairline fractures all around the middle. I had to apply duct tape around the middle before it cracked into shards.

Duct tape and epoxy are essentials in the world of cheaply made products we live in today.

If I kept every box for every appliance, I'd have to own a warehouse for storage. Even if I did have the original box to return the Hoover Linx, it would take weeks to get it repaired plus a bunch of wasted time packing, shipping and running around.

There's something very familiar here. You know how printer companies sell their printers at a bargain and then make a fortune selling ink at a premium?

I added up the cost of repair parts for the Linx. OVER $460.00. And in some cases, you can't buy just the part you need, you must buy the whole assembly. My little voice is telling me that Hoover thinks that if a customer is willing to spend $150.00 for the Linx, they'll be hooked and will gladly pay forty bucks every now and then to keep it working. What are the odds I'm right?

After years of fighting with NiCd batteries losing power and dying, the Linx was exactly what I was looking for. And yes, it is running like new again and I love it. And if need be, I would probably pay $50.00 to keep it running.

There used to be a day back when products were made in America, there was pride in product testing by qualified engineers. Trusted companies offered excellent customer service and stood by their products. Today, most products are made in China. Good luck reaching customer service and getting a timely and satisfactory solution to your problem.

Two things I will not do:

1. I will not suffer through the frustrating process which Hoover has the audacity to call customer service.

2. I will probably never buy another Hoover product.

Why probably? It seems that every vacuum I've purchased over the past 20 years has had to be re-manufactured and upgraded in some way to make it work like it should. Buying any vacuum cleaner is the lesser of all evils.

Adequate pre-market consumer testing of quality American made products in real life situations apparently vanished with the Hula-Hoop and Lava Lamp. Although, mine are still working fine. However, the motor for the Hula Hoop is wearing out.

7-MONTH UPDATE 6/19/13

We've all heard futility described as trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Take a look at the two round male pins on the swivel head that plug into the female port of the main housing on the Linx.

You can't see the female plug without performing a major disassembly or cutting away a nice chuck of plastic.

After fighting with a loose connection on the roller brush for months, I finally went into the main housing of the Linx to expose the female plug. Unless you are familiar with cutting plastics with a Dremel, rebuilding with epoxy, electrical repair like soldering and heat-shrink insulation, don't even attempt this. If you are an avid DIY'er, go for it.

I couldn't believe what I found.

The female plug consists of two SQUARE ports to accept the round male pins.

Can you believe it? Hoover is actually putting round pins into square holes.

This is NUTS! No wonder there was a loose connection. A secure connection is impossible with this design.

I received an email from an Amazon customer who stated, "I've lost control. What do I do?"

Unless you have the abilities mentioned above, you have 4 options:

1. Send it back to Hoover.
2. Give it away.
3. Throw it away.
4. Use it as a door stop.

All of the thin plastic retaining stops on the swivel head will eventually break off. When this happens, you will lose control.

I had to install heavier gauge wire from the brush motor to the male pins because the swivel action had worn through the insulation and broken the original wires. I replaced the weak pins with modified auto electrical connectors that work.

The swivel action is a pain anyway. I roughed up the plastic and secured the swivel head into place with epoxy careful not to impede the up and down movement. That's all the movement most folks need in a feather-weight vacuum anyway.

I've owned the Linx for 7 months and have made 4 major repairs before finally correcting all of the problems that should never have been problems to begin with.

Hoover was so very close to making an outstanding product. Instead, for whatever reason, they opted to sell an expensive product designed to fail early on. That's just plain wrong.

IMHO, every Linx owner should get a letter of apology from Hoover and a 50% rebate.

UPDATE: 7/22/14

I have now been using this vacuum cleaner for 20 months. Since making my last repairs, I have not had one bit of trouble. It works great and I've just purchased a new battery.

Hello HOOVER,

Forget the bells and whistles and get back to the basics. Make a good, simple product that will last and your customers will love you for it.

I purchased this battery at the end of August I began to use it at the beginning of September. It is already wearing out much before the jobis finished. I think $ 55 dollars should at least last longer that a month.I even changed chargers to ensure that it was the battery at fault and not my charger.

This battery worked as advertised for 6 months then stopped taking a charge. I have reached out to Hoover support requesting a replacement. I will update this post when they reply, if they take care of the issue be sending a replacement it will change this score.

I have ordered several of these for my two Hoover Linx vacuums over the years. They typically last a year or more when alternating batteries. This last one I ordered from Amazon failed in only 3 months. I have much older ones still working that I ordered off ebay.

Purchased this battery as a spare so I could swap out instantly and keep one on charge. On the one hand, glad I did, since one of the batteries just failed as I put it in the charger (little blue light followed by a "dink" and then no LED at all). Sense I had was that a fuse popped internally or something. Manual troubleshooter indicates as follows: "Internal Component damage. Call for service: 1-800-944-9200."Good news (maybe) is, it's under a 2 year warranty with Hoover. I'll give the 1-800 number a try. Meantime, should say that the cordless vacuum I purchased (the Windtunnel) is amazing - so I'll pick up another battery with Amazon.

A second battery is almost a necessity when using the Hoover Linx as a battery only holds a charge about 15-20 minutes tops. For the price of these batteries, one can only hope for better.We bought a returned battery hoping against hope that it had just been returned due to the buyer ordering the wrong battery. The battery wouldn't even charge upon receipt. Amazon should have plugged the charger in and tested it before relisting for sale. They expect better from their FBA sellers and buyers should expect better from Amazon themselves.

