what makes the dyson vacuum so great?

[TonFirst]

I've actually heard mixed reviews on the Dyson - mixed enough that when I was replacing my craptastic Hoover Wind Tunnel last month I ended up forgoing the Dyson completey, and I bought a Miele instead.

I know there are other Miele fans on these boards, since I researched old posts here when I was shopping around - and I have to say that I LOVE my Miele. I love it enough to write a haiku about it, even:

Shiny blue Miele,
enemy of my dog's hair,
Teutonic beauty.

[urquie]

love the haiku!!!!
i've never even heard of the miele, thanks for the info.

[suribear]

I really wanted to love the Dyson, but it didn't work out for us as we have all hard floors and it was pushing larger debris (like cheerios, the bane of my existence :)) instead of picking it up. Even my old crappo machine picked up that stuff, so I couldn't see myself paying so much for the Dyson.

I was hoping the updated version will come out soon, as it addresses this problem. I know I'm not the only one who had a problem with this, as they redesigned the machine to address it!! And the guy at Sears told me he's heard that complaint a number of times. It's something to do with the automatic carpet adjuster. It goes really low on hard floors (obviously) so it doesn't allow the debris to go under the vacuum.

I'm sure it's great for carpets or rugs!

Kris

[Calmegja2]

I actually am not a huge Dyson fan. I like Miele, and I like my Riccar. We have a Miele at the lake, and a Riccar at home, and I'm a fan of both. My MIL had a Dyson, and it just wasn't fabulous for her.

[steph2003]

I'll speak up on behalf of the Dyson's defense! That thing sucks up enough hair in my upstairs to form a Pomeranian or any other fluffy dog :) It looks like we have never vacuumed. I have allergies as does our dog so we needed something with super suction. Plus I don't like messing with bags (or having to buy them) I know some have problems with it on hardwood floors but I've never encountered this on my hardwoods. I like that it is fairly light & the hose stretches reeeeeally long. I can leave the base on the bottom stair & reach all the way up the stairs w/just the hose & not have to drag the base up each stair. I also just vacuumed all my blinds & draperies this way - using the super long hose.

The Dyson works for us - but it is good to hear other good vacs out there :)

[suribear]

I've heard people say that it worked for them on hard floors, but I'm curious.. can you pick up large debris on the hard floor?? See, I think it's different if you have a smaller area of hardwood, but I have hard floors everywhere (due to allergies), and I can't see myself using a tool throughout (vs. the upright position, which is easy). I'm wondering about the canister model now - seems like a pain, though.

ETA: I often have to hold ds whilst vacuuming (and lugging the thing out).

Kris

[murpheyblue]

When our old vacuum kept getting clogged with dog hair we headed off to Sears in search of a vacuum. I was intrigued byt he Dyson but was not willing to pay that much for the case model. After discussing lots of vacuums with the very knowledgeable sales guy we ended up with the Dyson. It really wasn't that much more than the highest level Hoover and does not need any replcaement filters. DH was ready to throw me in the loony bin but I figured we'd take it home, try it out and if it wasn't the greatest thing ever, we'd return it. Know what? It's the greatest thing ever! Our house is all hardwoods with area rugs in each room. We vacuum about every other day and fill the canister with dog hair (2 dogs) and lots of dirt (or dogs roam in and out all day). As a PP said, it's like I never vacuumed before.

Vacuum your house with your current vacuum then get a Dyson from a place with a money back guarentee. Vacumm again. If you're not completely amazed/grossed out by the amount of crap it picks up, return it.

The best part about the Dyson though is that my DH loves it. In 7 years, he never once touched our old vacuum. Now he vacuums all the time and will take anyone's ear off about vacuums of all things.

[mom to little e]

I agree! I LOVE my DYSON and DH does, too! It really does an awesome job on the carpets and we haven't had any problem on the hard floors. Ali, your comment about being amazed/grossed out made me laugh.

Casey &
Ean (11/06/03) the little love of my life!

