I have and use: 1) a 30 foot hose; 2) a hose sock; 3) a hardwood floor brush; 4) a hard floor tool for tile in the kitchen and bathrooms; 5) a round brush for window sills, corners, and baseboards; 6) an electric powered brush for carpets. I have a crevice tool, but seldom use it because the sound of the air flowing through it is uncomfortably loud. If I were to get one more item, it would be a short stretch hose for quick clean-ups. All of my accessories came with the machine, so I have not purchased any, but I like this website for looking at all the accessories: Here is a link that might be useful: central vac accessories

Not to change the subject of the post, but... (I think the question has been answered anyway) Dobesrule... the Dysons are great vacuums. The only thing that makes that model called the "Animal" is the air driven turbine tool which is supposed to be good for pet hair. The hose and cords are very long, and the dirt chamber is very easy to empty. If someone must have bagless (most vac guys don't like bagless, I feel the same) a Dyson is the only way go to. They don't lose suction and they are a dream to empty. Powerful too... there is some debate about the agitator not being strong enough for American carpets. Also, long hair will wrap around the brush roll because it is very slender so keep that in mind. If you have bare floors, you can just turn the brush roll off, or release the hose, flip the hand grip and insert the bare floor attachment. It works wonderfully! Can't break the belt... When I worked for Sears, I would throw a sock on the ground and run it over. The brush roll will stop and you will hear the most terrible racheting sound you've ever heard in your life. The clutch is preventing the belt from breaking, and the user will certainly know to remove the obstruction. Lots of ports to remove clogs too! No headlight, and it's very "tall" at the base so if you need to do under something you will need the attachments. If you are used to an Oreck it will take a while to get used to the bulk of the Dyson. The head is tall, and it weighs I believe 19 verus your flat 8 pound Oreck. But, you will be happy with the performance. You can even change the angle on the dusting brush and upholstery tool, and the upholstery tool and crevice tool have slits in them so the air flows and they don't "stick" to the surface you are vacuuming. They thought of almost everything! I hate all the plastic on the modern stuff, but I guess we have to grow with the times. I'm 23 and I like the vacuums that were made before I was born! If you can afford a Dyson, by all means get one. Orecks are traditionally known for small motors and fans and being loud, but I only know of them by their reputation among vacuum people.

Thank you Flash407 for bumping this thread back to page 1. Now I've got it bookmarked. One of those things I meant to read but didn't get around to. What a lot of good info. This is better than epinions! :) Have to say I too am sorry about spending $400 on a Dyson, (EVERY time I use it!) for a number of reasons. Strong suction but it ends there. However, mine is not a 'ball', so maybe that one is different. Considered the Roomba, and from what you're all saying it really does sound great, still not sure about the cat reaction though??? The other name coming up again and again seems to be *Miele*. Particularly for the canister vacs for hardwood and kitchens? (The backpack sounds cool but unfortunately my 'back' is beyond that :) Have to go check these Mieles out. Anything has to be better than lugging that Dyson around OR trying to use it's attachments. Speaking of smells...you're all lucky not to live in eastern PA. A new invasive species arrived in a cargo container in 2000, according to Rutgers Univ. in Allentown PA, called the Brown marmorated Stink Bug. They got to my area (just north of Philadelphia) a couple years ago and it's a war zone! Vacumm one of these things and the smell (an oil they can spray) will be everywhere plus in the vacuum itself for days. :(

I'll have to say my GC and all the subs were very good about cleaning up each day. I had asked my GC during the bid if I could save money by doing the clean-up myself but he said not really. The job took much longer than the hours it was bid at and we didn't pay a dime extra. They just worked until it was done to our satifaction. We paid $300 (in our contract) for a dumpster that was in our driveway for 6 weeks and he even asked if we were done with it before having it removed. I provided drinks, snacks and cookies for all the workers and they never left their debris anywhere. All smoking was done outside in the drive and they always put the butts in the dumpster. They would even ask my permission before using a trash can or my shop vac if they forgot theirs. I was very pleased with how the work site was left every day since we obviously live here, too. After reading this, I guess I should feel equally blessed at how neat they were!! This GC had done our roof and gutters 3 yrs before and I remember one of the workers crawling around the house picking up nails :) BTW, I'm in Indy if anyone needs a referral for a GC!!