Dyson - Clearance DC41 Animal HEPA Bagless Upright Vacuum - Iron/Rich Royal Purple

As having owned/used every Dyson sold in the US, I can say with absolute conviction that this is truly the best Dyson vacuum ever made (and definitely the finest Ball model they've designed thus far). It's light (17.4 lbs), very maneuverable, has powerful suction, and it's very easy to use. In comparison to the DC25 Ball, the DC41 is far better engineered, and it's better than its' predecessor in every way imaginable. For starters, the DC41 has a much larger clear bin, and longer cord than the DC25 (the two most common grievances about that machine). With a cord that's 10 feet longer, and with nearly double the debris capacity, you will reach farther distances with less emptying. The little details on the DC41 should give everyone that uses it the impression that the engineers put a lot of thought into designing the DC41 to make it more of a be-all, end-all flagship. This vacuum cleaner is so much more than another niche vacuum with a specialty gimmick. The "Active base plate" ensures constant close contact with the floor surface for stronger pick-up. It's spring loaded, and adjusts for various carpet piles to allow thorough brush roll agitation and deep cleaning. The brush roll has two distinct rows of bristles: one row of short bristles and one row of tall bristles -- this combination provides optimum agitation deep within the carpet pile, as well as thorough sweeping of the carpet surface. I was amazed at how well this machine deep cleaned considering it's rather small diameter brush roll -- cat hair, fluff, sand, and dust were pulled from my carpet every time I vacuumed. The DC41 Animal definitely cleaned my carpets better than my DC25, that's for sure! The "Radial Root Cyclone" system focuses air flow through the center of the cyclone assembly which promotes better cyclonic filtration since each of the 12 cyclones on the top of the bin receive equal air flow. My only complaint about this new system is that with the air intake channel now in the center of the clear bin (rather than on the machine like previous Dysons), static charged particles will stick the the inner wall of the intake channel every time you empty the clear bin. If you do not wipe off the static dust out of the air intake channel before replacing the clear bin back on the machine, the particles will be sucked directly into the motor the next time you turn the machine on. Keep in mind that the washable HEPA exhaust filter will capture these particles. However, if you take this extra step in cleaning the air intake channel of any static dust, your motor will last longer, thus, your vacuum will last longer as well. Another design feature that I found rather thoughtful was the use of rounded airways to promote smoother and more efficient airflow. I recall seeing the DC07 with this same feature, but for one reason or another, Dyson lost focus on this feature on more recent models. I'm glad they brought it back on the DC41. Anyone with a keen eye will notice that the perforated shroud inside the clear bin has been replaced by a finer screen filter. This is to greatly reduce the likelihood of sand bypass, dust/fluff buildup, as well as promote greater airflow intake. The redesigned Ball makes for a rather clean looking appearance since all of the ducting that would normally wrap around the ball have now been integrated inside of it. Since the wrap around ducting are no longer present, the DC41 has a much improved turning radius in comparison to its DC25 predecessor. Other improvements I've noticed include the larger dusting brush with softer bristles, the handle that is now fixed to the machine (makes for better upright rigidity), and I really like how the HEPA exhaust filter securely screws onto the ball rather than snapping into place -- having owned the DC25, I never liked how the exhaust filter felt loose and unsecured, even when snapped into place. Exhaust air would normally leak through the rubber gasket of the HEPA filter, and generate a lot of squealing and whistling. I will never have that problem with the DC41 thanks to its more proper design. Overall, this is a fantastic vacuum cleaner. Dyson definitely went all out in designing this machine. As having owned every generating of "The Ball" (DC15, DC25, and now DC41), I can say the DC41 is the best by far -- I loved my DC15, was disappointed by the DC25, but the DC41 is a quantum leap ahead of every Dyson in the lineup.

