Oh My Goodness! Our other vacuum missed all this!?

My husband and I were looking for a vacuum to replace our 5 year old Eureka canister and looked at a few different vacuums. The Bissell and Dyson were top on our list.

When looking at the reviews we were looking for how well it cleaned up cat hair (we have 2 cats, I have allergies, and one of our brother-in-laws in very allergic to cats), as well as how well people liked it. We also looked to see why people didn't like it.

We looked at reviews from Consumer Reports, Epinions.com, and a few other websites. We also got advice from other families. We decided to try out the Dyson after finding out about returns. We could return it if necessary, so yesterday we headed down to Future Shop and looked at the models they had. Because my husband really prefers canisters (I have used both and really don't mind either) we went with this one over the Animal, or the Animal Ball models. The $50-100 difference in price was a factor too.

After the purchase we came home and set it up. It was as easy as plug'n'play. Plug in the hose, hook it on the body, plug it in, and away we go.

The first sweep of an area about 5 feet by 5 feet almost filled the canister! We have 2 cats so we knew that there would be cat hair as our old vacuum wasn't working and hasn't been for awhile. But the fact that we cleaned out the canister about 15 times (granted, we probably could have let it get fuller, but we weren't taking any chances with all that dust and cat hair, not to mention my hair!), and we still have the basement to do, means we were sold. In fact, we missed going out because we started vacuuming and were so amazed by the fine dust and cat hair that we were pulling up that we couldn't stop. (We were actually so disgusted by what was filling the canister that we had to finish.)

We vacuumed our carpet and our couch and loveseat. The couch and loveseat look like new (other than the crushed cushions, but you can't expect a vacuum to fix 5 years of wear and tear on stuffing 8) and our carpets feel better. And it was very nice that the air coming out didn't smell dusty, it smelled clean.

We did notice that the bristles on the beater bar are very hard, so that will help with pulling up stuff, but was kinda hard on the cushions. I wish that the mini turbine was included, but we'll have to buy that at some point simply to make it easier to clean up the couches.

We also found that it was fairly quiet. I mean, how quiet can a vacuum be, right? Compaired to our old Eureka, it is quieter. I find it's a little harder to maneuver but that's because the hose is attached at the side and the front of the machine. This means that you are not pulling straight on the canister when you move it, but it's not really that bad. Just takes some time to get used to.

We know that the price was high and that was one reason we hesitated. And why we got some funny looks from people we mentioned our choices to. But, after using the vacuum for 1 day, we are sold.

Emptying the canister is easy, though you have have it put back together right for it to snap back on properly. With a little practice it's quite simple. If you have a lot of fine dust emptying the canister can cause some dust to fly out, so you may want to empty outside, though we won't be doing that when it's -35 degrees C out!

It is a little heavier than our old vacuum, but not too bad. If I can lug it around and up and down the stairs, it's not that heavy.

One thing that I did find a little annoying was that locking the telescoping handle can be a little difficult, and once while vacuuming the lock came undone. I just pulled it a little harder, heard the click again, and it didn't happen again.

I plan to update this review after we've had it for more than 2 days. But after using it for those 2 days we are sold.

To sum up, the price is high, but it is a good machine. Even though it's not an "animal" model, it still does a fantastic job of picking up cat hair. It also does a fantastic job of pulling up fine dust. Long hair like mine will get wrapped around the beater brush, but it can be pulled out fairly easily. It runs fairly quiet, and the air that comes out is clean smelling. While a little heavy, it's not too bad - if you can lift a large load of groceries, you can carry this vacuum up and down the stairs. After emptying it can take some practice to fit everything back together. Locking the handle can be a little difficult and requires some muscles. But overall, we are very impressed with our new Dyson. Little quirks are to be expected out of every vacuum, so once you learn the ones with this one, it does a fantastic job.

As I said, I plan to update this review in a few weeks, and then a few months just to let others like me know what to think. Overall, recommended to those looking for a vacuum for carpets and hard floors (only have a few, but it does a good job without throwing a lot around if you turn off the bristles or use the hard floor tool), anyone who is worried about allergies or pet hair, and just wants to make sure that their house is as clean as can be.