Quote Originally Posted by brittone2 View Post
Ours works on hard flooring just fine, but canisters don't blow dog hair, etc. around as much as an upright, from what I've read.
All Dysons have an extendable handle which takes a variety of canister like attachments, so if you have a pet then the Animal vacuum comes with a pet attachment vs. another attachment that might come with a non Dyson Animal vacuum. It is really like having two vacuums in one. We use the hardwood floor cleaning tool for our hardwoods and are using the extendable handle so in a sense are using it like a canister.

With all of that said had there been a Miele canister that was not $500+ in 2007 when I bought the Dyson for $450 (at Costco) I definitely would have bought it. My grandma had a wonderful Miele canister vac. from the late 90s which is still plugging along today (and being used by another family member).

We have had our Dyson for 5/1/2 yrs. and besides having to remember to rinse out the filter it has been maintenance free.