Are Dyson's worth the money?

[happy2bamom]

I have a vaccuum that works fine, but for some reason I feel like I am missing out on something by not having a Dyson. I saw one on sale at Target and wondered if I should bite the bullet. Are they all the same or is one model better? TIA

[JBaxter]

YES!!!!

I have the dyson animal as do 2 of my SILs my mother has the yellow one ( not sure what that model is. I have had many vac's over they years, electrolux, hoover, dirt devil, sears ( kenmore) and dyson is BY FAR the best i have ever had

[niccig]

I got mine at Costco. I love it - I two have the animal. I like that I can take the whole thing to pieces to either clean or remove something that is stuck. I was worried about something breaking - all the pieces are plastic, but I've had it 3 years and it's going strong.

[hellokitty]

I heard that if you have pets, they are great for pet hair. We have mostly HW floors, so I am not convinced that dyson would be worth it for us.

[BillK]

if you have lots of carpet yes - we have a dc14 and love it for carpets. not so much love for the dyson with our new all hardwood first floor - but i still use it upstairs and in our finished basement and love it for those areas.

i bought a miele s4 galaxy for the hardwood and LOVE it for that too. but if you have lots of carpet you can't beat a dyson.

[kijip]

I will be a dissenting voice here. I don't think it is worth it to replace a functional vacuum with a Dyson. We got a Dyson when our floor/stair situation changed and a cheaper vacuum quickly bit the dust at our new house. It is great. I like it a lot (even for my wood floor, I just use the hard surface setting, not a separate attachment). But it is not the bees knees as far as I am concerned.

I would keep it on the list for when you need a new vacuum.

[pastrygirl]

I hated mine! And I had really looked forward to having a Dyson. It was SO LOUD that I couldn't use it without cringing. My son was terrified of it, so I couldn't use it while he was awake, and it was so loud that I couldn't use it while he was asleep.

I took it in for service finally, 18 months later, and they told me nothing was wrong with it. It's just that loud. My son was petrified of the repair store full of vacuums, because of his experience with the Dyson. He kept saying "bye bye" because he wanted us to leave the store.

We left with a Miele canister vac, trading in the Dyson. The Miele is awesome -- so light and quiet! The Dyson was heavy and hard to push (I had the Ball DC15 model). I did love the long cord and long hose. But those two pluses didn't outweight the major negative.

[overcome]

I am sooo glad to see others who are not thrilled with their Dyson. It is the one and only thing I didn't research before buying b/c of their reputation.

I was used to a canister where I could just detach the head with the push of my foot and then the hose was available. It is such a rigamarole with the Dyson.

ITA it is very heavy and on the loud side.

Finally, my suction doesn't kick in until after about 5 min of vacuuming. I am so NOT impressed with their suction.


ETA I do like the ease of emptying the canister and the fact that it has no bags. I like the long cord too, but would gladly trade it in for something I like with a shorter cord.

GL

[meadow123]

I considered buying a Dyson when my last vacuum broke, and I am SO GLAD I didn't it. They may have a cool advertising campaign, but they are loud, heavy, and have the same amount of suction (or less) as most other vacuums. For our all hardwood floors, I got a Miele. It is the greatest- high suction, so quiet, light, retractable cord. I have no buyer's remorse. It also has a rotating brush for use on rugs and carpets. Simplicity makes what is supposed to be the greatest upright vacuum, and they have amazing suction. Both have to be purchased online or at your local vacuum store.

[new_mommy25]

I love our Dyson. I really do. For us it was worth it. We have mostly carpet and a large hairy dog (chow). I can't tell you how many vaccuums we went through. They were constantly getting clogged and it was such a long process getting it out when all you wanted to do was vaccuum your floors. Our last one was fairly new and not cheap and it would actually start smoking when we would vaccuum because it had to work so hard. We've had the Dyson since 2004 or 2005 and haven't had a single issue with it. No clogs, no bags to buy, easy to use. The hose attachment can be a PITA initaially but I am so used to it by now it is second nature. I agree that the Dyson is definitely not for everyone. If I had hardwood floors and no animals I would probably be just fine with something else. But for our situation the Dyson Animal is a winner.

[kerrief]

I like my Dyson-I have a very furry cat, but I also have never owned anything else. I've had it for 4 years and it's still going strong.

Kerrie

[writermama]

I don't own a Dyson, but I spent several hours several times trying out vaccums in a local store including Dysons, Mieles, Simplicitys, Sebos, and Orecks. They had a bag of fluff that I could toss around on their carpet or hard surfaces and grind in a bit to simulate pet hair. I tried a Dyson Animal, and it took 2 or 3 passes to get the fluff up. It was also heavy, loud, and while I was shopping 2 came in for repairs.

I don't remember much about the Sebos, but I was focusing more on canisters at the time I tried them.

Orecks weren't impressive on the pet hair test, much as I wanted to love them.

The Simplicity (I tried the 2 speed, 8 pound "Freedom" also known as a Riccar Freedom - approx $375) did a great job on pet hair on both carpet and hard floors. It doesn't have any onboard tools, though. Also, I have not found many reviews on this model.

I was considering buying a Miele canister to use exclusively for tools and hard floors and a Freedom for carpets. I looked at and liked the Miele Carina (approx $370). It did a great job on hard floors, and even without a powerbrush, did a surprisingly good job on rugs.

Instead of buying 2 vacuums, though, I bought the Miele Solaris S514
(http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/solaris.html). It's quiet, works great on hard floors and carpet, has handy onboard tools, and did the best job of the models I tested on the fluff test, the rice test, and the ground-in rice krispie test. And it's a pretty red color. The only downside I've found so far is that there isn't an on/off switch on the handle.

I also tested a more expensive Miele model, the Callisto. I didn't like the way its "ergonomic handle" felt at all, but that may just be me.

FWIW, I also looked at Aerus Electrolux vacuums. Aerus Electrolux vacuums are the REAL Electrolux ones, just like my grandma had. (Vacuums sold as just "Electrolux" are actually made by Eureka, who bought the right to use the name.) They come with a 25 year warranty (!) and seemed to work well, but I just didn't like it enough to want to use it for the next 25 years. It was not as quiet as the Miele and looked and felt clunky. It was also considerably more expensive ($2400, though the salesman offered me a "special" discount -- uh, no thanks. I don't like haggling for cars, I don't want to do it over a vacuum.)

[Chris Johnson]

Hi, Dyson coming out with 2 new vacuum next week. I would wait until then if I were you...