I bought my vertex a few months ago. have used it only to clean stuff so far and it's great. I also got the 1/2 HP....worth the extra money as is the foot pedal. From what I could tell and heard the Donkee, even though it came with a splash guard, vibrates a lot. As for the splash guard, thanks to someone on here, they led me to buy a (I think) 20 or 30 gallon rubbermaid tub at Walmart for about $15 bucks to keep the spinner in. Works fine.