It has never worked since its arrival. It cannot be charged. My old same battery coming with the vacuum is perfect. I do not know why the same company could make this defect product. The good thing is that they allowed me return it without penalty.

This vacuum has no steering mechanism and tends to stick in the locked upright position. If you can get it unlocked, you can easily clean a strip of flooring but you can not turn the device to clean other parts of the floor without picking it up to steer it manually. This makes it absolutely impossible to use for its intended use. The subsequent frustration was that the device was repeatedly smashed into the floor and then placed in a landfill (my wife has no idea what money costs so this was her solution to the inherent problems). I have no idea why other people have provided positive reviews. What a waste of money.

This piece of equipment is the pits. It will not pick anything on the 'smooth' floor setting and the only reason it picks up anything on the 'rug/carpet' setting is because the rotating brushes sweeps the stuff in. Then the hose from the head to the dust cup gets jammed with the debris. Nothing has ever gotten into the cup for me to empty it. I put the vacuum on its back on the counter and turned it on to the first or 'smooth' floor setting and then felt at the bottom for some ''suction' action---nothing, I felt nothing. I thought maybe I'd left a piece of packing cardboard or something in it. Nope, that wasn't it either. I've taken the dust cup off and turned it on, and there is suction going on, but with the dust cup in place-zip on the suction front.It's a piece of c_ _p. I have to run a piece of twisted metal like a bottle brush up the tube to clean out the debris.I have since purchased a Hoover Windtunnel Cordless jobby for half what I paid for this Linx and so far have been very pleased.So sorry I wasted so much money on a lousy product. Hoover should recall these suckers, or should I say suckless suckers.

Here it is, September 17...a mere 2 months after purchasing this thing...and the suction has already died. I had one before and loved it. Had it a couple of years until the suction died. This one worked great until a few days before hurricane Irma...and as soon as we got back from evacuating and I needed this to clean up the dust on the floor....NOTHING but a perfectly whining motor...

I don't see any place in my orders section to EVEN INQUIRE about returning this piece of junk.

If you live in a dust free, pet free home, this is the vac for you. For me, living in center city with two tiny silky Japanese spaniels it is the worst small investment I have ever made. I vacuum every day, sometimes twice a day because of my allergies. After two months this stick vac stopped picking up normal dust and pet hair. I checked for obstructions. Then I cleaned the dust canister and the floor "sweeper." It was a bit better. Five months later I called How bee and was told to clean the filter which I have done every week. Last month a Hoover customer service rep told me to remove the base of the floorhead. Really??? DON'T buy this vac if you are busy, have a small apartment and like to maintain home as dust free as possible. I recommend Miele's stic vac. I used one for 15 years. It wasn't cordless, required vacuum bags, and was more than twice the cost of this Hoover. But it was a little beast of a cleaner with far fewer hassles. BTW Hoover customer service is awful.

A worthless two year warranty. I purchased this vacuum at the end of December of this year. I treated it gently as I read the reviews of the pins coming loose witch causes the roller bar to stop turning. I figured if I had that problem with the vacuum then I would go through Hoover to fix it during the warranty period and then I would fix it myself if something happened after the two year warranty period. I got a total of 6 months use out of it before the roller died. No problem, I'll contact Hoover and they will replace it. I couldn't get their online warranty process to work so I took it to a local Hoover authorized service department. They didn't fill me with hope. They said it would take about a month to get Hoover to do anything. They were right. One month later and my claim was denied with no reason given. They said they would re-submit as this sometimes works. I am now a month and a half without my vacuum. Hoover is no longer the company it once was. Sad but true. If you choose to buy this vacuum just don't count on the warranty being honored. To bad as when the vacuum worked it was nice.UpdateAfter 3 denied claims using Hoovers automated refund system and two follow up calls as to why I was given the denials, I have now received a replacement unit.

Clogs very easily-hard to clean out clogs

The Hoover linx is a great little vacuum but the batteries are pathetic. I have not purchased one, not one, that has lasted at full power more than 5 months. And these have a Two year warranty. I suggest you keep whatever info and docs you need to take full advantage of the warranty.

Bought this in October 2015 to replace the original that died after about 4 years. This one charged and worked fine for a few times and now will not charge. The time to return it has passed ( January 31,2016). I wasn't aware that there was a problem since this was in my Winter home in Florida and didn't return here until February 2016. So now I've wasted $55.00 on a worthless ( probably used) battery. Don't recommend buying this as it may be dead right after the three month return period!

Received new battery Jan 8, 2016. I alternate this battery with one that comes with Hoover lynx stix vac. Today I went to take it from charger and it did not recharge and is dead. Amazon says it is too late to send back. $54+ is too expensive for using it as little as I did in 2 months. I don't recommend buying this product.

Battery was advertised as new -- however, it wasn't judging by the extensive scuff marks on the sides from repeated insertions into a vacuum and charger. Besides it was totally dead and wouldn't take a charge. Returning it.

I purchased this & it did not charge when I received it so it was replaced but now after 15 months of not using often, it does not take a charge at all & Amazon will not replace! ......beware of this & I would suggest going directly to Hoover for the replacement batteries!

In Feb 2015 purchased Linx upright, hand held, and extra battery. June 2015 have had Amazon replace one battery, Hoover replace one battery, and now have another one that will not charge. I have two chargers so I know it's not the charger. It costs $70 for a new battery, $10-$15 to send back to hoover to get replaced. Hope Hoover can get their battery straightened out, Alot of money for something that is junk!