Vacuum

[hido]

I've had some pretty bad luck going to a store like Target, looking at all of the vacuums, buying the cool looking one, and it being crappy or breaking right away. Can anyone recommend a good vacuum for under $400? Or do I need to spend over $400? Our first floor is all hardwood with big rugs and the second floor loft and stairs are carpeted. Thanks!

[Marcus]

I've heard the Dyson ones rock some socks. I think I spelled that right.

[Machfive]

I can't get over the price disparity between Dysons and your Hoovers and whatnot. I know they never lose suction, but does that have to cost twice to three times as much? Sweet christing potatoes, come on.

[Kunikos]

There's a mini Dyson one now, isn't there?

[Mark Crump]

I've got a Dyson. It rocks.

[CounterMeasure]

We have a 2200sq. ft. house that is completely carpeted except for the kitchen and bathroom areas.

We have a Roomba and a Dust Buster. Roomba for upstairs and down; Dust Buster for stairs and spot messes. Our Dyson hasn't been out of the storage closet in 2 years.

[Qmanol]

I like my Dyson, but I got it for less than half-price. And using the Roomba for vacuuming doesn't show that it's better than the Dyson - just that you're lazy ;)

[CounterMeasure]

I like my Dyson, but I got it for less than half-price. And using the Roomba for vacuuming doesn't show that it's better than the Dyson - just that you're lazy ;)

No way. It shows I am welcoming and embracing my robot overlords. :)

[Aeon221]

There is no Shopvac but Shopvac, and Shopvac needs no prophet!

[RepoMan]

Oreck.

'Nuff said.

[DennyA]

Dyson is worth every penny.

I'd bought vacuums half the price (in other words, still not cheapos) that were nowhere near as good.

I've never used a vacuum that picks up as well as the Dyson does.

There was already a thread about this, too. (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/archive/index.php?t-23128.html)

[jpinard]

If you want something that won't cost you a fortune, we really like our Eureka Boss-Vac. $140 and was Consumer Report's Best Buy for several years in a row.

Most Dyson people cry the testing isn't fair, but I can attest it works fantastic.

[Chris Nahr]

Dyson rocks. Get the pet edition even if you don't have any pets, it comes with useful accessories.

I noticed that there are some pseudo-Dysons that use a similar bagless technology, maybe there's a cheaper model among them that's nearly as good? Assuming you're a miserable cheapskate who refuses to reward innovation, that is.

[fuzzyslug]

Let me add another vote for the Dyson. It caused physical pain to pay $400 for a vacuum but damn, the thing is amazing. If you have pets, it's almost a requirement. It'll remind you of that ex-girlfriend you miss for all the wrong reasons.

[Machfive]

It'll remind you of that ex-girlfriend you miss for all the wrong reasons.

I assume that she, like the Dyson, never lost suction.

[Jazar]

Anyone try the Rumba?

[Fugitive]

How have people found the reliability of the Dyson? I wouldn't mind paying that much for one if it'll last (until a few years ago I was using an upright straight out of a '70s Sears catalog), but Googling around on it comes back with things like "bottom of the pile"...

[Enidigm]

How have people found the reliability of the Dyson? I wouldn't mind paying that much for one if it'll last (until a few years ago I was using an upright straight out of a '70s Sears catalog), but Googling around on it comes back with things like "bottom of the pile"...

Here's my experience; both the Roomba and Dyson feel cheap to me; not neccessarily in their performance but in their durability (and the Dyson performs far, far better than the Roomba). The Dyson, for example, is nearly all plastic and the whole body sort of ... flexes, a tiny, little bit, like around the joints, when you move it around. It's neat but i don't expect it's going to last 5-10 years.

Of course, the reliability of many new old-style vacuum cleaners is horrible as well. (Dirt Devil, Kenmoore, from experience). Quality control in general has vastly declined as virtually all manufacturing has been outsourced to Asian countries, and every company seems in a rush to use as cheap as components as they can get away with.

[fuzzyslug]

How have people found the reliability of the Dyson? I wouldn't mind paying that much for one if it'll last (until a few years ago I was using an upright straight out of a '70s Sears catalog), but Googling around on it comes back with things like "bottom of the pile"...

Mine is over 2 years old, sadly enough making it my longest running vacuum. That doesn't give you a lot of info. though.

[Enidigm]

Yea, i'd check out one of those Orecks actually. I think they're Made in the USA products, and (most importantly) have some pretty long warranties. They look boring, though.

[Balasarius]

I have a Dyson Animal DC12.

It rules. It's all plastic, so I bought the extended warranty. But I don't think I'll ever need it. It seems pretty solid for plastic.

