A few months ago I purchased the Hoover Mach 5 vacuum cleaner from Walmart for around $160 at Walmart. I was looking for a replacement for our Hoover Fold Away. The Fold Away did not have much suction power, and the filter clogged quickly.

I originally sought out to buy a Hoover Fusion, which has Dyson-like cyclonic filtering technology. I discovered that the Fusion had been discontinued and replaced with the Mach 3. The Mach 3 has a cyclonic main filter and a washable pre-filter. It comes with a turbo brush tool, dusting brush, 2 extension wands, and a crevice tool. The turbo brush excels at removing pet hair, but I have found that it needs servicing once in a while. The pet hair tends to wrap around the ends of the brush where it rotates, eventually preventing it from rotating. It can be cleaned by disassembling it with a Phillips screwdriver.

The Mach 5 improves on the Mach 3 by adding a HEPA filter, a dual chamber cyclonic filter, a retractable power cord, an adjustable handle, and a brush roll control. Cord rewind is a nice feature that reels in the cord at the press of a button. No more rolling up the power cord. Another nice feature is that the brush roll automatically turns off when the Mach 5 is in upright position.

The Mach 5 offers many of the same features as a Dyson much less money. There are no filters to replace, and no loss of suction.