The Fein's so quiet you can carry on a conversation with the thing running right next to you. Noise is okay for a big jobsite, but it gets on your nerves in the shop. The Ridgid unit comes with a baffle that seriously cuts its noise levels and also serves as an exhaust deflector. Wet Pick-Up Wet floor. Mother Nature was kind enough to give me 5 inches of rain, which flooded my basement and let me try out the vacs' water-sucking capabilities.
Good accessories make all the difference here, too.
The Fein and Ridgid vacs come with high-quality rubber squeegees that gather water from concrete. The Love-Less vac has a regulated drain plug that accepts the suction hose. This plug allows you to attach the 12-foot suction hose to the fitting, then drain liquid through the hose without spilling anything. The Shop-Vac, Craftsman, and Ridgid units also have drain plugs, but none of the companies' manuals tell you how to use them. To test pure suction power, I led each model to a 5-gallon bucket filled with water and let it drink.