I need a new one because mine sucks!

Ha ha ha! Funny! The best suckers seem to be big heavy duty shop vacs, but they're not very good for floors. I don't know if the Dysons are as good as their ads suggest, but my brother sells appliances and says they are. Kinda pricey though.

ThinMan

Dyson, Dyson, Dyson!!! If you want sucking power. When I go looking for a vacuum I'm looking for one that will suck the fleas off a dog's back from 20 feet away, well I don't know if it will do that but it's down right embarrassing how much it does suck up. I have the canister type, no bags to change, just unclip and dump. The guy who invented this vacuum is brilliant. Please check this one out, you won't be disappointed.

Annette

Maybe you need to talk to these people.

Great rescue.

Here is a link that might be useful: super vacuum

I take it you are young and strong and can drag around a big, heavy Hoover. (Why do I think so? Proud Grandmothers are usually young. Those of us who have had grands for decades seek a new identity. [joke])

My friend from high school has a daughter who is a teacher. Her DD suggested, "Mama, why don't you get one of those lightweight vacuums that isn't so heavy, so vacuuming isn't such a tiring chore for you."
Wow! Wish I had a DD to think of these things.

Nell

I have a Panasonic Platinum Performance Plus, upright type, uses bags that I have had about 3-4 years now and am very happy with it.
I do know it will suck up dog hairs off of an oriental-type rug. My other one would not and when the kids brought their dog to visit I would have to use masking tape to get it off.

It is a moderate priced vacuum, pushes very easily. My daughter has one of those pricier ones and I think it is pretty hard to use...very tiring for me.

I would also suggest buying from a smaller vacuum shop where they service them and you can try the vac out.

We have a Miele canister. Love it, but it was pricey. That said, I don't think I'll have to replace it for a very long time.

Cameron

I love the idea of a Dyson, and if I were in the market, I would buy one in a heartbeat. This is from a show on W Network in Canada - I love these ladies. They're called The Shopping Bags, and they test compare everying, and are brutally honest. So, the prices they quote are Canadian. I've seen the Dyson's at good prices at Taget, in the US. If you look at it like it's the last one you will buy, and it will work 'properly' as he says in his ads, it's not a bad price.

Nancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shopping Bags Reviews

I should have mentioned that before getting the Dyson we had a panasonic canister type but it was on it's last legs so we picked up a Phantom Fury upright. What can I say other than I hated it, the design of the handle is hard on the hand, doesn't get close to the base boards without going to the attachments, which are a real pain to use on a upright, I spent more time down on the floor removing things that were jammed in the beater bar then I did vacuuming. After a year of frustration it went to the salvation army thrift store and we bought a Dyson. Had this machine about 3 years now and hasn't jammed up on me once. We kept the old Panasonic it's still used for a couple of things like vacuuming walls and ceilings, a little lighter to use than the Dyson when doing the walls and ceilings in more than one room. A

My friend has a fantastic Dyson, but I've also used one that I hate. The one that I hate makes it really a hassle to switch between doing carpet and doing bare floor. You have to pull the wand--the handle tube--out, detach it from the flexible hose, reverse it, and reattach it. I switch back and forth from bare floor to carpet to cobweb patrol constantly, so this was not acceptable!

The other Dyson was great. You can keep your attachment on the wand even if you aren't using the wand, it just pokes up out of the handle but is not in the way, and then just pull the wand out of the vacuum and telescope it out when you are ready to use it. Dysons are made with plastic that does not mar woodwork etc, so I don't have to use the brush attachment to get cobwebs up. Also, when you have the vacuum upright because you're going to use the wand, the beater does not run--so you're not beating that one spot to death, or destroying your cord. Very nice.

I've used a Miele canister once, it seemed very nice, seemed to suck up a lot of animal hair easily. The Dyson, using the wand, does animal hair and sand well.

I use a Miele canister at my Mom's. Great suction and not too heavy. Manuvers well.

Patti

I {{gwi:617432}} my Dyson.

Libby

All these new vacuums have been invented since I bought my vacuum back in the mid-70s ('73 or '74). It is still going strong and it's still IMHO the best bang for the buck I've ever spent. It is a Rainbow. It's a canister type, no heavy machine to push around while vac'ing. No bags, but also no dust because the dirt is sucked into a chamber filled with water. It can never lose suction and boy can it suck! When done, I dump the water container (with all the dust and dirt) onto a plant or the compost pile. I've had to change the belt on the carpet sweeper head now and then, but in the long run it's been the best.

I looked at the current Rainbow on their site and it's been upgraded with a lot of stuff mine doesn't have, but mine does exactly what it needs to do - from drapes to dog hair.
And mine is cute - looks very much like R2D2. I'm sure new ones cost a ton, but there is a big market in the older models like mine. There is a place near me where I can get parts to keep mine going for another couple decades...!

I wouldn't part with it...in fact, when I divorced decades ago, this was one of the 2 things I made sure I got! :-D
Kris
{{gwi:617433}}

Well, it would appear that Dyson is the all around winner here. What models do you all have?

