Others say...

"Better than Oreck"
I bought this item to replace an Oreck 'steam cleaner' with which I was fed up. The Oreck costs a fortune AND it's heavy, hard to use and very troublesome to clean . Add to that the fact that, despite it's price, the Oreck is NOT a steam cleaner--it relies on hot tap water like every other brand.

HOWEVER, this little Bissel had it's maiden voyage today, and I'm happy to report that it's easy to use and lightweight, yet it picks up just as much dirty water as my old horrible Oreck.

The clean water and dirty water tanks on the Bissel are separate, unlike Oreck. SO the Bissel tanks are so much easier to remove and re-insert.

There's virtually no assembly required (one screw). And one additional 'plus' is that you can use any cleaning solution you want. (Oreck's design forces you to use their brand only.) I wanted a hypo-allergenic solution which Bissel sells.

The bottom line is that, so far as I can research, no carpet 'steamer' sold for home use actually produces real steam. So don't waste your money on expensive models.

This one does the job even in my household of multiple cats, dogs and sometimes muddy garden. You won't break your arm pushing it around and you won't make up excuses to procrastinate the carpet cleaning chore.

If it REALLY produced steam, I would give it five stars.

"This thing is AMAZING--my water was BLACK"
This is my first review on Amazon. I never reviewed anything in the past, but this thing is truly amazing, and I had to submit my review!!

I cleaned two 15x15 rooms, and it took me maybe 45 minutes to do. The water that came out after each time was a thick dark brown/black color, and was DISGUSTING. My floors look like new.

Small, lightweight, and amazing.

"Amazingly easy-from box-to-very clean-carpeting"
Ordered Sat - rec'd Tuesday July 29th - Assembles in 10 min or less -
At 69 I wasn't into anything mechanical - Found the directions easier than a cake recipe. 3 screws - Fired up - All carpet is Cream - did Lrm paths and 2 pet accidents - then onto the worst for a real test - Cream floor area carpet in Den - NOT protected by a mat at desk. 4 Yrs wear and matted down - wheeled chair - short nap carpet - 20 minutes later this area under chair matches the original - The extractor function leaves it nearly dry - and A very pleasant scent to cleaner also.

Only one thing to watch - 1st time opening to fill solution tank /the black screw cap to the fill tank was in two pcs. so a little 'talking to' removed it the first time. After that, it is fine. More than met my expectations in Bissell Quality and performance.

And the Free shipping a real selling point.

"Bissell 1770 Quicksteamer"
I was looking for an upright spot remover so I didn't have to crawl around my house to clean the stains on the carpet. I thought that the Bissell 1770 upright,lightweight and at a good price could do the job. Thanks to the reviews, I read the instructions carefully and had no assembling or leakeage problems; nevertheless, I repackaged the Bissell cleaner to return it tomorrow. The carpet section I worked looks cleaner, but I had to keep spraying and moving the machine back and forth (more than reasonable) in order to take the dark spot out. I bent and look at the brush, and realized that the brush doesn't rotate and that the brush hairs are not sturdy enough for the job. After reading more reviews I will probably try another Bissell model, which has a rotating brush and still be lighweight to do the cleaning job I want.

Grafton Olivera

"Okay for everyday, not for set-in stains"
"Cross action brushes" is completely misleading. Without reading the description thoroughly, one would think the brushes rotated to "remove imbedded dirt." Nope, the brushes are stationary and rely solely on the operator moving the unit back and forth ... so the brushes, in my opinion, are pretty much useless. This unit basically saturates the carpet with cleaning solution/water, then sucks it up.

That being said, it is a reasonable price compared to other carpet cleaners, so for everyday use -- right after a stain occurs or mud is tracked in -- it works fine. If you want deeper cleaning than that, spend a little more on a unit whose brushes rotate. One big plus is it isn't too intimidating to work. Since the water reservoir is small, it's easily fillable/dumpable, so we'll be more likely to use it often -- which is the key to keeping carpet stains at bay. It's very lightweight and comfortably quiet. We'll keep using this cleaner for now but will most likely buy a more industrial model in the future, especially if we ever get new carpet.

I give it a C+.