The performance is nothing short of breathtaking and it gets even better if you upgrade the filter to one of these.
With the Combivac things like filler dust, sanding particles, wallpaper, small to medium plaster pieces, small animals etc are all fair game to this beast, it will suck up literallyanything. All I'll say is that you must make sure the filter is get relatively clean otherwise you'll fill the room with dust in around 5 seconds.
The cord isn't very long so if you're doing large areas you will an extension lead to make full use of the Combivac's capacity. But as the flexible hose is pretty long and the pipes are a decent size I find that the average size room is no problem at all. The WD1000 comes with the normal tools like crevice and the floor head, but I've lost those and replaced with oddments that I've found lying around; they all fit just fine! Always nice to know something can be fixed pretty easily and Earlex stock a full range of accessories such as different floor heads and minivac attachments for tight areas and replacement parts.
I really can't think of any thing bad to say about the machine, other than it is loud; but who cares? It does exactly what I need. It sucks the living day lights out of carpets and floors, cracks and crevices. You can connect it to a power tool if you have the right adapter or if like me you use gaffer tape :) My Combivac has even been taped to a mortar rake to collect the dry mortar instead of it being flung across the county. Worked a treat!
So for the tradesman I would say for the price of say £45 this pretty much essential kit. I take mine everywhere, much better than a brush and dustpan any day.