I'm a big fan of Bissell products since they seems to excel at offering decent quality at a decent price, and have found their customer service to be excellent. I have their SpotBot (can't live without it), their Healthy Home vac (my favorite upright) and a few others. But when it comes to carpet shampooing, Hoover is still the best in my opinion.This Bissell is certainly no slouch. The build quality is quite good for the price - nice heft to most plastic parts, especially the ones that get the most use (water dispenser and collection bins). The ergonomics are good. I did fumble a bit with the water collection bin at first, but a little practice and everything comes apart and goes back together without much fuss. Assembly was very straightforward and simple.This is a pretty traditional carpet shampooer, which is a good thing - some of the novel approaches Bissell has tried in the past have fell short of the mark. As with pretty much any such device, you dispense cleaning solution onto the carpet, have the machine agitate it with the brush, and then vacuum up the dirty water.This does not have a water heater per se, but, as with some Hoover models, it channels the warm exhaust from the motor to help heat and dry the carpet. To be honest, I can't tell if that feature is of any value on any machine that has had it - the effects are more on the subtle rather than dramatic side.Where the Bissell falls short is the roller bar. It uses a conventional roller, much like you would see in a regular vacuum cleaner. It works, but the rotating brush design of most of the Hoover models is much more effective. The roller bar does not offer enough agitation to loosen and remove dirt compared with the rotating brushes.On the plus side, the roller bar is easier to clean afterwards versus the Hoover rotating brushes, especially if you are dealing with pet hair or loose fibers.Another area where Bissell trumps Hoover is with the cleaning solution. Every Bissell solution I've used has been great. Hoover solution has ranged from just OK to poor.The Bissell has a lot going for it but, if you're looking for the absolute best when it comes to cleaning power, Hoover still is the champ. I'd suggest cross-shopping some of the mid-priced Hoovers (the ones with the Clean Surge feature) rather than their top of the line models.