For years, my wife and I had been interested in the Dyson brand of vacuum cleaners. They looked very well built, and high performance, but we just had a lot of trouble getting around the premium price for them. So we contented ourselves with simpler canister vacuums, primarily from Hoover, the kind that take the Type S bags, and that never seem to be able to hold very much before the whole device starts to lose suction.
Eventually, my wife and I decided to just bite the bullet, so after saving our pennies, we finally plunked down the $500 for a DC25, from Amazon.com. I believe we got it about two years ago, maybe a little bit more. And well, let me tell you, it was money well spent; there really are times where you get what you pay for. First off, this thing is a breeze to steer. The motor is encapsulated in a ball, which is the primary “wheel” for the cleaner itself. I would say it’s very different from what one might normally be used to, but it’s easy to pick up, especially if you have used a swivel-head mop a fair amount. Suffice it to say, the DC25 can turn on a dime and get into all sorts of weird nooks and crannies that our old canister vac really struggled with.
Furthermore, this thing is simply as well built and powerful as the commercials make it out to be. It is solid, high quality piece of machinery that I believe we will own for years to come and that has incredibly powerful suction. It did a fantastic job on our carpets, getting them pretty spotless. It also has a built in wand, that you pop out from the handle, extend the tube, remove the handle (which becomes the handle of the wand), clip on an attachment, and you are good to go. The upholstery cleaner and hard floor tools are especially useful.
There are, of course, a few negatives. First is the price. $500 is still pretty outrageous, even for a really well-built vacuum like the DC25. I still can’t help but feel that we were partially paying for the name as well as the machine. And the price still hasn’t gone down over the years. Second, the hose for the wand is not very long. This isn’t a huge problem, but don’t expect to reach up very high to get those cobwebs. Finally, it took me a few times to get used to the way that the debris canister is emptied. You detach it, push a button on the handle, and the bottom, which is like a trap door, swings away, causing all the dust you’ve vacuumed up to fall out. I made the mistake of hitting the wrong button a couple of times before getting it to the trashcan, and it dumped all the dirt back on the floor. The bright side is that it didn’t take very long to clean it all up again.
So I would highly recommend this vacuum; indeed, I would rate it a 4 out of 5, the last star being lost entirely due to the price, although for vacuum cleaner ratings, that’s really, really good! You might want to look at some cheaper Dysons, or see if you can find a highly recommended knockoff. But if you do decide to go all the way, I do not think that you will regret the decision.