I have owned this vacuum for over 6 months. The reason for this review is my increasingly negative opinion of this vacuum. My position is based on personal experience after purchase and expectations of performance and longevity in return for high purchase price. $500 is a lot of money to spend so don't complain about how long my review is. READ IT! My first impression was that the Dyson DC41 was extremely flimsy. I understand home appliances today are all made of plastic. However, the DC41 is made of soft plastic that is prone to bending and ultimate breakage. Lesser vacuums are made of solid or hard plastic which tends to be more durable. It might be possible that this plastic make is lighter; but given the choice, I would certainly choose longevity over weight reduction. One common problem with appliances is over engineering. The DC41 is full of little gizmos that are seem cool at first, but are sure to break over time. Some of these are the pop open bin for dispensing the dirt, the break-over back wheels which eliminate the pedal necessary to unlock the base and tip the handle back, and the auto carpet height adjuster. I will address these one at a time: 1. The pop open bin is basically a button you push to quickly pop open the bottom hatch of the clear bin. Sounds cool right?! No, and for two reasons. The fact that the hatch opens from the bottom means it will interfere with any trash already in the trashcan (plan on emptying your trash before you start vacuuming so there’s enough room). Also, dust and dirt gets caught up in the bottom hatch so you have to sit there and shake it. The other problem is that in order to have this fancy button and bottom opening hatch, it requires a linkage full of moving parts and springs. And yes, these parts are made of the same flimsy plastic as the structure of the vacuum. Due to normal use and shaking the bin, the linkage that pops open the hatch as completely snapped in two, and I recently noticed the hinge that holds on the hatch has cracked. This all raises the question, what is so stinking hard about keeping it simple?! My old Bissell had a bin you just pull out and tip over into the trashcan. Sounds easy, huh? 2. The break-over wheels are next on my list. You remember how vacuums usually have a foot pedal at the bottom to step on in order to allow you to tip it back? Well, Dyson automated that too. The DC41 has wheels that snap back when you put pressure on them from the handle. The idea is actually good. However, they require almost not force to break the wheels over. This means you are constantly picking your vacuum up off the floor because you didn’t balance it just right before walking away. Have you ever tried balancing a pencil vertically on the sharp end? Yeah, it’s like that. Also, with my old vacuum, I liked tipping it back with the base locked in order to wheel it back to the closet. With the DC41, you can’t do this because it is impossible to keep the wheels locked while you’re tipping it back. 3. The automatic carpet height adjuster is my last irritation. The whole unit that moves up and down is - you guessed it - flimsy. With my Bissell, I use to be able to adjust the beater bar up or down depending on how aggressively I wanted to agitate the carpet. The DC41 automated the process, but it doesn’t seem to leave defined lines in the carpet after vacuuming. This tells me that it’s not brushing the carpet as hard as it should. In the six months that I’ve own this Dyson, I’ve watched my carpet go flat. I admit the DC41 has some great suction; but, suction alone doesn’t keep the carpet fluffy. The DC41 does have great suction at the wand. Here is the problem. My old vacuum would produce 2 – 3 full bins of dirt and hair. The Dyson only produces one. Given the fact that it has great suction at the wand, but doesn’t produce as much dirt in the bin, I am left to believe that the DC41 has suction issues at the bottom end. I’m guessing that either the automatic height adjuster doesn’t agitate the carpet enough or height adjusters are causing it to lose suction in the gaps at the bottom. Either way, this defeats the whole purpose of a vacuum. Throughout the review, I compared the DC41 to my old Bissell. I have come to realize that if you stay in the $200 - $350 range, you will be getting a vacuum that is great quality at a reasonable price. Let’s be honest. There are a lot of happy reviews of the DC41. But, there are very few that talk about this vacuum after the first week of use. I desperately wanted to be happy too after spending $550 on a vacuum. Looking back, I think I was in denial. The DC41 has a 5 year warranty. Regardless, given the high cost, I expected superior performance. I’m not going to tell you not to buy it because after reading this, if you’re still in love with the DC41, you two are meant to be!

