What's the best vacuum to meet my needs?

Get one of those mechanical rollers that pick up hair, dirt, etc. off of short carpet. They work great.

The vacuum that I would recommend would greatly depend on how tall the pile is on the area rug. If it is a short pile then the problem is going to be finding something gentle enough. If the Pile is higher, the the problem is finding something that won't be constantly breaking belts, seeing as how most vacuums are designed for stretched wall to wall carpet. So basically if the pile is short, then any Oreck Classic, Simplicity S20, or any Miele with a SEB-213/SEB-217 will work great on the rug, but only the Simplicity and the Miele will do well on both. The Simplicity and the Miele both have geared belts, so you won't have to worry about getting them caught on the fringe, they just turn them selves off if they get stuck. Also both the Simplicity and the Miele are canister type sweepers with optional HEPA Filtration.

P.S. Simplicity and Riccar are basically the same company.

True, Dyson is a very good vacuum, but, they usually run around $400 Eureka makes one that costs about $80. that does just as well. Walmart carries both of them. they are both bright yellow. Just make sure that whatever kind you buy that it has the carpet adjuster that will allow you to turn off the brush underneath while on the hardwood. the brushes will scratch a hardwood floor. When the setting is on bare floor, the brush roller should not turn. Oreck does not offer this feature, as a matter of fact not many vacuums do offer it.

i have the same situation: hardwood floors with one big area rug. i bought the eureka optima vacuum from target and have owned it for a year now. it is an incredibly powerful vacuum cleaner that is very compact and inexpensive. i read a lot of positive user reviews about it on the target web site and have to agree that it was a good purchase. since you don't have a lot of carpet to vacuum, there's no need to invest in an expensive, heavy-duty vacuum cleaner. the optima has excellent suction power and can be set to vacuum with or without the rolling brush for both hardwood or carpeted floors.

here's a link to some info:

http://housekeeping.about.com/od/vacuumcleaners/fr...

Oh, that is a hard one. I used to have the same problem. I think the oreck is a better vacuum than any other and it is lightweight. It compares to the sometimes $2000 Kirby, only it cant wash carpets. But it is about the same price as a dyson.

Save your money!!!! Buy a good Hoover. Try a Sanitaire.They work great on all surfaces.

We just got a Dyson from Target. It is sooooooo good, and it transitions really smoothly.

i dont know go ask in the stores like wal-mart or something like that...