Less- As a multiple-pet owner, let alone for the detailing, I've used a *scad* of these things over the years (literally lost count), and currently still have two canister-style Bissells (one is over 20 years old and still works great), a small Hoover SteamVac Jr., a carpet-cleaning attachment for the Sears wet/dry vacs, and a Ninja/Century 400 extractor (also currently have two steamers, one of which is a pretty good commercial one from Daimer). Crazy collection...eh..."accumulation" of carpet sucking machines, huh
Yeah, a combined steamer/extractor would be great; if I were buying again now I'd certainly look into them. But they're not cheap so they might not be in your price range.
Yeah, the pro extractor works a lot better than the consumer ones, but it costs a lot too.
The Sears setup is also better than most homeowner carpet machines. But even the crappiest one I ever had was a *LOT* better than nothing. All seem to have strengths and weaknesses.
The little ones' greatest strength (IMO) is their portability and the ease with which you can get them into action when needed (e.g., pet accidents). But the chemical/solution injection of the ones I've had was pretty lousy; the ones with a finger-pump trigger are just *awful* in this regard and I don't even bother using that "feature" on the StemVac Jr.
I'd probably steer you towards a wet/dry vac with a carpet-cleaning attachment. IMO that'd give you the most for your money overall. Often, regular vacuum nozzles come in handy for sucking dirt/moisture out of tight spots too, and they're easy to use with a "regular" wet/dry vac, easier than with a small extractor like the Dirt Devil one or my SteamVac Jr. But of course it's a lot easier to just grab the little unit for a quick job (always a trade-off
).
Oh, and IMO perhaps the best use of the chemical/solution sprayers is to spray clear water for a thorough rinse. One nice thing about some of these things (including the attachment for the wet/dry vac) is that they have a siphon-feed for the shampoo. You can just pull it out of the shampoo bottle and have clear-water rinsing. This is so handy that I genuinely miss it when I use my fancy Century extractor with its high-power solution sprayer.
Oh, and
Grouse knows a *LOT* more than I do about this topic, you might search out some of his posts on the subject.
if you have kids, its a must for carpet stains.