Oreck Quest MC1000

 

Avg. consumer rating = 68/100 

We’'ve looked at several Oreck upright vacuums in the past and we’'ve run into some pretty good machines - some even made our list of best upright vacuums.  So we wanted to see what Oreck was doing with respect to canister vacuums.  The Oreck Quest MC1000 is unfortunately quite underwhelming.  Consumer ratings are low and many owners feel the machine is cheaply made and not well designed.

Several owner reviews and ratings were found on retail websites – shown in the table below.  These 55 ratings generate a score of 67.7 out of a possible 100 (or about 3.4 stars out of 5).  This is low.  You can compare this to other canister vacuum scores in our canister vacuum ratings table if you wish. 

Source	Consumer Ratings	#Ratings
Amazon	3.3 stars out of 5	43
Ovestock	3.7 stars out of 5	12

We do not include vacuum cleaner ratings found on manufacturer websites as we are concerned that there may be tendency to “promote” only good reviews/ratings.  But it is interesting to note that the ratings for this vacuum on Oreck’s own website are even lower than those we found elsewhere.  At this time there are 31 ratings on the Oreck website for the Quest and these average 2.5 stars out of 5.

A review of owner comments provided the following likes and dislikes:

PROS
- Fairly good on bare floors
- Good at picking up pet hair (from bare floors)
- Most owners feel it has strong suction
- Compact and lightweight

CONS
- Low construction quality
- Retractable power cord doesn’t always work
- Vacuum bag holder is plastic and flimsy
- Canister often tips when being pulled along
- Does not perform well on carpet
- Hose is short and rigid
- Power cord is short
- Handle is a bit low for taller people
- No HEPA filter
- Combo tool is not useful

We’ve looked into many vacuum cleaners over the years but few have owners so intent on giving it such a beating in terms of comments/reviews/ratings.  There are quite a few remarks alluding to the poor quality construction of the vacuum.  There are reports of the floor attachment breaking, the bag holder breaking, the combo tool being low quality, the power switch breaking, etc.

Also the retractable power cord, while a nice feature, doesn’t always work.  It sometime refuses to stay extended and other times it is hard to get it to retract. 

Another common observation regards the balance of the Quest canister.  The location of the hose appears to tip the canister over frequently when you are vacuuming.  There are several reports that the vacuum itself is also hard to maneuver.  In addition, the hose is short, rigid and awkward to work with.

Most owners do admit that the Quest does have strong suction and that it excels at picking up dust and debris from bare floors.  It is also reasonably effective at picking up pet hair from smooth flooring and it does a respectable job on throw rugs.   In addition, the unit is lightweight and compact.

But there is a chorus of agreement that the Quest does not do a good job on carpet.  You have to clean the same area repeatedly and the floor nozzle can be very difficult to push.  The vacuum does not have a brushroll in the nozzle head.  A brushroll generally provides for more effective carpet cleaning.

The vacuum handle, even fully extended, is a bit short for some taller people and they report having to hunch over while vacuuming.  It seems that both the handle and extension are not entirely ergonomic and create an awkward vacuuming position for taller vacuumers.

Finally, there are reports that the vacuum tends to get quite warm after only a few minutes of vacuuming.  And a number of owners report being disappointed in learning that the vacuum is made in China (we haven’t yet been able to confirm where the unit is manufactured).  There is something of an expectation that Oreck machines would be made in the USA.

You can read more customer reviews on Amazon if you wish.

The Oreck Quest weighs about 10 lbs (canister only) so it is a fairly lightweight vacuum.  It comes with a multi-surface floor tool that has a rocker foot switch on the top.  The foot switch engages and disengages brushes (engaged for bare floor cleaning, disengaged for carpet cleaning).  However most owners report that the tool does an inadequate job on carpet.

The Quest is powered by a 10 amp motor and a variable motor speed slide control on the top of the canister body allows one to speed up or slow down the vacuum motor thereby controlling suction.  This is a nice feature when you want to dial down the suction for cleaning delicate items like curtains, oriental rugs, lamp shades, etc.  There is also a suction release valve in the vacuum handle which is a more manual method of limiting suction at the end of the hose/wand.

There are foot pedals on the sides of the canister body.  One pedal turns the vacuum power on and off while the other initiates the power cord retraction.  The power cord is 16.5 feet in length which is really quite short. This is a compact vacuum and is probably best for small homes or apartments.

The vacuum bags have a 3.5 quart capacity but there are a number of owner complaints that they are awkward to replace and that they don`t fit in the unit that well.  The vacuum also sports a bag full indicator.

The hose is a little short at only 5 ft in length and there is also a 30 inch extension wand.  The vacuum comes with 2 filters - a motor filter and an exhaust filter - both of which are washable.  The vacuum does not include a HEPA filter.

Addition features include a carry handle and a 2-in-1 combo tool.  The Oreck Quest carries a 3-year warranty. 

Vacuum Cleaner Manual
You can read more about the vacuum, features, maintenance, etc in the manual here if you like.

	Nigel Russco has been writing for Vacuum Cleaner Advisor for years and has a background in business and engineering, as well as a keen interest in anything related to vacuum cleaners. Connect with Nigel on Google+

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