Carpets can look pretty clean, but once Dyson-ized it's hard to believe what's in that bin. It makes you vacuum even more often, because you start thinking, "I know that rug looks clean, but my daughter sleeps in here..." Carpets require a ton of upkeep, or they are unhealthy. Don't wear your shoes inside. Feel like a jerk telling people to take them off? Me too, so some places in the house we allow it. But mostly I ask right inside the front door. We have 2 Dysons, a DC17 Absolute ("All Floors") and a lightweight. The DC17 has 7 royal blue cyclones and 2 wheels. My DC17 is an amazing piece of equipment and I love it. So don't take these comments as bashing. I highly recommend the product. Some things to know about Dyson - **They have different models in USA and UK, with the US models sporting stiffer bristles that were developed especially for carpeting sold here. **Count the "cyclones" on your Dyson. These are the molded, hemispheric cones encircling the top of the waste bin. The best Dysons have 7. (Unless they make even more now.) The cheaper ones have 5. It makes a difference, not only with how well it cleans, but also on WHAT you can clean. Fewer cyclones are not good with very fine powdery dirt, except in small amounts. **I'm not a big fan of the ball. The lightweight upright has a mini-ball. It doesn't stand on its own so well for storage anymore, and the ball, when you are maneuvering, is not always best, I find. **If your Dyson doesn't have the telescoping wand, you are missing one of the coolest features ever. It puts anything within easy reach. Stinkbugs, bees - not just walls and drapes. I use my DC17 as a "canister" at least as much, maybe more, than a traditional vacuum. The "low reach floor tool", another must have, combined with the wand, makes this vacuum a true convertible, and it follows you around as you clean non-fixed items like area rugs that are too much of a hassle to try to vacuum with the tornado-like suction of the main powerhead. A very fast and convenient method to have as an alternative to regular upright use, especially in the kitchen, under the table, etc. **You may notice an annoying trait of the Dyson - sometimes it pushes dirt along the floor instead of picking it up. I imagine the latest "air muscle" models are even worse, as this new feature ensures an even greater seal between the vacuum and the floor. And this relates to your "so much dust in the bin" comment - Dyson's are great for picking up dust, allergens, dander. They don't do so well with bigger stuff that doesn't easily squish under the powerhead. You're better off making a quick sweep (or pickup) of big debris first, then vacuuming. **Emptying them. Ha! Don't fall for the images of the nicely dressed woman or man sticking the bin well inside the garbage can, pulling the trigger, and walking away clean. Yes, you can do this, but if that's all you ever do, you will soon notice that more and more nastiness remains stuck up inside. To really maintain the suction and capacity of the bin, you have to release the clear bin from the top cyclones, and brush the top clean. Do this OUTSIDE. It's GROSS. Dust flies EVERYWHERE. I wear an N95 mask religiously, but If I'm caught without one, I hold my breath. If it's a windy day, GOOD. At least you can choose a direction and get the dirt to blow away from you. This is such a dirty, dusty, nasty job that you wouldn't want to do it in a really nice outfit. A vacuum with a bag (which I would never go back to) is so much more convenient to empty. Once in a great while I either use compressed air to clean it (horrible!) or I run water thru it. Either way, it's like I'm Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs. I have a woodstove that dries anything near it, so I don't worry about getting the water out. **The HEPA. Dysons have a washable lifetime high efficiency particulate airfilter in their final stage. You are supposed to wash it out once every 6 months. God forbid you decide to do this when the weather is overcast and damp. Since you are specifically warned to NOT use a direct heat source to dry it, most of us would place it in the sun or a warm, dry area. It takes days and days to dry without nice, radiant gentle heat! I can dry it in 3 or 4 hours on the mantle above the wood heater. 12 hours outside, in the summer. **Eee gadz, the PRICE!! I almost forgot. I got mine from a floor display at Bed Bath & Beyond for almost $200 less than what they were selling for in other stores, and I used a 30% off coupon too. It cost something like $330 tax incl., and I was elated because the thing sold for $500 or more everywhere else before tax. Yikes! Not for the faint of heart!! I'm sure there's more. Sometimes you have to take apart the powerhead and clean the brush roller. (You don't have to. The Dyson UK Bobbies won't come to fine you. I'm just fastidious this way.) Disassembly and re-assembly is a breeze. Wonderful. Cutting the stubborn strands of extra-thick USA carpet out of it is tough, though.

I have the Dyson Animal and I hate how heavy it is ! I don't find the arm attachments easy to use and mine wants to occassionaly fall over too. It does do a great job on pet hair - but can be a bit powerful when I'm just trying to sweep my polar tech barn coats - it sucks up the material but can leave the hair sticking in the fabic. As the OP stated a suction adjustment (like my Miele) would be very helpful. It's the reason I love my Miele canister vac - I can use it on my drapes and not worry about a string being pulled and damaging my fabic! I don't use the adjustment everytime I sweep - but, it is a great feature. I would never attempt to run my Dyson over my drapes. Since I got my Miele and my little heavy shedding dog has passed away - my Dyson is used very, very little. I use my old hoover in my garage and use it to sweep my saddle pads - it works great and is less heavy than the Dyson, yes, it wants to topple over now and then too.

LOL toni_ne... I had the same reaction when we brought home the Animal Dyson. We live in the sticks, with sandy/gravel roads, near a sandy beach, with firewood being brought in all winter, snow, and all the hair a dog, two cats, and long haired me. The dyson gets it all! In fact,it gets more! It sucked the broken edge of a linoleum tile right off the floor (still have to replace the 1940's flooring, but at least I know that I don't have a beach on my floor every day with the new vacuum). I do find though, that with the Dyson, it takes a while for the cord, and the vacuum hose to stretch out a bit, so they aren't so stiff to use. I felt like I'd made a mistake at first with getting the Dyson, because the hose wouldn't stretch as far as I needed it to. A few weeks later, it started to relax, and now it's wonderful. The attachments are nice to have (especially the one for the floors that you can use under tables, couches, and the smaller areas that the "big" part of the main vac can't reach. We also got the box of cleaning products that are included here, and find the products to be AMAZING. The spray on spot remover has removed several set in stains on a couch arm, and the granular carpet product worked like a charm on a carpet that had gotten musty smelling from a leaky roof. All in all, I would highly recommend the Dysons, even though they are VERY pricey. At Sears, we tried all of the Dysons, and found the purplepeopleeater to be the best for us. Kym.. who now has go vacuum Lake Simcoe off her floors! Yayy!

Steph, we went to Sams, and looked.. and saw one for $399 my daughter thought that was pretty steep, but it wasn't a ball one, and that is what she thought she would like. We went to Sears, and looked there, and tried some out. She really liked the ball model. We bought it,(yellow ball, don't remember the model number) It was more expensive, but I wanted her to have one she would like. Besides, I paid for it with money from my inheritance. :) She vacuumed after we got home. :) Says, she LOVES it. While she vacuumed I painted Bud's room (Bud like a flower bud, the name she gave the baby, since they don't know yet, what it is, and she doesn't want to know till Bud is born either). Moni