u/Fallout_Lord

I’m looking for a genuinely high-quality vacuum recommendation and would love input from people who have real long-term experience with serious vacuums.

Important context before people recommend a basic stick vacuum:

I’m not trying to find the cheapest decent option. I’m trying to buy the right vacuum once.

My situation:
- 2 bed / 2 bath apartment
- Mix of carpet and hard flooring
- My girlfriend has a cat
- I really hate dust
- I’m trying to reduce dust buildup as much as realistically possible
- I care a lot about keeping fine dust contained instead of kicked back into the air
- I also care about cat hair, carpet pickup, edges, corners, and general apartment cleaning

I already do the normal dust-reduction stuff too: dry Swiffer for hard floors, wet Swiffer after loose debris is picked up, lint rolling fabric surfaces, dusting, wet-rag wiping, and staying on top of floors/surfaces. I’m not expecting the vacuum to do everything by itself, but I want it to be a serious part of the system.

What I’m looking for:
- True sealed HEPA filtration, not just marketing
- Strong carpet performance
- Good hard-floor performance without just scattering dust/hair around
- Good pet hair performance
- Long-term reliability
- Easy maintenance
- Good parts/filter/bag availability
- Something that actually contains dust well during use and disposal

I’m open to bagged or bagless, but I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have dealt with dust/allergies/pets and can speak to whether bagged is worth it for cleaner disposal.

What I don’t want:
- A tiny stick vacuum as my main vacuum
- A canister setup where I have to drag a separate body and hose around
- Random Amazon brands
- Buzzword-heavy “medical grade” marketing without real-world performance
- Something that performs well for a few months and then falls apart

I’m okay with a larger upright or heavier machine if the performance, filtration, and reliability justify it.

Budget is flexible. I’m willing to spend real money if it means getting something that actually traps dust well, works on carpet and hard floors, handles cat hair, and lasts.

For people who are picky about dust and indoor cleanliness, what vacuum would you buy today and why?

I’m looking for genuinely top-tier air purifier recommendations for 3 rooms in my apartment and would love input from people who have owned or compared the serious flagship units long term.

Important context before people tell me “that’s overkill,” I WANT overkill.

I’m not trying to find the best value purifier for an apartment. I’m specifically trying to build an extremely low-dust environment, especially in my office where I spend most of my time at my PC.

I’m in the US.

Apartment is a 2 bed / 2 bath around 1100 sq ft total with 8 ft ceilings.

Approx room volumes:
- Office / Bedroom 2: 10'7" x 12'11" x 8' ft, about 1,100 cu ft
- Bedroom 1: 11'1" x 15'0" x 8' ft, about 1,330 cu ft
- Main living/kitchen/dining area: open layout, living room is 11'0" x 15'0", dining is 9'11" x 9'8", plus kitchen/hall space, so probably around 2,500-3,500 cu ft total

Main filtration needs:
- Dust reduction
- Cat dander
- Keeping desk surfaces cleaner
- Reducing PC dust buildup as much as realistically possible

No smoking, no wildfire concerns currently, and VOC/odor removal is not a major priority compared to particulate filtration and airflow.

My girlfriend has a cat, but the office is cat-free and the door stays closed most of the time.

I already do the normal dust-reduction stuff too: HEPA vacuuming, dusting, wet-rag wiping, lint rolling fabric surfaces, keeping the office door closed, and generally staying on top of floors/surfaces. I’m not expecting an air purifier to replace cleaning. I’m trying to add the best possible air filtration layer on top of that.

What I care about most:
- Very high sustained air cleaning performance
- Strong airflow/CADR
- Long-term reliability
- Easy maintenance/cleaning
- Units that are built to last
- Real-world particulate reduction, not just marketing/spec sheets

Noise matters somewhat, but I’d rather oversize the purifier and run it at lower speeds than buy something undersized and run it at max all the time.

Budget is flexible. I’m willing to spend real money for the right units, including ongoing filter costs and power usage, as long as the performance and build quality justify it.

The units I’m currently most interested in:
- Coway Airmega ProX
- Smart Air Blast MKII
- IQAir HealthPro Plus XE

From my research so far, these seem to be the real serious residential/prosumer tier, but I’m trying to understand how they compare in actual long-term use.

For reducing visible dust, cat dander, and PC dust buildup specifically, which of these would you choose and why?

Also open to other truly flagship-tier suggestions if there are units I’m missing.

Not looking for:
- Budget recommendations
- Compact units
- Random Amazon brands
- “This is enough for your space” type responses

I specifically want overkill performance.