PDA

View Full Version : Which Dyson vacuum?



MarisaSF
04-28-2009, 06:21 PM
There are a lot of options out there and I'm hoping to pick the brain of anyone who has researched and/or bought one recently, at least to give me a starting point for researching.

We have a two-story, 5 bedroom house. Most rooms are carpeted, as are the stairs. No pets. No asthma. No allergies. The only thing I've been warned against is the fairly short cord on the smaller DC24.

I looked at Dysons at Target today, which had the DC14 All-Floors (~$400) and the DC25 Ball (~$500). Any others you'd consider? The DC25 has a shorter cord, but all other features seemed similar. Can anyone tell me why it would be worth $100 more?

For owners, did you need to buy any other accessories? Or did the vacuum come with all the tools you need?

nellonello
04-28-2009, 07:11 PM
We bought a Dyson DC17 on Sunday at Costco. Ours is the Asthma and Allergy version as that was the only one they had. Of the accessories the only additional one that I see using is the mattress attachment. We went with this over one of the ball ones as it seemed a bit easier to handle. The suction on these are amazing (compared to our Kenmore canister). The housekeeper came today and was so happy to see the Dyson we bought as it is one of her favorite. Not sure this is any help but I had to rave a bit about our new vacuum.

Sillygirl
04-28-2009, 07:11 PM
You might want to check out Consumer Reports - they don't have much love for the Dyson line, calling them over-priced and over-hyped.

elaineandmichaelsmommy
04-28-2009, 07:26 PM
I agree with sillygirl. Consumer reports definately gives dyson the thumbs down. There's a vacuum that sears sells that they highly recommend. My sister has 2 large dogs and a small child and loves her sears model.

DagnyT
04-28-2009, 07:27 PM
LOVE our Dyson animal- it has the ball. We have a 3500 sq. ft house- carpet upstairs hard wood and marble down. I was mortified by the amount of dirt collected over the first couple of times we used it, but I have had it for nearly a year and it has been great. We had had an Electrolux Oxygen (at $500.00 we thought it would be our lifer vacuum). It was terrible. The beater bar was always askew, it had electrical issues, etc....

I have had NO buyer's remorse over the Dyson!

Good luck.

randomkid
04-28-2009, 08:34 PM
I would recommend that you go somewhere to try them out first. I was all set to get the DC14 because of price. I went to Sears and tried all of them, including the one with the ball - hated that one, BTW. I ended up with the DC17 because I liked it much better. It isn't self propelled, but compared to the DC14, it is much easier to push. Not sure why, but the guy at Sears thought it had to do with better suction or something. Whatever the reason, it was definitely easier to push on a rug than the DC14. I didn't like the way the one with the ball handled, so you really need to try it first. As a PP said, she likes hers, so it's likely personal preference. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond and used a 20% off coupon. I am aware that CR rates them poorly, but I love mine. Every time I use it, I tell DH how happy I am with it. BTW, the cord on the DC17 is very long. My only complaint is probably the attachments - better than my old vacuum, but I find them a little cumbersome to use.

Things to consider when looking - is there a filter to clean/replace, ease of cleaning, etc. The guy at Sears was very honest with me as he knew I wasn't buying there. He told me that the Sears bagless model uses a filter and is rather a pain to clean.

tekins
04-28-2009, 09:57 PM
we have a dsyon animal and love it!!! :boogie: :boogie: I disagree that they are overpriced. we have it for a few years and works like the 1st day we bought it. we used to get a new vacuum every year before we got the dyson. we didnt care for the ball dyson as it seemed too floppy to work with one hand.

hannah
04-28-2009, 10:15 PM
I have a Dyson that we bought at Costco in 2005 so I have no idea what model it is. If I had to buy a vacuum again I would not by a Dyson. It's heavy and the attachments are awkward to use. Those are my two biggest complaints about the dyson. I am not sure what else I would buy but it won't be a Dyson.

brittone2
04-28-2009, 10:47 PM
I like our dyson (DC 14 model that was made for HSN or something and sold through Amazon) and have hated several of the highly rated CR vacs in the past. That said, I wouldn't pay full price...I'd find a great deal. Ours was something like a little over $200.

I like the little brushes on the head that get the baseboards pretty closely (handy w/ pets...our ancient hand me down Oreck works well but can't get the baseboard hair accumulation).

Eventually I'd like to go w/ a Miele canister, especially if we end up w/ more hardwood one day (replacing carpet in current house or moving to a new home).

infomama
04-29-2009, 12:07 AM
We have the animal one (purple). It came with a bunch of attachments and I LOVE it.

kijip
04-29-2009, 01:12 AM
We are not enamored with our Dyson D14 but are happy with it. It works well and we don't regret the purchase. We went with a refurb off of Overstocks about a year and a half ago, so not the newest version. I don't think I would pay full price.

http://www.overstock.com/search?keywords=&additionalKeywords=the%20dyson&taxonomy=sub2004&refinecategory=Upright&refinecondition=Refurbished&searchtype=guidedNav

MarisaSF
04-29-2009, 04:01 AM
You might want to check out Consumer Reports - they don't have much love for the Dyson line, calling them over-priced and over-hyped.