The DC41 is a great product and is probably the best vacuum out there. But that hasn't stopped me from noticing a few defects. There are really 2 major ones that nearly made me return this product. The first issue is that they got rid of the foot lever that typical vacuums have to engage the beater bar. Instead you just force it down and start vacuuming and when you are done you just put it back up and it latches and stays upright. This is pretty neat but when you are putting it upright there are 2 distinct things that happen, it engages the wand hose and then it engages the lock that holds it up. The switch for the hose is much louder and happens first so this leads you to believe the vacuum is upright and to let go when it is not latched properly causing it to fall over if you are not quick enough to catch it. This makes me respond by putting it upright much more forcefully then I want to do to something I’ve bought for nearly $600. The second main issue is the path the air flows to the motor. There are 3 zones in the canister. The air goes from the outer to the inner getting cleaner as it progresses. The outer one is for big debris and dust, and then air flows through those tiny cyclones on the top and deposits its finer dust in the middle zone. Finally after leaving those cyclones the air goes through the filter (accessible though the top of the canister) and down the inner zone to the motor then finally out through the filter in the ball. The problem with this is that when you empty the canister the dust can and will cross contaminate from the other zones and into the post filter, inner zone. This means next time the vacuum is started it will suck in that dust into the motor and the ball filter. So here is the story of how I found out about this defect: to test out the DC41 I took it to a house that was very dirty (some parts had not been vacuumed for a year) and vacuumed nearly the whole house. I had to empty the canister 3 times. After the 3rd time the vacuum got clogged (A peppermint in the narrow hose tool) and it activated the thermal cutoff. After learning about the thermal cutoff and what it meant, I took apart the vacuum and cleaned out all the access ports. Also looked at the post motor filter and saw that it was absolutely filthy but the filter in the canister was still white. So the dust was bypassing the canister filter somehow. So I figured it was when I dumped the canister the dust plume went everywhere including back up into the part of canister that is meant to be dust free. That amount of dust can’t be good for the motor. Here are a few more nit picks: It feels a little harder to navigate then the DC25 I wish it had a light and something to automatically rewind the cord. Sometimes it feels like it’s about to break in my hands. The hose wand sometimes doesn’t extend all the way out of the hose and sometimes causes the airway to be blocked when used. I think the DC25’s wand was better. It does not has a spot for all the tools. The reason I decided to keep this vacuum is the active base plate, I have a lot of wood flooring in my house and I want to get as much dust up before I use the Swiffer. Using this vacuum I now only have to use one pad each time I clean with the Swiffer instead of several. And the DC41 will not be facing that dirty house again so it will never be that full of dust again. Here are few good things about it: It has great suction. It survived that dirty house. Its cord is long enough that I can plug it in anywhere and vacuum the entire floor. Ultimately I think this is a great vacuum but for $600 I expect the best with no flaws and this has 2 too many flaws for that price. Unfortunately I can’t find a better vacuum so I’m stuck with this one.

I have owned 2 vacuums prior to this purchase. First, a Kenmore canister and then a Hoover Windtunnel upright. My complaints were dragging a ball and chain with the canister and switching out the powermate to do stairs. I purchased the Windtunnel and loved the suction and long cord but the reach on the hose was terrible and all machine plastic "pipes" have been replaced due to breaking. Stairs were a chore. I decided to check out the Dyson. I started my research on vacuums by reading all the negative comments on this vacuum. I have used my Dyson for 2 months now and believe that the negative reviews came from people who have never owned vacuums before. The suction is magnificent and maneuvers great. The low profile front fits right under my furniture. I go right from carpet to tile (switch off the beater brush with a touch of a button) right back onto area rugs and switch the brush back on. With my Hoover the area rugs would either get sucked into the vacuum or the suction was so great the vacuum would not move. The dyson automatically adjusts for the height difference and you just keep on vacuuming. The most amazing thing is that my wood floors actually feel clean after vacuuming. With my old vacuums I would vacuum and then get the swiffer wet mop out to clean. With the dyson I just vacuum. Everything gets sucked up. It is the lightest vacuum I have owned. Much lighter taking upstairs than the windtunnel. Also, the reach on the hose is amazing. I can clean each carpeted stair, a dozen, without the vacuum tipping which happened with my Hoover windtunnel. Also, the cord is so long I can do almost all the first floor and up to one bedroom on the second floor without unplugging. We have 4 kids, teenager to toodler, boys and girls and plenty of mess. Airsoft pellets to cheerios all get sucked up no problem. Our home is approx 2200 sq feet. The only draw back is seeing the dirt in the canister and then dumping. It is super easy to do, it is just a little gross if you are used to bags. Our salesman at the EP store was great. My time vacuuming has been cut in half with auto adjust for carpet height and button touch for turning off beater, no changing out to pipes and hose for wood floor or stairs, the Dyson is "all in one", just keep on moving from room to room and it is a breeze.