I have 3 cats in 1600 sq. ft., so unfortunately I use it pretty regularly.

[Supertanker]

A Dyson got a bad rating from Consumer Reports in the last vacuum review CR did. After trying a friend's Dyson, we bought one, and I can confirm that CR had its head jammed way up its ass on that review.

We bought ours from Bed Bath & Beyond using one of the ubiquitous "20% off one item" coupons. I've heard those coupons now exclude Dyson products, but it may be worth checking into.

[Enidigm]

Consumer Reports is a dinosaur today. We have 10 page reviews on "Video Card 5000, revision 3, Mk. 4 EXTREME edition" and a hundred of it's variants. CR has a two paragraph commentary on the differences between electric toothbrushes and regular toothbrushes - all of them. They don't even bother to update most of their material (on consumer goods like washing machines, filters, ect) except yearly or bi-yearly.

And of course, everything is rated with fuzzy logic.

[Machfive]

And of course, everything is rated with fuzzy logic.

If by fuzzy, you mean "The company that wins is the one that sends our testers the best hookers upon whose ass-cracks they shall snort the finest blow this side of Columbia," then yeah, that's some fuzzy logic.

[eliandi]

I got sick of replacing the $150-200 vacuums every 2-3 years, and bought a Royal. Its an old-school metal vacuum good for cleaning up AND scaring small children and animals. I've had it ~8yrs now, cost about $400. Other than bags, I've had to replace 1 belt and 1 beater-bar brush mainly because my wife has really long hair that got into the bearings of the bar. It was an easy fix, and since long hair has killed lesser vacuums in my house, not a problem.

Cons- being metal, its pretty heavy so might not be good for a multistory place. Also does not have all the fancy attachments of some of the more mainstream vacs (when I bought my royal, the dealer gave me a medium sized dustdevil canister vac for free that includes all the attachments for cleaning furniture or car floorboards)

[Chris Nahr]

The Dyson looks cheap with its colorful plastic toy design but the plastic is actually extremely solid -- thick and not too brittle, and all the pieces fit together precisely. I haven't had mine long enough to say anything about its durability but it looks like it could last a lifetime.

You can clean the entire removable dust container in the bathtub, by the way -- just drown the whole mechanism in water, then let it dry.

[Jerry Sizzler]

We got a Dyson for insanely cheap from a coworker, and I love it. Our old vacuum was pretty damn crappy, but the day we brought the Dyson home, we vacuumed a small patch of carpet that we had recently done with the old vacuum, and it was nuts how much stuff it pulled out. It's great.

I also had a Roomba for a little while, but it died without warning one day and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, so it's stashed away up in my attic. I was going to try replacing the battery, but now that we have the Dyson, F it.

[Ergo]

Our vacuum cleaner is a 50-something housecleaner named Nancy.

[Poops McGee]

Dyson Slim FTW.

[Hanzii]

Anyone try the Rumba?


Yeah, but I prefer the Tango.

[Jag]

Our vacuum cleaner is a 50-something housecleaner named Nancy.

Does she suck?

[Jojo]

Another Dyson disciple here. I've had my Dyson for about 5 years now, and it hasn't broken in any way yet.

[z22]

Wish I had noticed this topic a couple of weeks ago! These Dysons have come up during my search for a vacuum for a house with cats and a large dog. After reading over 250 comments on Amazon.com, it looks like the Dyson works well but are damn near impossible to fix if anything goes wrong. If you're interested, here are the comments for the DC14 Animal and DC17 Animal, respectively:

DC14 Animal:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B0002UW0FG/sr=1-2/qid=1193164520/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/105-5678038-4859612?ie=UTF8&n=1055398&qid=1193164520&sr=1-2#customerReviews

DC17 Animal:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000I5REVA/sr=1-1/qid=1193164570/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/105-5678038-4859612?ie=UTF8&n=1055398&qid=1193164570&sr=1-1#customerReviews

Some of the horror stories people have gone through with pretty new Dysons worry me when considering a $500 purchase. I'm thinking about going with a local purchase of a Dyson DC17 and an extended warranty (one that would let me bring it in for a new one if it broke within the warranty period?).

Does anyone have experience with good commercial vacuums? There was a minor post about in a thread linked to this one, but nothing more was said.

[Chris Nahr]

Those couple of horror stories on Amazon sound like a typical Intarwebz effect to me: the very few extremely unlucky people are extremely vocal. If you rely on that you should never buy anything, ever. My Dyson certainly didn't break after a week, and those of most Amazon commenters didn't either.

Since you live in a benighted nation without automatic dealer warranties I'd say you should just buy that extended warranty and get a Dyson regardless.