What models do you all have?

DCO7
All Floors + Designed for homes with pets

Mine is a Dyson Stowaway DC21 canister type. I have come to prefer canister types over uprights.

Annette

Miele's are great! Better quality than a Dyson.

Great thread ..... in my small (1400 sq ft house)I have a Beam central vac - one outlet downstairs, one upstairs with no cannister to pull around or heavy upright to push around. But, wrangling the 40' hose is a wrangle sometimes! And the power head proves Mr. Dyson's point - it is really hard to steer.

On the upside, there's no vacuum exhaust into the house, no bags to change and it's much quieter (motor & cannister are in the garage).

I do have an assortment of 'spot cleaner' vacs for quick pickups (rather than hauling out the 40' hose!). All in all, I do like the central vac and built it in when the house was built. Given the price of vacuums these days, my system wasn't expensive and despite my grumblings, I wouldn't do anything differently.

Just got a Dyson DC 25 ball over the holidays.

CONS: I don't think the suction is better than my cheapo Eureka. So I think the suction is overrated, maybe i just expected alot more suction for the money i paid.
And I hate having to pull the wand out to get at the baseboards. I have to push it in pretty hard to put it back, and have pinched my fingers a couple of times if my hand was in the wrong spot putting the wand back in. And the hose is so unflexible because it contracts with suction, (but in fairness so did my Eureka).

And the wand by itself will not suck bugs out of the space between the carpet and baseboard without the attachment. So its a pain to have to pull the wand out, then put on the attchement, take it off, put the wand back in. I hate that stupid wand. With the Eureka upright, i just took the hose out, and aimed, then put it back in. I think the Eureka had better suction than the Dyson because it sucked bugs next to the baseboards better.

In my opinion, the Dyson doesnt have very good section on the sides of the vacuum head. It seems as though I get better suction near the baseboards if I vacuum perpendicular to the walls versus vacuuming parallel, which is quite inefficient to me.

Also, some people dont like that the dyson doesn't "fluff up" your carpet. Personally I could care less about fluffy carpet as long as my carpet is clean.
If you let the canister get too full, you might have to pull yucky stuff out of the canister by hand when emptying. Not for the squeemish.

The power cord length is about the same as my two other old vaccums, but keep in mind that you can only only use Dyson attachments, which is a drag since I have an abundance of attachments and hoses from my Panasonic and Eureka which WERE interchangable.

PROS: What I do love about the dyson dc25 ball is that it is so lightweight, and the ball makes vacuuming an absolute breeze because it is easy to manuever. My dad has the original non-ball dyson (dont know what it called, but it's light yellow) and it is much heavier than mine. I also like the fact that i will never have to buy a replacement bag, filter, or belt ever again.

I also like to see what it is sucking up and can tell when it ready to empty. Also, there is no stinky dog smell, like my eureka had (even with a brand new bag). I like the agitator brush can be turned off if you want it to with a button, or when you are using the wand.

For these reasons, I have decided to keep it. Hope this helps anyone in the market for a Dyson.

Ours died recently as well-actually burned up (no flames)right here in the family room-smelled great! DH bought a Sebo (German and pronounced Zeebo) upright. It is expensive, but it is amazing. We have two long-haired dogs and it sucks up everything. My only complaint is that it is heavy for me to carry up and down stairs, but it does such a great job, I can deal with that. We've had it for about six months now.

Our Eureka died, but it was driving me kind of crazy. So we got an upright Dirt Devil (because I needed a vacuum) and it was cheap.
But now I find it's really hard to reach high places. I have shelves near the ceilings of rooms and I can't reach with the vaccuum. I can't reach the window mullions either, and cat hair gets into them.

Does anyone have good suggestions for great hand held portable vaccuums that really have what it takes?

THANKS!
GGG

Had to drag this old post up again - I just broke down and bought a Dyson - a DC14. I love it - you should see the cat hair it is sucking up! It is not the ball model, but I find it to be very maneuverable. Just had to share.

Nancy.

GGG,

If you have pets like Nancy, the Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets hand vacuum is top rated with 4.7 of 5 stars by 40 users. If you don't have pets, the best rated general purpose hand vacuum is the Eureka 71B, which is rated 4.5 stars by over 700 users.

Nancy,

You made a good choice. The Dyson DC14 is one of the best rated vacuums you can get for cat hair in particular. It's rated 4.3 stars by over 500 users. The DC25 and DC28 is also top-rated. Dysons are expensive, but they work well, especially on pet hair. Eureka's Pet Lover vacuum is a good low-cost option.

Charlie

Here is a link that might be useful: Best Vacuum for Pet Hair

GGG - this is one of the features of my Dyson that I love:
{{gwi:617434}}
{{gwi:617435}}
If I had carpeted stairs, I'd get the little mini-turbine. Course, it might be good for fabric furniture too.

Nancy.

Kiddo1, that is so funny! I used to have one of those. Now I have a rainbow from 2005. I agree that they're the best since the junk goes into the water like a hookah. And it is true that they last for many years! Mine has really put up with abuse and still works great.