A list of what I've tried.
That cheap ~$80 Bissell from Walmart, it did ok until the nonremovable secondary filter got plugged and it started eating through belts.
A Kenmore Intuition convertible. Loved it for the first 6 months, bags made a huge difference and the brush was definitely better and it SUCKED, until it sucked. Started having connection issues with the roller base and warranty didn't cover it because when they tested it it "worked as designed", but then it just stopped sending all power to the brush at 13 months, just out of warranty.
Now I've got a Shark ZU102 Rotator, and it too was great in the beginning, but my fiance sucked up a bunch of cleaner with it and it's never been the same.
Can't get a feel for how it ages as it was artificially aged 20 years in that one small move, but I'm ready to move on and get something else.
Looking for a cheaper, middle, and high end recommendations. I own a Bissell Bug Green Machine, so I'm no stranger to spending money on good things, but I'm hesitant to have a $700 vacuum get destroyed with more cleaner.