Best shop vac for cheap?

I made a LOT of sawdust last night and my CL $10 shop vac broke... any suggestions for a good but not expensive shop vac? I am considering a 14gal 5.0 ridgid.

They're not cheap - but the Fein vacs with the tool trigger are the best vacs on the market - if you can find one used grab it up.

I did a lot of research to get one that was really good at dust collection - as I don't have the space/funds for a big dust collection system. What I found was that the Ridgid WD 1450 seemed to ride the top of the list for all of the reviews I've read. 6hp 14 gal... They are not exactly cheap, but I'm very happy with mine - money well spent.

Ryobi (sp?) makes good products for less. I've had a couple of their products that have lasted me a long time. Never had their shop-vac, but I'm guessing it'd be the same as the other stuff.

I’ve had quiet a few over the years. Now have a “Shop Vac” Lowes sells them in our area. So filter bags and other accessories are readily available. I’ve had this vac for quiet a few years still runs great. I have a 12 gal model but I also have a dust collector for my tools so 12 gal is plenty. The one thing I do like about it is the paper filter bags really easy to clean. They also make cartridge filters for them if you use that type buy the ones that can be cleaned and buy two . For the price there a good deal.

One thing to note is what tools you want to use it with with respect to size. For instance, my little beat-up 6 gal shopvac was fine while I was just using a drill press and basic clean-up stuff. Then I got a sander - that's when I got the WD 1450. But, when I got a planer I discovered that even a 50 gal would not be enough for some tools without dumping a few times a day - I just dump my 14 gal vac every hour now when I'm doing a lot of planing.

I was just at Lowes and was looking at a vac that attaches to the top of any 5 gal bucket for $19. Seemed like a good deal.

I've got the Ridgid 16 gallon vac. I forget what I paid for it... but it was cheaper than a dust collector and worth every cent I paid for it. I use it as a dust collector and hook it up to my various machines when I'm using them. I made some hose adaptors from wood to fit my planer and jointer. The standard hose fits everything else.

Pawn shop...sadly, so many are out of work, you can find all kinds of tools these days for cheap.

I don't normally recommend Craftsman power tools but they do make a good shop vac. I have a 16 gallon I think.

A while back Home Depot had a small Ridgid shop vac on sale for $27. It's a great little vacuum ........ lots of suction.

Thanks all, I went for a Ridgid WD1450. A little more than I wanted to spend at $99 but it has good reviews on several sites besides HD.

http://reviews.homedepot.com/1999/100081216/14-gallon-pro-vac-wd1450-reviews/reviews.htm

The real cost of a shop vac is what the replacement filters are gonna set you back. The price of the Craftsman filters seemed crazy to me.