After years of owning mediocre vacuums that were heavy, clunky, and unattractive which clogged and fell apart easily, I was ready to increase my budget to replace with a better quality vacuum. I quizzed my friends on social media, and the only ones that liked their vacuums owned Dysons! I also read numerous reviews in various sources, including Consumer Reports magazine. I finally decided on the Dyson DC41 Animal with tool bundle. Now I love vacuuming and am so impressed with the performance and ease of use. We have a dog, two cats, a rabbit, and various other animals. The DC41 handles all their messes (fur, spilled cat litter, rabbit bedding, and hay) so well. We have a gray cat with superfine hair (hairs so fine as to be almost not visible), and we thought he didn't shed much ... Until we first vacuumed with our new Dyson, that is! The first time I vacuumed with the DC41, I must've vacuumed up about three cats' worth of gray cat fur! We were shocked. This was after we'd recently vacuumed with our old vacuum, and it had obviously been missing the vast quantity of tough-to-see (and remove, apparently) cat hair. Our carpets look brighter now that the new Dyson has eliminated this dingey layer of gray hair. We've now also had it through holiday cleanup, and it handled dropped pine needles from our Christmas tree with ease. The hose got the piles up without clogging, and the beater bar got the remainder of the needles out of our closed-loop carpet without having to pick them out by hand afterward, like we used to have to do. We also have kids, and the Dyson has handled with no problems the occasional moment of "oops" when I've accidentally sucked up an army man, marble, or Lego. I also appreciate the 35' cord length, easy-to-use hose*, and tool kit. [Note: Some reviewers complained about the stiffness of the hose making it difficult to use. I disagree. It's meant to self-retract so it's easy to put away. This simply means you have to EXTEND the hose before it becomes flexible. Works great once you've pulled it out a ways.] I "test drove" a neighbor's Dyson that did not have "the ball." It maneuvered like a regular vacuum. The ball makes this model really easy to maneuver, and I'm really glad I got it. P.S. My husband has gotten over the color. REAL MEN DO VACUUM WITH FUSCHIA.

The Good -Very easy to assemble Takes about 5 mins, no need for any screwdriver everything clicks into place. -The design is nice, pretty. -The hose is already attached to the base unlike the other previous models where you have to unplug the hose then attach the long tube then the attachement. It makes it easy to skip one step. -I was able to vacuum my kitchen, hall, living room, office, bathroom without unplugging the cord. -Nice wide head path finished the job fast and easy to turn with the ball. -There was no blowback of crumbs or hair, and after vacuuming I felt nothing under my feet, VERY NICE. I have tile mostly so I turned the brush roll off. And this is a very nice feature. -People with carpet would benefit more from this vacuum though because of the strong suction power and the ability to turn the brush roll on, if you have light dog hair or cat hair this vacuum is for you. With the brush roll on it has the strongest suction by dyson yet. For others with wood tile or linoleum I would recommend the dc24 animal/multifloor, does the same job and at a lesser price. The Bad -A little loud but that is expected with a vacuum with this much suction power. -VERY HEAVY Or maybe I'm just use to 15 lb or less vacuums. -The hose is a little stiff, mine is brand new maybe 3 days old so it might need time to break in but it could not reach very far due to stiffness. -This vacuum is not worth the 660 with tax. Maybe 400 at most. It's price is so high only because it is the newest, strongest dyson yet. -All dyson multifloor and animal models of the same number sequence dc24 dc25 and dc28 have the EXACT THE SAME features,suction watts, and design except THE ATTAHCMENTS. For those thinking that the animal models have better suction power versus the multifloors have it confused.The only thing that distinguishes the models from animal to multifloor is the animal turbine attachement and color Yellow or Purple, I personally think this attachemment is useless and if you don't care for it the animal versions are usually $50 dollars more, wait until the yellow multifloor dc41 comes out. So this might be something you want to consider if you want to save some money.