The first thing that propelled me to consider a Dyson is the 5-yr warranty and the fact that the Dyson brand is rated very high by CR for reliability. ("Kirby and Dyson have been among the more reliable brands of upright vacuums.") I just had a Hoover die on me less than 3 years and minimal use after I got it. Even though the Hoover was cheap, I can't consider such a large appliance "disposable" and I want one that will last.

In the ratings, the Dysons were not at the top of the list, but they weren't too far down it.

This is the CR review for DC17 Animal (close to what I'm considering):

CR's Take
Overall, this is a very good upright vacuum that excelled at cleaning bare floors and keeping its emissions low. Dyson has been among the more reliable brands of upright vacuums.

Highs
The Dyson excelled at cleaning bare floors and keeping its emissions low. It was very good at cleaning carpets and picking up pet hair.

Lows
This model was fairly noisy in our tests and was somewhat hard to handle.

Or maybe I'm just trying to talk myself into this. ;) Believe me, a big part of me is laughing at the part of me that thinks spending a significant amount of dough on a vacuum. :P

I've found what seems like a good deal at Costco.

3blackcats
04-29-2009, 10:44 AM
I love our Dyson DC17 Absolute Animal. My favourite feature is the mini turbine head. I can vacuum the stairs with it. I also use it to vacuum my couches to get all the cat hair off of them. It is a loud vacuum, but my 3 week old DD can sleep through it, so I don't think it's all that loud. It is a little on the heavy side. When I was pregnant I didn't carry it up and down stairs, but I don't mind carrying it otherwise.

I've said it before on the boards, but I'll say it again. When we moved into our house we vacuumed with our old vacuum twice and rented carpet cleaners. Then about a week later we bought the dyson. The amount of dirt that came from the cleaned carpets looked like the carpets had never been vacuumed. So gross!

We have no regrets with our Dyson. We have had it for three years and have not had a problem with it. I have 3 cats so it gets a huge workout.

The Review Mommy
04-29-2009, 12:05 PM
If I had to buy a vacuum again I would not by a Dyson. It's heavy and the attachments are awkward to use. Those are my two biggest complaints about the dyson. I am not sure what else I would buy but it won't be a Dyson.



Dido! We've had ours for years, and I HATE it. The only thing I can say is yes it does suck well but thats it. I should have kept the old Hoover around before I chucked it. The tool attachments alone were worth it for all the small jobs I do. I rarely ever have time to vacume the entire house. Which is the only great feature of the Dyson. I'm pretty much picking up spots throughout the day. I use it at least twice a day...with much regret. This is coming from someone who received hers for free. We had enough points saved up on our credit card. I still want a Miele so badly!

Not sure what model we have but here are some things to look at when trying a Dyson out:

What I like about our Dyson:
1) Sucks well, but lousy suction with the lousy designed tool attachments.

2) The perseverance of the inventor.

What I hate about the Dyson:
1-3) Heavy/Bulky/Awkward=Junk
4) Can't push smoothly over rugs. Constantly lifts them up. This is without it on or off.
5) Have to unravel the ENTIRE cord to use the tool attachments. Plus you have to take the handle off so its hard to move around the house. The plastic part to hold the cord wrapped together is already broken, and when raveled back up the clip on the plug to hold it together matches the cord holder perfectly. Cant pull further and when pulled shorter it attaches to the cord but unravels if you move it like pushing it away in the closet.
6) Tool attachments-lousy suction and lousy design=usless.

The crevice tool is angled to one side and hidden. You cant run along the baseboards anyway you like and it just doesnt reach everything because the suction in only in the center of the tool...

The low reach is not low reach AT ALL. The tool has to beheld in a certain upright placement (with your hand on top) for the suction to work which defeats the purpose of the low reach. I cant get under our bed and furniture well at all. I end up moving everything-PITA! Plus lousy suction.

7) The wheels that lift up when you turn it on and start to push catches on everything. The cord too.

8) You have to step on the vacume and pull back to turn on the regular vacume fuction. If its upright and just turned on you hear the crazy loud tool attachment-scares the kids and annoys me to no end. Not sure why it was designed this way because in order to use the attachments you have to unravel the entire cord and take the handle off!

9) The ball makes it impossible to lift up at all over rugs or stairs if its turned on and stepped on to switch it to the vacumeing function.

I just havent the heart to tell DH I hate it because he was so exited when he got it for me. I'm hopeing this one bites the dust soon or has an unfortunent accident so I can finally have me a Miele!

The Review Mommy
04-29-2009, 12:24 PM
10) the on-board attachments arent the ones I use. I have to go fetch the ones I do.

I think this is the one we have its yellow with the ball...
http://www.amazon.com/Dyson-Floors-Upright-Vacuum-Yellow/dp/B0008GGAVY/ref=sr_1_57?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1241022244&sr=1-57

The Review Mommy
04-29-2009, 12:42 PM
I found this guys reviews. Looks interesting, worth a look.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A13YM4FUDXTJG6?ie=UTF8&display=public&sort_by=MostRecentReview&page=1