I had a regular Turbo Cat but was unhappy with how it worked, especially with the hat. He wrapped the hair around the brushroll and moved it randomly while I vacuumed. I had to clean the hairbrush in every room I vacuumed. The brush was not easy to clean and sometimes required complete disassembly due to hair getting caught in the end pieces. Turbo Cat ZOOM has a different brush design and bristle material. This new design allows me to vacuum the whole house before cleaning the roller brush (it's also easier to clean). And hair regrowth is much less of an issue. Zoom produces a slightly louder and higher pitched sound when rotated. The zoom unit is slightly taller by about 1/2 inch (3.75 vs. 3.25 inches), but that's not a problem with our furniture. Overall I am very happy with the purchase, it saved me a lot of time. left the standard turbo cat and got rid of the cats, but the woman disagreed.