I bought a Dyson DC-17 four years ago and was absolutely delighted by the incredible cleaning power (beat my $1,200 Tri-Star to shame). I saw the ads for the new Animal DC-41 so I sold my working DC-17 to my sister for $150. Upon arriving home and using it she sent me a text saying she could not believe how well it worked and said, “I had to empty the container three times in my living room and hallway, I will give you another $100 for it!!" I used the DC-41 tonight and immediately noticed the lack of vacuum strength in the beater bar compared to the DC-17. The DC-17 would pull my area rugs off of the floor requiring you to step on the rug while vacuuming it to keep it on the ground, not so with the DC-41. The DC-17 would hunker down so much from the suction on another area rug it would be hard to push it. The DC-41 disappointingly did not do this. Dyson mistakes: The design of the wand, now requiring you to push a button to put it back in the handle is a real inconvenience. The DC-17 would unlock and insert with one hand. The height adjusting floor tool actually seems to waste what power there is. Watch YouTube videos showing comparisons. This vacuum needs five to eight passes to clean the carpet! No bare-floor attachment. Even though the DC-41 claims to clean bare floors, it hugs the bare floor so well that it will not pick up larger items such as cereal or cat food, instead it just pushes them around the floor. The debris tank is too small, and seems to be very cheaply made compared to the DC-17. The button to release the outside container from the cyclone unit is really unimpressive and flimsy. With three cats, the DC-17 would have been full after cleaning my main floor after one-week, the DC-41 barely had about a cup and a half of debris in the tank. I guess for the power of the DC-41 unit, it the container size will suit it fine. The only good thing about the DC-41 is the Turbo tool. Otherwise, it is a lot of dressing on an overpriced machine. The air-watts may be higher on the DC-41, but it does not have the vacuum quality of the previous machine. I have raved for over four years to anyone who would listen, showing friends my Dyson video because I was so amazed at the DC-17. The DC-41 is not worth the Dyson name! Would not buy another.

This is a great vacuum that functions every bit as well as advertised. The Dyson is expensive, and does have that plastic cheap look to it, but it shows no signs of wear after several months of hard use and does an outstanding job. I have purchased two vacuums prior to the Dyson based on recommendations from consumer reports stating that these vacuums do not perform any better than other lower priced units. I finally decided to go with the Dyson after reading other customer reviews and I now believe that it was money well spent. I have two dogs and live in a very rural and dirty environment. The vacuums that were highly rated by consumer reports seemed to perform well for the first couple of uses, but began to lose performance and break down quickly thereafter. I only ended up getting about a year and half out of each vacuum before they fell apart or quite working altogether. This Dyson runs circles around those other products. The Dyson is also much more simple and convenient to use than some of those other more expensive counterparts out there. Some reviewers have knocked the Dyson for being made of plastic, and yes it does not have a robust look about it, but it is proving to be a very well built product and it comes with an outstanding warranty to back it up. Personally, I don't care how my vacuum looks as long as it is easy to use and does the job it was designed to do. The Dyson leaves nothing behind is extremely user friendly. Even though the commercials inadvertantly insult your intellegience, the ball really does make vacuuming the house much quicker plus it is very easy to push and is more ergonomic than any other vacuum I have used. The hose tends to bind where it connects to the wand which makes me concerned that it will be a weak point and eventually break, but only time will tell. All in all I believe that once you have used one of these vacuums you will be a believer in the Dyson name. I would highly recommend this product although I do feel that they could use to come down a bit on the price. You do get what you pay for in terms of the convenience and performance, but I can't imagine that they cost much more to make than other vacuums in the $100-$200 range.