It's a fine shop vac. I like that it has both a battery option and a cord to plug into an outlet. It's easy to use and reasonably light weight. It doesn't quite merit five stars because the attachments are too small to take on any kind of construction clean up, and the vacuum itself is not as powerful as I would have liked.

Weak Vacuum

Little power. With 8ah and 5ah batteries, shuts off when battery light shows one bar. I moved to Dewalt for the US made products, but overall quality is lacking except in DCD998 and another driver initially picked up- they are monsters. I end up having to return just about every tool I buy with the Dewalt name if its a cordless. Never had these issues with Big M products. I tried, but after selling most of my M tools and going full yellow, the red is making a comeback in my bags and boxes.

If you just want a shop vac, get a shop vac! The automatic run feature works well. And it's much less expensive than comparable units, or at least it was when I bought it. I'm very happy this this unit on the whole. Incredible succion power, automatic filter unclogging. No complaints. Well made and easy to carry! Doesnt make a lot of noise.

Great compact battery operated vacuum. I use mine with a 20V battery when I’m doing work outside or inside the house. Easy to carry since it’s light, and super easy to clean out as the bottom compartment can be removed and dumped out. Love my Dewalt cordless vacuum. Highly recommend,

I really like the ability to use the batteries and not an extension cord for smaller jobs. It is still sometimes handy to be able to plug it in for bigger jobs. I just like the ability to do both based on the situation. I would have given it 5 stars but my older one quit working on battery after about 4 years of light use, it still works if plugged in.

No Filter to replace

I just bought this today , have not unpacked it yet still in box

Purchased in 2021 Love It

After 2 yrs use for home and car clean-ups, my rating is going from 4 to 5 stars. Though my original comments were valid, 4 stars was too low for how well this portable vac does its job, plus my original filter still works as well as when new, but cleans up much more easily than any other filter I’ve ever owned. A light brushing with a small paintbrush dislodges dry dirt so it falls out easily with a few filter taps. The combination of effective function and easy cleanup truly deserves 5 stars.

Saves space, great mobility.

My friend had one of these and I love that it's compact. I had one that rolled on the floor that had a little more power but the long hose and cord would get in the way, and then I'd have to run an extension cord to use it most of the time. I switched to this and so far so good. Not as powerful as I would like; my Dyson handheld Animal is much better but this is fine for garage stuff and small construction projects. I also like that it has a cord in case the battery isn't enough.

Works great for woodshop

This little vac impressed the heck out of me! I seems slightly more powerful when plugged in, but still gets the job done. Cleans up woodworking messes easily. I have it hanging above my main workbench, I simply reach up, turn it on, and hose reaches down for quick clean up. Most impressive for me was when I used it to clean and service my oil burner. With 4a battery, it was so convenient and sucked up a good amount of soot. Emptied the bucket, blew out filter, and it was ready to go again.

DEWALT 20V MAX Cordless/Corded Vacumm (DCV581H)

Nope won't be winning any accolades for being the most powerful. For me personally though the unit’s versatility and convenience help balance it out so for the tasks I wish to accomplish with it should suffice perfectly fine.

I've written to DeWalt about this unit, but they seem not interested. The idea of a portable wet/...

I've written to DeWalt about this unit, but they seem not interested.

EXCELLENT PORTABILITY AND RUNS ON EITHER ELECTRIC OR BATTERY POWER

The reason I chose this model over the 580 model is because I like to have the option to run the vacuum off of AC power when it is available to use on my jobsites. Otherwise, a battery operated vacuum was just what I needed for convenience. This is the type of tool that once you begin using it, you find all kinds of tasks that it helps with that you didn't even think about when you went to purchase it. After having used it for numerous jobs over the past few months, I am very satisfied with it - but do not quite understand a few of the design issues. For one, the battery is installed with the 'fuel gauge' down, so you cannot read it while it is installed. The exhaust port is also on the same side of the vacuum as the suction port and since the hose is rather short - you can easily end up creating a miniature dust storm when you first turn on the vacuum and forget that it is pointing at the area you intend to clean-up. I've been using 5Ah batteries with it and I find that they last a decent amount of time before needing to be changed. The hose is large enough but the length could certainly be another foot or two longer. You can buy 3rd party hose extenders as needed, quite easily. I like that you have a brush attachment, a wide suction attachment, and the weight of the vacuum is commensurate with the 2 gallon storage size of the vacuum. So far, a great addition to my growing DeWalt tool collection.

