Shark - Rotator Professional Lift-Away Upright Vacuum NV501

I just bought another Shark (nv501 pro). I've had one for 7-ish years. It still works perfectly fine, but it looks rough as hell. I've got 2 shedding dogs, a cat, and have to clean tile, hardwood, rugs. I've tried the Bissell pet series and two cordless models. All garbage. I would go with a Dyson or meile, but I'm too cheap to spend more than $200 on a vac.

My parents started using Shark vacuums I don't even know how many years ago (10+), but all of theirs are still going strong. They've upgraded to more pet-hair specific models and whatnot over the years which worked out well because when I moved out they gave me one of the older ones. The NV501 they handed down to me has been great and while I occasionally think about buying a bag vacuum, I just keep deciding that the Shark works just fine for me. This may not be the case with the brand new models, but I can find tons of parts for mine on eBay if I ever need them. As it is the only thing I've ever needed was replacement filters and I bought an upholstery tool that either didn't come with the vacuum or my parents lost it before giving me the vac. I think my only complaint so far is that this particular vacuum makes it hard to get the brush roller out to clean it, but that's not really something I *need* to do so much as something I would like to do for occasional maintenance.

Shark pro NV501. It is heavy so if that’s a problem don’t get it. Tools are stored so they are very easy to quickly use, long hose to reach higher, nice bright light to show dirt under things, and lift away for stairs. I’ve used it for 10 years, not that particular one, I replace it every 18 months, and the older one moves into my house and my house vac moves to the basement.

Hey I’ve got a shark rotator lift away for like 350 I think. I’ve had my heeler for 7 years and that vac for the whole time. Works great

My NV352 lasted for over a decade and only was replaced because the HEPA cover broke and replacement wasn’t handy. I was not pumped about other ways to hold it together, and ultimately thought it’s probably time. The Shark Rotator replaced my 352 and it is a good replacement. Maybe a canister is better but my wife won’t use it, hates the Sebo (just pictures) and even though since I do most of the vacuuming i still have to consider her wants. She wanted/still wants a cordless, which we have a shark version and I refuse to buy another. I’ve replaced the battery on it to extend the life, but to buy the Dyson and see the battery issues they have is a non-starter. Shark for life and budget. I’m sure for $1200 the Miele is great but it’s hard for me to justify that to my cost conscious wife.

Robot vacuum. Run it every day. I also have a Shark Rotator for deep cleans.

I ordered and returned a Shark Rotator from Amazon. I wasn't impressed at all. Replaced it with a Kenmore 600 canister. I had one before and it served me well. I was eyeballing a Sebo oe Miele canister but couldn't get myself to spend that much on a vacuum.

I was curious so I went to r/VacuumCleaners and they hate Shark. Apparently the brand isn't what it used to be and is cheap and gimmicky now. No idea which model it is that I have and hate but I just looked up the current Shark Rotator which is the one I love and it looks bulky and gimmicky as hell compared to mine. Might need to look elsewhere when it finally dies but I think it's about 10 years old now and seems like it's got plenty of life left.

I’ve had the Shark Lift Away (line #5) for probably 8-10 years now and it’s been great. Handles long hair and pet hair reasonably well and is very mobile. My only complaint is that you can’t attach the beater head to the wand portion, which limits how far you can reach under furniture. But other than that, it’s a great vacuum, especially for the price!

Mine has been fine for 3.5 years with a dog and fiancé. I clean the filters regularly and wipe the insides down once in a while.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy the Shark Lift Away models. They are absolutely terrible in longevity, being built with cheap plastic parts at the bottom hinges, which will break in a few years. It is very poorly designed in that section. Suction is great. Longevity is awful.

There is so much weight on the bottom hinge that it eventually gives way. Suction performance is great. Don't expect longevity. I bought mine in 2017. It was broken by 2023. My hoover (bagged) lasted from 99 till 2017 when I gave it away but its suction performance was nowhere near that of the Shark. I just wish Shark made more durable products.

We have 2 cats (used to have 3) and have used shark for years. We've had many sharks over the years. Specifically the lift away, power lift away, navigator I think it's called and then a rocket. Rocket died in like 3 years but the lift away lasted almost a decade. the power lift away can't remember but I think it lasted a few years. Navigator I can't remember lmfao. Currently we have a dirt devil "endura reach" I think it's called and a Kirby avalir. Both are pretty good. Endura reach has a pretty short cord tho. But most sharks or some have anti hair wrap technology on their brush rolls. That's already worth every penny if you've got cats. So I'd look at a shark if you've got pets. Hope this helps.

