After being in this business for over 20 years this question has been asked 1,000's of times. My answer: purchase the one you like best. Why do I say that? We have had people that hate canisters and their next door neighbor has a canister so they purchase a canister. Then they tell us that they hate their vacuum. Well of course they do they only bought the style of vacuum that their neighbor had not the one they liked. No vacuum is any good if it sits in your closet and does not get used. So purchase the style of vacuum that you will use. Some styles are better for different situations but a vacuum you hate is no good no matter how it performs.