i used the rug doctor one a while back in old house - wasn't bad but took some getting used to - had to make sure not to flood the carpet with water. mum used it the same weekend (we made sure we got our money worth!) and managed to flood her hallway so i spent a looong time cleaning that up. i would think the britax one (the one with seperate hose and head from the body of the cleaner) would be easier if you've got small places to get into... they are definitely a shampooer NOT a steam cleaner, so you will have wet carpet for a while, need to be able to keep kidlets away for a while and ahve the house open

financially, it's cheaper to go with the supermarket one cos you can do everything at once (floors, lounge if you have one you want to clean) and if you get it on the weekend, it's well worth the money esp if you can share

having said that, i started borrowing SIL's parents upright shampooer a while ago and then actually bought one ourselves - it was less than $200 and works brilliantly. we have light mottled carpet, and it needs frequent cleaning (desperately needs doing now) - so for us, the value was there in buying it. we can also, having our own, do one room at a time so it's easier to keep kids or pets out for that time - over winter, we tend to clean one room, open up the windows, close the door - when that's dry, we do the next room

if you do it yourself, do a GOOD vac first, then shampoo, and be prepared that heavy traffic areas may need to be done more than once (like entry way etc)

HTH

BG