Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Let's just ...

In an era when you can buy just about anything with the click of a mouse, door-to-door sales of vacuums seem a quaint anachronism. But don't be fooled by that image. Door-to-door vacuum sales are big ...

Helen Losak has had enough. It's been a year since the traveling salesmen sat in her home for four hours demonstrating a vacuum and offering all kinds of "discounts" to knock the price down to $1,095.

If you’re in the market for a new vacuum and tempted to spend hundreds of dollars, do some homework first. With so many new features, shopping for a vacuum might seem like shopping for a new car.