Our lift away is 10 years old and still going strong! I'm looking for an upgrade now because we can afford something that cleans a bit better but it's done very well for a vacuum under $200.

Can you get some plastic carpet protectors? Those are a godsend in my piggy room.  I'll also sweep the carpet that is exposed real quick before vacuuming just to get the long cloggy hay fibers mostly out of there, which cuts down on clogs drastically. I use a shark liftaway vacuum, I actually really like it 😅

Have had my shark lift away for 7 years now and LOVE it. Having the light on the bottom really helps on hard wood & laminate floors. I've gone back to using it over a cordless Dyson I was gifted.

I had my first shark lift away for around 9 yrs. It survived a triple coated dog through many blowout seasons. When I accidentally broke the canister shark sent me a new one free of charge even though it was out of warranty. I will.always buy shark brand vacuums

I like my Shark Lift away. It was both a Wirecutter and consumer reports top pick. My house cleaner likes it better than others she uses at other houses. I got mine at Target but Amazon has them now as well.

I have an old Shark Lift Away that we bought eight years ago when we got our first Sam. It definitely does the job and it’s great although the rollers are a little hard to clean (the dogs’ hairs don’t get stuck in the rollers, mine do 💀). There are definitely better vacuums on the market for people with larger houses but I live in a fairly small house with laminate floors, and an apartment with laminate floors prior to that, so I don’t really need much. For traction I basically have covered the dogs’ travel paths and play areas with area or runner rugs and the vacuum does a good job on those.

The shark lift away is truly BIFL. Every part that could get clogged is removable and makes fixing incredibly easy.

I've had an old hoover and a new hoover....still like my shark lift away way better 🤷‍♀️

I’ve had a Shark liftaway for 15 years and it still works great. It’s possible their quality has deteriorated over time, but I have no complaints.

A Shark lift away model. Will do carpet and hard floors, and get under things like the bed.

No. I got one from Costco (Liftaway). I used it fairly gently for maybe a year or so then it bricked itself. I checked the contacts, power to the head, etc. (I'm an engineer). It's just dead. Seems like poorly built garbage. I'll never buy another.

I’m in sort of of the same boat. My wife trains service dogs and we have 5 dogs (and 3 kids) in the house. Also, because 5 dogs, my back yard is a mud farm and everything is coated in a layer of dirt. We have a tinneco pure 1 (it’s a stick vacuum with a base compartment). We vacuum the main part of the house where the dogs are (living room, laundry, entry, kitchen dining room). The living room really is the place we vacuum, 3-4 times a day but everything listed gets hit at least once a day (maybe twice in rainy days). We decided that making vacuuming convenient was more important than doing it super well (cause let’s face it, it’s gonna be dirty again in 5 minutes) and reliability took a back seat to convenience. So for us convenience > reliability > performance. We didn’t think ANY vacuum would make our floors 100% clean, so we didn’t try. Just get them 80% and but clean often. Then we mop probably every day or every other day…..(why do we have this many dogs again?) THEN we keep a corded shark in the basement where we keep their kennels. The shark is 5 years old and it sucks up everything but it’s heavy, so it stays in the basement) we also use this one to vacuum their kennels. We found that doing some work on our yard and cleaning the dogs as they come in, helped a ton. We still haven’t found a great solution yet. I rambled a lot. If you have any questions or suggestions for us. Let me know.

Shark Cordless (don’t remember model number but was great on hardwood, horrible on the rugs). We also tried variety if stains (cordless and corded) from friends and they all failed. Currently we’ve gone back to a 10+ year old corded shark that performs ok, not great. But very heavy and cumbersome. Main floor for house is 50/50 hardwoods and rugs. Rugs are thin bc they are all washable (pets). Upstairs is wall to wall carpet but gated off to keep pets downstairs. Budget…honestly anything at this point. I guess I’d like to keep it under $700 but at this point I really don’t even care. We haven’t tried any canisters, open to that is they aren’t too cumbersome, I have RA, so easy to maneuver is pretty important.

I LOVE the Shark corded vacuum. Easiest to clean, switch out parts, consistent suction, power not limited by battery. Win-win!

Get a Shark. So much better than a Dyson as a fraction of the cost and their attachments use synthetic bristles. We had a top of the range cordless Dyson and we’ve had multiple corded Dysons and they’ve all been terrible. This corded Shark one I’ve got now is amazing, most powerful vac I’ve ever used. In general I’d avoid cordless vacs unless you live in a tiny place, otherwise it won’t even clean your full house before it needs charging.