[steph2003]

Kris - we have hardwoods all downstairs. I have not tried to vacuum up cheerios yet, although soon enough my DS will be eating (and tossing!) cheerios. I honestly have not had any problems on the hardwoods although we do have several large area rugs downstairs. I admit I haven't tried to vacuum up really large debris but it does suck up grass & other grunge the dog seems to track in from the backyard. Maybe I'll have to test it out on cheerios over the weekend & report back.

[TonFirst]

We have hardwoods downstairs, berber wall-to-wall upstairs, and several wool rugs throughout the downstairs, and my Miele works well on all those surfaces. It picks cheerios up off the hardwoods and does an incredible job cleaning the berber - it vaccuumed up dirty footprints, even, after the painters made a mess last week. It is also great at restoring crushed carpet piling, as I found when we moved some furniture around last week.

It has a bag, but it's the cleanest bag I've ever seen - NO dust escapes - and the thction is adjustable, so you can use less suction, say, when you're vacuuming your drapes, and more when you're cleaning your carpets.

[jasabo]

Teri your haiku rocks!! I haven't written one of those since like 6th grade! And I'm pretty sure none of the ones I wrote were about vacuum cleaners. Too funny!

I've never heard of a Miele, but will do some research. We're in the market for a good vacuum and if it's an enemy of dog's hair, it belongs in my house :)

Lisa - mom to 15 month old twin boys and two very hairy dogs

[MelissaTC]

Just wanted to say that we just purchased a Dyson Animal DC 14 complete from Best Buy and I LOVE IT! It is awesome! It has picked up all the dog hair from my floors, walls, furniture, etc.. I can make a new dog from all the crap it picked up. It even sucked up a sock! It has the large slot opening so it can pick up large items. I am really impressed! I was leaning towards an Oreck but DH talked me into this and I must say I love it!

[jesseandgrace]

I also have to buy a new vacuum, we don't have one at all right now! I have MILs Dyson on loan, and I am thinking about getting it. It does a decent job, but for us we are really low maintenance people. No bags, no loss of suction, no filters to clog, all of that sounds so good to me! But, I have not been able to pick up cheerios! It is definitely a problem, it just pushes them around the wood floor! I actually think that is a major flaw as I somehow have cheerios everywhere.

The new ones seem to say new LOW REACH - is that an improved model?

[MelissaTC]

Hmmm...I had no trouble picking up chunks of stuff off of my laminated wood floors (I have Pergo in 75% of my downstairs). It sucked up pine needles, DH's sock, loads of doggie hair, and other fantastic yuckies that shouldn't be on the floor. I know the model I purchased was just released in October so perhaps it is improved upon? I love it!

[bostonsmama]

I think you can get them through Williams Sonoma (catalogue or internet). But they're probably sold at other specialty vacuum stores. It's a wonderful brand.

I have a G5(?) self-propelled Kirby. If my grandmother hadn't given it to me when she moved into assisted living, I wouldn't have paid the $$$$ to get it, but it's amazing, sucks my dog's hair up, fluffs my carpet, also shampoos it and cleans draperies. It even has a scalp massager! Definitely worth it.

[suribear]

I wasn't impressed with the DC07, as I have pergo floors and the darn thing just pushed around cheerios and other stuff!! I felt like I was living on another planet from other Dyson owners who were posting here. Anyway, I returned it and recently bought a DC14. It cost a fortune, but they've resolved that problem by building a "wide channel" (look on the website for details). I can now say I'm a Dyson fan - it has a lot of cool features and they've revised it to resolve some of the flaws. There IS a flaw with the DC07, if you have hard floors and want to use it in upright mode, it won't pick up larger bits. Very frustrating.. I shouldn't have to use attachments to pick up cheerios! I would go for the DC14.

Kris

[suribear]

Melissa, you have the DC14, which has been updated :)

Kris

[chlobo]

Teri,

What model Miele do you have? I'm sure they are not all created equal.

[jesseandgrace]

Thanks - I just went and got the DC14, and so far so good, the cheerios came right up. I gave my MIL back her DC07!

[urquie]

okay, now that i've figured out that a dyson is a vacuum... i'm wondering what makes it so great? would it pick up tons of dog hair and grass clippings off my carpet and linoleum floors? tia