I am a little late in my review as ive had my hoover maybe 3 years but literally from day one i was dissapointed. I remember switching it on for the first time and the motor was so loud then then the footcatch broke shortly after within 3 months. So far as of 09/2011 i have replaced a set of wheels, Filter, footcatch and i have stopped using the filter box now changing it to bag hoover. I went on eBay and purchased a set of bags H20 and bag holder. The suction is excellent but does not make up for the poor build quality and heavy weight of this product. I dont have money to purchase a new vacume right now but what ive spent on parts probably could of bought a dyson although not sure if i will trust any bagless vacume after this experience. Shame on Hoover!! They are no longer a brand i would trust seems like they have still not recovered from their 80's free holiday scandal.

No suction once it cloggs up and mine cloggs up continuously, pipe fixing inadequate pulling tube out of frame whilst mid-vaccumm, so annoying! Worst hoover I have ever bought!!

After 4 months I have now gone out and bought another dyson. I used to think Hoover was a good marque but this £159 Hoover DM4493 is now a garage decoration. I find dust piles left on the floor under the vacume when i use the hose. When i use the hose the upright cleaner keeps falling over. And lastly it does get very hot when in use.

I purchased this Hoover DM4493 because my previous Hoover vacuum cleaner was so good. Sadly the performance and quality is not the same.
I have had to purchase a new wheel (plastic) at a cost of £4.99 plus delivery costs of £2.75

I've had this Hoover for just over a year. After about 10 months the catch snapped and it would no longer sit upright.
A month later the wheel snapped off! and believe me it wasn't well used.

Don't waste your money!

This is the worst vacuum cleaner we have ever owned. It just doesn't pick up anything and I end up picking up stuff by hand. I wouldn't recommend it. We've had it less than six months and have finally given up and are getting something else.

I have had the Hoover DM4493 for about 4 months now and am becoming increasingly frustrated by it. Like others here I find the 'bag' fills quickly and as the dust comes all the way through the tube, this can become blocked all the time. I have found that the hoover can leak dust into the room somehow, and my allergies have been much worse since I have had this. You can actually see the dust particles in the air when you have finished. Cleaning the filters is really messy too. It also topples over really easily when you try to use the attachment nozzle. I would not recommend this to anyone.

I have had this hoover for 3 months now, and I officially HATE it!

The container is too small! I have to keep emptying it.. and every time I do, the stupid machine overheats and wont' restart for another 15 minutes!!!

Last week the brushes stopped going round, so now it wont clean carpets. There are no obvious screws to undo to check the belt.

Its the most rubbish vacuum cleaner I have ever owned!

The only good thing about it, is the colour :o

I bought this Hoover DM4493 10 months ago and have been very disappointed with it. It is a bagless model which I thought would be easier to use but I have found that the container fills up so quickly that I have to empty it after every use. I hoover almost every day so the carpets aren't that dirty to begin with! After about a month the hoover began cutting out which is very frustrating when you are in the middle of cleaning, especially as you have to wait 30 minutes for it to re-start. I also find the attachment hose too strong and inflexible so that I have trouble stretching it to clean stairs, sofa etc. You are supposed to attach part of this hose to a clip at the base of the hoover but this makes it worse. If you don't then the hoover falls over! I contacted the service department who sent an engineer out. I couldn't fault the engineer who was very friendly and showed me how to wash the filters out, which you are supposed to do after emptying the tank 5 times. However the maintenance book states that the HEPA filter should take about 24 hours to dry. It does not! It was not dry after 3 days which meant that I could not use the hoover which is not much fun when you have 2 young children at home. Despite this I have continued to wash the filters as shown and it has cured the hoover cutting out. However after washing it a few days ago I noticed that this filter was now smelling very damp and musty. I put it back in the hoover but when I then hoovered this smell was emitted from the machine which made the whole house smell. Today I contacted the Hoover `Helpline' which it states on the maintenance book is `there to help me.' After waiting on the 0870 number for 10 minutes or so I actually got to talk to someone. The lady stated she would send me another HEPA filter. I stated that I was dissatisfied as after a few washes it would smell again and once the Hoover was out of guarantee I would have to pay for the filter. She then advised me to not wash the filter but to just bang it to get the dust out. This is contradictory to what the engineer had advised me and I told her so. Basically I am stuck with this hoover even though I am very dissatisfied with it. Unfortunately you do not know what the product is really like until you have used it and by then it is too late. Hoover will only repair or replace parts whilst it is under guarantee and they are not interested in the fact that you are entirely dissatisfied with it. It is a waste of money. I have used cheaper vacuum`s in the past that I would consider to be superior to this one. I write this review to advise others of my experience!