Recommendation for a good vacuum; Dyson?

[moab_cj5]

We had a Dyson animal and I was way under impressed. We have a $100 Shark and it is just as good as the Dyson. I bought the hype with Dyson, and was super disappointed with it.


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[Jay5.9L]

Never owned a Dyson but everytime I grab one at the store it feels very cheap and loose. Maybe they were not assemble correctly by the store monkey but they don't feel like a $600 machine

 

[Brad J]

We had an old Hoover Wind Tunnel repaired at a vacuum shop in Bountiful a few years ago. He said that Dyson's are not worth the money & would stay away from them. I do see refurbished ones available so there must be a lot of failures. About 6 months ago we bought a Shark brand for $150 from Target & it has been great. We have a small Dog that sheds hair like crazy.

 

[DAA]

To add to the confusion... I don't vacuum and don't give a rats behind about them. But my wife vacuums. And seems to care a great deal about them.

I've bought her every vacuum she ever asked for, which includes just about everything mentioned in this thread from the Kirby (more than my first two cars combined...) to the cheap Hoover's at Walmart (less than a decent lunch at Takashi).

She like's her Dyson Animal best out of them all.

I did have to rebuild it a couple times. But parts are cheap and easy to install. Might even suggest, for those not happy with theirs, look into replacing the wear parts on it? But, like I said, I don't vacuum and don't give two poops about them, so...

- DAA

 

[Kirk]

We have 2 dysons - one for upstairs, one for downstairs. One of them has the round ball on it, and its lighter - but that one has plugged up 2 or 3 times because everything has to fit in a 1" tube to go up into the cannister - I have had to take it apart and remove items a couple different times - never had to with the bigger/heavier model. My wife does like them both better than other cheapish vacuum's she has had in the past.

 

[glockman]

I have had three Dysons. Each one died way too soon for the money they cost. That last two were animal DC17's I believe. The brushes on those particular models have to be replaced with the whole vacuum head. The first one stopped picking up hair because all the bristles were gone. I like how much the vacuum picked up so much that I bought another one and decided I would replace the head/brush bar later and have two. Well, I never got around to it and the belt/clutch broke on the second one.
By this time the new shark was out at Costco and was $159. The heads are about $200 for the Dyson and it is Costco so if it sucked, I'd take it back. So I bought the Shark. Have had it for about 3 months now and will never own another Dyson. The Shark (mine is the red and white Rotator Pro liftaway) is lighter, has a smaller head that fits under beds and things better and picks up at least as much hair and dirt as my Dysons did. For $159 I can buy one every year and be money ahead of what the Dyson's have run me. Plus, with Costco I have a hassle free 2 year warranty so I am at least 50% ahead of the Dyson's now. The build quality is also seems to be on Par with Dyson so I don't see any reason it won't last at least as long.

I have two Australian Shepards and the shark picks up hair great. My only complaint is that the brush bar works so well it picks up long human hair and gets tangled more often. A couple minutes with scissors and you're back in business. If I had one more complaint it would be that the foam pre filter gets dirty faster than they Dyson. It is also easier to clean and dries out faster so I call it a wash.

 

[Rot Box]

A bit has changed since my last reply. I now have a Siberian Husky and still have a Golden Retriever. Thanks to the Husky my house looks like a snow globe during shedding season! I vacuum at least every other day sometimes daily.

I picked up a Dyson recently on Meh.com for $150 (refurbished by Dyson). For the price I couldn't pass it up.

Likes:

The ball freaking rocks! I love how maneuverable it is.
It gets all the hair out of the carpet in no time.
It is very easy on filters. In comparison I had to clean the filters on my Bissel (still like that vacuum) every other time I used it. The Dyson rarely needs cleaned.
I like how the roller brush spins even on tall carpet. Some of the other vacuums I've used have a difficult time spinning the brush on tall carpets and that quickly fries the belt.
It cleans right up to the base boards.

Dislikes:

I dislike the suction hose because it collapses while in use. I have to stretch it back out often which is a big pain especially when cleaning the cars.
Yeah it is gimmicky.. and some things are over engineered imo.
Again the suction hose is a pain because I have to disassemble it (everything snaps together) when I need to use it. A little more complicated than I'd like.
Not sure about all the trap doors. It helps for cleaning out the pipes when the clog up I guess but hmmm.. I dunno it is kind of a fuster cluck in that area.
I wish the bowl was larger. I have to dump it often.. Mostly because my Husky sheds a LOT.



Overall I really like this vacuum. It is the best I've owned. Would I pay $400+ for one? Probably not but I'm not sure I'd pay $400+ for any vacuum. My wife and I both give it an 8 out of 10. If it weren't for the suction hose nonsense it would easily be a 9.

 

[Kiel]

We purchased the animal dyson and it sucked. Not in the good vacuum way either. It broke in less then 2 months. We were able to return it and the customer service person say they get a bunch of them back. We bought a well reviewed shark for a lot less at about 130-140 and its going strong with 2 small dogs for over a year