Black+Decker Automotive Flexi Vacuum

[+] THE REVIEW: I needed a vacuum for the car and for around the house for quick pickups. I looked at rechargeable vacuums, but didn't like the short battery life. If the battery runs out, then you are left with putting it on the charger. I gave this one a try because it plugs right into the cigarette lighter, which means it is not limited in time of use. To convert the cigarette lighter plug to an power source suitable to use in the house, you can do a couple of things. 1) I already have a battery ups that outputs DC to a female cigarette plug, so for me problem solved (3.3lb 100W(Peak 200W) Portable Solar Generator (UPS, Power Inverter) - 40800mAh 150Wh Battery - Solar/AC/Car Charging Cable - 2 AC & 3 DC 12V & 2 USB Ports). This makes it totally portable inside or outside the car. I just carry the battery anywhere I want to vacuum. I could see this being great for cabins where there is limited outlets. Example: you might want to vacuum out the boat. 2) you could get a wall AC to DC converter (ALITOVE AC to DC Converter 110V ~ 240V to 12V 10A 120W Power Supply Adapter Car Cigarette Lighter Socket AC/DC Transformer for Car Vacuum Cleaner, Car Refrigerator and other Car Devices). This would convert the DC cigarette plug into a standard household plug, so you can use it as a regular "pluggable" vacuum for around the house. Notes: 1) read important comment below about converters. 2) the link to the converter should pull up a page that lists a 10A (amp) car converter. Double check to make sure this is the case as you have the ability to select many different amp converters from the same product page. 3) The battery UPS that I purchased is no longer available. I found another one that is similar for those interested: ACOPOWER 150Wh Portable Solar Generator Power Supply Energy Storage Lithium ion Battery Charged by Solar/AC Outlet/Cars with Dual AC Outlet, 3 DC Ports, 2 USB Ports (HY-S320) I have read different reviews on the suction and basically, look folks, its running off 12V DC. It's not going to compare to a standup vacuum. That being said, I think it has pretty good suction. It picks up what you would expect, which is loose dirt on the rug. When you put your hand over the end of the nozzle, you can feel the suction against your hand pretty good. For what it is meant to do, I feel it has as good of suction as this type of vacuum could get. I am very happy with the performance. They were smart about the design in the easy emptying of the unit. I also like how you can wash the filter and reuse it. The noise, again, is what you would expect for a vacuum, no louder or quieter. I am really happy with the purchase, and I am glad I went with this option over buying a rechargeable vacuum and having to deal with batteries dying after a couple of months (as I have read in reviews). I hope this helps! :) If you have further questions, please post and I will try to answer. [+] Important about using household AC to DC converter: To convert AC to DC, it is not enough just to perform the conversion. Another aspect you need to consider is the amount of amperage that can be drawn during the conversion. If the converter is only able to draw say 2 amps, this would be okay for powering a cell phone charger, but not a vacuum. The motor of the vacuum pulls much more power than a cell phone charger. Therefore, the converter will need to be able to handle a draw of more amps. A car cigarette outlet usually has a 15 amp fuse making 15 amps the upper limit of power being drawn from a cigarette lighter, so we know this device (or any cigarette lighter device) cannot be designed to draw more than 15 amps based on that alone. I read some other comments that says this vacuum draws up to 10 amps. I looked on my unit and could not find any information on amps or watts (i.e., if you know the watts, then you can calculate the amps). Regardless, I search and the largest AC to DC converter with a cigarette adapter that I found is 10 amps. There were others at 8.5 amps and 5 amps. Anything under 5 amps would definitely not be enough and would likely overload the converter as it would try to pull more amps that it is capable of handling. Under these circumstances, and with this information, I feel comfortable that if you want to power this vacuum indoors by using a household plug, your safest option is to use the 10 amp AC to DC converter that I listed in this review. [July 31, 2017 update] I use this vacuum all the time now. It is so quick and handy that I grab it and clean up a quick mess with no problems. Even things like spilling a little sugar or powder on the counter. Instead of wiping and wiping, I just grab this and it's done. It's a nice unit and designed very well. I'll update my post if any issues ever come up, but so far this has worked like a charm. [October 6, 2017] Just giving everyone an update. I am still using this vacuum, and it works great! I am glad I purchased it. I highly recommend it. [June 3, 2018] I found another use for this vacuum. It is great for picking up hair after an at-home haircut. It is great because it does the job and is easier to take out and put away rather than lugging the house vacuum out. [July 26, 2018] I just keep finding more uses for this vacuum. I have actually used this to suck up flies. When a fly is buzzing around a window or light, I just point the nozzle in that direction and try to follow the fly and eventually the fly crosses over the path of the suction. It works better for those little gnats or fruit flies that you get when buying pinnacle. Those babies buzz around a lot slower than flies, and I can usually suck them up pretty easily. It's great because I don't have to worry about knocking stuff over trying to smash them. Pretty cool. ps. Don't forget to up-vote if you liked this review, or you think this review will help others.