+1 more

Nice features: both battery op and plug in work equally well to blow or suction, and the 2 extra...

Nice features: both battery op and plug in work equally well to blow or suction, and the 2 extra tools store nicely. The filter is a good size for what it's expected to do, and the hose connection fits 1 1/4" adapters (generic kit sold separately) that connect to many non-DeWALT tools as well. Less nice: for the price I would have expected it to compete a little better with comparables that have more power (suction) and cost less, but I didn't already have their batteries. The dust bin design is difficult to completely empty easily because of its inward curved lip, and the vacuum and exhaust ports are on the same side, so you lose hose length when you are trying to vacuum something up without also blowing your pile of dust all over the room again. Ports on opposite sides of the machine would have been better. It suits my purposes, but later models could stand these design modifications.

As a few reviews have stated. This vacuum does...

As a few reviews have stated. This vacuum does not have as much suctions as the Milwaukee but the battery life is better and it does a good job for what it is designed to do. I have used it to clean up dirt and dust in the garage along with cleaning out the car. It actually did better than I expected on getting all the dirt out of the carpet in the car. I really like to portability for small jobs. I definitely wouldn't use this for big jobs. It wasn't made for that and their are bigger vacuums designed for that. I have used it on the carpet in the house to pick up some Styrofoam pieces. It works fine but to get the stuff deep in the carpet you will have to go over the area a few times to get everything. I have a small corded shop-vac that is about the same size. I haven't compared the two yet because it is such a pain to roll up the cord and hose on the shop-vac. That said I believe the suction may be slightly better on the shop-vac but storing the hose and cord is a whole lot better on the Dewalt which is one of the biggest reasons I got it. Overall, I like the Dewalt and it does everything I expected from it. I would buy it again if this ever quits.

Eh, it's ok

I'd say it's biggest and most spectacular selling point is the fact that it's dual powered (ac/dc)... accepts both style of batteries too.. great idea that others should have jumped on. It's suction power isn't nearly as powerful as some have claimed but it can get the job done.

Hepa Filter Sucks!

Great overall vacume, however, as far as i know they only come with hepa filters. I use this to clean return grilles for HVAC and I am not happy. They say it's washable and reusable, but it's a pain in the butt to clean. You don't just "run it under tap water". I've soaked mine in soapy water and i still had to scrub it with a toothbrush, stuff really gets all the way down deep into the crevices and mine smells like wet dog. Just the kind of smell I want to circulate around the stores for customers. I'm disapointed because Dewalt is supposed to make construction grade tools. Putting a hepa filter on something that is used in construction didn't really exhibit the foresight of dust, sheetrock, ect of easily plugging this filter up. It turned it into a household tool for a weekend warrior that wants to clean out his car. Nobody wants a filter that plugs up all the time and they have to take time out to go scrub it to do their job again. Your better off just going to get another filter, but thats another $25-35 depending where you get it. I would have been much happier with one of those bags that covers the cage and when it gets dirty you just throw it away. Next time i clean it im going to soak it in sometime harsh in the hopes it will eat away the filter part and leave the cage so that i can use a bag filter again. If it wasn't for the stupid filter I'd give it 5 stars.

Great Vacuum With Some Glitches

I have had this vacuum now for about eight months. It has good suction but remember it is cordless so not like a central vac. The main glitch is the fact that just before the dirt you are sucking up goes into the canister it makes a sharp 90 degree turn???? This is so stupid it had to be on purpose. Thus I found it was always plugging up there if I sucked up longer stuff. Obviously the guy that designed the vacuum never used one in his life. Either that or just figured the only thing people were going to suck up with it is fine sawdust or spilled sugar.