Recommendation for a good vacuum; Dyson?

[SAMI]

I'm looking at buying a Dyson DC17 for animal fur/dander control. We now have the two dogs, and keeping the house clean is a must when both my wife and I have some degree of allergies. I found a place in Ogden that sells the Dysons for $235-250, refurbed w/ factory warranty, but I'm curious if anyone here has experience with the Dysons and if they're as awesome as everyone claims them to be. New these vacuums are $400+. I've scoured through online reviews, and many people sing praises to the Dyson vacuums. I don't so much care for the new Dyson Ball (DC25), and from what I've heard/read the DC17 (non ball) has slightly better power and suction.

Anyways.. Dyson; good, bad, and the ugly.. Other vacuum recommendations that you might have? We have a Golden Retriever, and a 60lb and growing short hair spawn of Satan. So, we want a vacuum that will perform well for several years to come.

Thoughts, comments, ideas, feedback, lets hear it.

Thanks,

Jason

 

[grandmaster]

My mom has had one for a while and she LOVES THE DYSON!! Only complaint she has is emptying it so often because it picks up so much dirt....not really a bad thing to me. My sister loved it so much she got one for christmas! I would say your good to go with a dyson.

 

[Jesser04]

We have a dc17 and love it. Ours is about 4 years old and still as good as new. The only problem I have with it is the brush gets hair wrapped around it and I have to cut it off every month or so but I think you will have that problem no matter what you get. I believe the only difference between the animal and the other non ball models is color and a pet stain removal kit. So if you can get the yellow one cheaper I would just get it unless you have a thing for purple. The newer ones have a clear brush cover and more cyclones. If your getting a refub model make sure it is a second or third gen my mom has a first gen and the container is much smaller than ours. We have 2 dogs as well.

 

[Fester]

Just picked up a Dyson Animal? (not sure of model #) but it has the ball. The ball is a gimmick and doesn't add anything. The suction doesn't seem to be any better/worse than the $80 Hoover it replaced. We have a similar problem 3 walking fur bags (~70lbs each) that live in the house.
The Hoover only lasted 18 months, but has had problems for the last 6 months. Decided to try the Dyson to see if we could get 5+ years out of it. And I thought it would perform better. The only thing that seems to be better is it's really easy to empty the container. If I had a do over I'd probably keep buying <$100 units.

 

[cjfj80]

There is an old guy here in Heber that runs a vacuum shop, has for 20+ years. He'll walk you through all the pro's and con's of Dysons to Kirby's and down to the cheap stuff.
He sells a brand called Riccar, They are spendy but guaranteed for life and he does free repairs if you ever need it. Funny old guy.

 

[Brett]

Have to say that my 5+ year old Bissell is still working great....and it was <100.

 

[Spork]

My dog kills a vacuum about every 18 months (Mini-American Eskimo) so I've been hesitant to try a Dyson (the pain in killing a $100 vac is less than killing a $300 vac).

 

[rholbrook]

The only problem I have with it is the brush gets hair wrapped around it and I have to cut it off every month or so but I think you will have that problem no matter what you get.

I bet your back looks nice and smooth though. Never knew it could replace waxing.

 

[hedonist]

my friends own Smith Crown in sugarhouse. He gives Great deals and Warranties....call me 'll hook you up

 

[Tacoma]

I bet your back looks nice and smooth though. Never knew it could replace waxing.

Now that's funny, I don't care WHO y'are.

 

[Wasatch Quad]

+1 for the Dyson.
Had one for about 3 years with two 70 lb mutts in the house, worth the money.

 

[Caleb]

I've had a Dyson for almost 4 years now and absolutely love it. My parents have a Dyson and a Kirby and they use the Dyson 10-1 over the Kirby because they do an equal job but the Dyson weighs a fraction of what the Kirby weighs. Much easier to maneuver and also cost a lot less. I don't remember what their Kirby cost new but it was ridiculously expensive. (I want to say $2K+) Oh and my parents have 4 dogs and a cat.

 

[jackjoh]

We have a Hoover wind tunnel we bought about 10 years ago and it works great. It was about $170 or less, don't remember for sure. It is highly rated in consumer reports and they rate the dyson lower with a comment that it is over priced. Just checked all Hoovers are rated above the Dyson.

 

[Chevycrew]

We are happy with our Dyson animal, dont bother with the ball, it has a smaller dirt collection bucket.

2 dogs here, no complaints

 

[Rot Box]

I have a Bissel and love it. Dyson's rock too I don't think you can go wrong with either. The last Dirt Devel I had was a total overpriced POS--I hated that vacuum

I have a golden retriever as well. Your best bet is to remove all the carpet in your home and install hard wood or something similar... Trust me you're fighting a battle you can never win

 

[Coco]

Dyson. Had ours for close to 6 years, love it.

whatever you do, dont get a rainbow or whatever you call it, if they are even still around.....WAY over priced for what it was, and the whole water as the bag system was retarded as hell.....it lived several falls down the stairs at our old place though! a VERY big PITA to haul up and down stairs especially!

http://www.rainbowsystem.com/rainbowsystem/product/
http://www.petvacuums.org/Rainbow-Vacuum.html

It was too big of a hassle to vacuum the house, and all the different attachments and such were a PITA to deal with... not too mention, the actual vacuum part/water basin was a PITA when your trying to use the vacuum unit...

 

[Mope]

There is an old guy here in Heber that runs a vacuum shop, has for 20+ years. He'll walk you through all the pro's and con's of Dysons to Kirby's and down to the cheap stuff.
He sells a brand called Riccar, They are spendy but guaranteed for life and he does free repairs if you ever need it. Funny old guy.

Another vote for Riccar. We spent about 3 hours one day in the vacuum store. He showed us first hand where he would dump sand in the carpet. He'd run over it with a dyson, and show us how much it picked up. He then went over the same spot again with the riccar, and it picked up 3x what the dyson did. In fact it picked up all the sand through the carpet. He picked up the carpet to show us. Needless to say we brought the riccar home, and were amazed at how much dirt it pulled out of our carpet. We had been using a Dyson for 4 years. The riccar was spendy, but it sure does an awesome job.

 

[bobdog]

I have a Dyson Animal. I really don't think it is that great. I have a golden retriever and his hair is long enough that it wraps around the beater brush and you have to cut it out with scissors. I also don't think the suction is all that is is cracked up to be either. I do think the hand held brush attachment is great for stairs though. My wife loves the thing because it is light and easy to push. I also have a Windsor 18" versamatic two motor commercial vacuum. It somehow sucks the fur up before it ever gets a chance to wrap around the brush and the suction is much more powerful even with a full bag, so the whole dyson thing about losing suction is meaningless to me. The thing is alot more money than the dyson but I think worth it. It will last a lifetime in a consumer application. The biggest problem is that is is heavier than the dyson so my wife will not use it.

 

[SLC97SR5]

Good info here, what has changed in the last 6 years?

I'm interested in the Dyson Animal but cautious of the marketing hype.

We just picked up a 90 lb Golden Retriever.

 

[Bart]

We have the pre-ball Dyson and love it. Best vacuum we've ever owned and had a few, including Kirby and Hoover.