On vacuum cleaners....
Currently I own three of them.
1. A Eureka Forbes vacuum cleaner: one of them handheld ones (800 watts).
2. An LG vacuum cleaner: 1400 watts
3. A Karcher WD3: 1000 watts. The company claims it has the suction power of a 1400 watt vacuum i.e. it is more efficient and offers more performance per watt.
First of all, Eureka Forbes has acquired a very bad reputation with regard to the quality of their vacuum cleaners. However, I have not experienced any issue with the particular model I have. The only problem, if it can be called a problem, is that the dust fills up rather fast and has to be frequently emptied. But it IS a small vacuum cleaner and this is to be expected. One issue is regarding accessories. The hose pipe on this unit has been damaged and I am unable to find a replacement anywhere.
Regarding the LG vacuum cleaner: it has a very powerful suction. It also has a retractable cord which makes it easy to store when not in use. The dust bag is also quite large. But it is not replaceable; which means that it has to be emptied and then reused every time.
I got the Karcher WD3 quite recently. Size-wise it is the biggest of the three but not that heavy and it can be easily carried from one room to another while cleaning. It slightly resembles the R2D2 unit from Star Wars. It uses a disposable dust bag. Now, a lot of people seem to have an issue with the fact that the dust bag is disposable and will have to be bought separately, leading to more long term expense. Having used both types of bags, reusable and disposable, I can say that disposable are the better option by far. Emptying a vacuum cleaner's dust bag is no fun especially if there is a lot of dust. The dust tends to get scattered all over the place which defeats the purpose of using the vacuum cleaner in the first place. Then you will have to dust the bag and depending on which way the wind is blowing you could end up getting the dust all over yourself leading to allergy, etc.
The Karcher WD3 is great in this respect. First of all, if you have a problem with buying additional dust bags, the unit can be used without dust bag also. In this case, you will probably end up having to clean the filter more often. If you are up for a little "jugaad" you can also make your own dust bag. Or you can also reuse the existing dust bag. But you will have to deal with the problem of flying dust which was the main disadvantage of using the reusable dust bag. You have more options with the Karcher: whether you want to use the supplied dust bag, not use the dust bag or reuse the dust bag. The replacements are easily available online. A pack of 5 costs a little over Rs. 1000. And if you think that you will be having to replace dust bags every two weeks think again. The dust bag is huge and most people say that theirs last for more than 6 months. Of course, it all depends on how much dust you have, the number of times you clean per week, etc, but the point is that it will be quite a while before you have to replace the bag.
Another very important consideration when looking at a vacuum cleaner is suction power. I can confidently say that the WD3 lives up to Karcher's claim of 1400W suction power. The suction power is equal to, if not better than, the suction power of the 1400W LG vacuum cleaner while drawing less power; and that is saying something because the LG vacuum is no slouch in this department.
The Karcher is a wet vacuum cleaner which means that it can also clean liquid spills. I have not tested this feature yet so cannot comment.
The WD3 also has a blower function which the LG does not have (the Eureka Forbes unit has a blower function).
The Karcher has few negatives. Some people have complained about the lack of attachments. Attachments are available by third-party manufacturers if you feel the supplied attachments are not enough. The greatest negative in my opinion is the quality of the plastic it is made of. It is rather weak and can and will break easily. My unit came to me with a few small broken plastic pieces in the box. Since these broken pieces did not affect the functioning of the unit, I decided to keep it rather than have to go through the hassle of returning the unit and having to wait for a refund/replacement.
I would say the Karcher WD3 is a good investment if you are looking for a good vacuum cleaner.