Dyson - DC23 Turbinehead HEPA Bagless Canister Vacuum - Iron/Metallic Blue

Although I only purchased this yesterday, I felt I needed to cover things on first observation... Engineering - Since this is a HEPA vacuum why does it have a side exhaust vent? My Riccar, which this is suppose to replace, has a top vent. With a top exhaust vent, dust on the floor doesn't become airborne before you get a chance to vacuum. The less bend in connection between the tube/head creates less clogging at the head to tube connection. Good job with that. Higher decibals than the Riccar, not too bad, but noticeable. The Riccar is a bag vacuum and I wanted bagless. The Dyson vacuum did satisfy this. I do like the design but the overall "quality" will be test of time. I vacuum a minimum of once a day. I did not do physical comparisons of other bagless when I purchased this unit. I went by warranty and reviews. I have had one upright bagless that was very loud and wasn't HEPA and exhaust dust was a problem. I do not see this with this Dyson. My old machine was 3 years old. It had severe integrity issues and replacement parts were inferior. My Riccar has a great motor/suction as does the Dyson. The Riccar lost suction as the bag filled. The Dyson bagless doesn't. The Riccar "dialed" suction control on the canister, the Dyson uses a trigger on the handle. This means I don't have to lean over and adjust suction, but I do have less control of the amount of suction. It seems the engineering of the head of the Dyson is much better. The head rolls easier and seems to do fine without the brushes running. I have read where people think the Dyson is throwing the dirt behind or in front of the head when the turbine brushes are engaged. It happens on bare floors. I believe the turbine roller is for carpets. Disengage the turbine for hard floors. Its not that difficult to do and eliminates the scattering debris problem. The turbine brush action is needed to pick up dog/cat hair on carpets, fabrics and dog beds. Dyson does much better on carpet/fabric with this than my old machine that didn't have turbine brushes. I think for the people with 95% hard surface floors the Dyson turbine head is a great. The brushes when engaged don't ruin my hardwood (oak, Brazilian cherry and walnut) floors, but it does scatter debris. Disengaged turbine works great on bare floors. Regarding those whom have difficulty on very thin rugs, I agree. I have used the suction release feature, but on thin rugs with rubber backing it is VERY difficult to push/pull. I can barely push/pull with both the turbine engaged and less suction trigger engaged. With the turbine head disengaged it is impossible to move the head. On scatter rugs without rubber backing they do get sucked up if you don't use the suction release trigger and a foot to hold the other end of the rug down. Had the same problem with my old machine. On 5x7 rugs this isn't a problem at all. In summary, my Riccar (on sale) was $100 less than this Dyson (on sale). I don't need to purchase HEPA bags at a cost of $2.50ea. I live on a farm with tons of dirt, straw and grasses brought in by my 2 Great Pyrenees, not to mention their hair. This equates to many bags. I prefer the head on the Dyson. I prefer the on board tools that don't hang off the vacuum tube. I feel there might be a problem with the length of reinforcement of the flex part of the vacuum hose near the handle. This support might need to be longer. Time will tell on "quality" of materials. Was this a great purchase? Because of the turbine, design of the vacuum head, the machine being bagless, it was. It doesn't "suck" any better than my old machine WITH a NEW bag. But out here, a week of vacuuming with a bagged vacuum cleaner makes suction less and replacement bags expensive. For many reasons, bagless is best as long as the machine doesn't blow dust out the exhaust, and isn't incredibly loud and screaming like a banshee...and this Dyson doesn't blow dust out the exhaust and the noise isn't bad. The price is too high even on sale for what I replaced, however. At a cost of $199 or even $249 this would have been one heck of a deal. At over $300 (on sale) it is a marginal improvement. I will enjoy not scratching my floors and other integrity problems of my old vacuum. I will enjoy the on board tools not hanging off the vacuum tube. I will enjoy not purchasing bags nor loosing suction as a bag fills. I will enjoy, though I hopefully will not have to use, the 5 year guarantee. Bagless, consistency of suction, great design on the turbine head and length of warranty are the pluses. The rubber-backed scatter rug troubles make it questionable. But since the invention of the trigger, I can see the engineers are working on this.

This vacuum has the best suction of any other vacuum I've owned. The price is high, but I paid $319 online here at best buy and picked it up at our local store. The price in the store was $100 more so I feel I got a deal. Plus, I spent a few hundred on a Hoover upright and the suction was terrible. I love bagless vacuums and I prefer cannisters to uprights. Either my house is particualry dirty or the cannister is too small because the first time I used it I had to empty the cannister about 8 times! This vacuum looks like it's picking up stuff in my carpet that have been hiding in there for years. Imagine how much bags I would have used otherwise. Plus I have pets so all that pet hair got picked up easily. Another thing I loved was the connection of all the parts. It's all connected by a click in place lever. I just push a lever to disconnect the extensions without having to press so hard on a little nub like other vacuums that my thumbs hurt. I was able to remove all the hair stuck in the beater brush without using a screw driver. I just pressed on the levers and everything popped open. The vacuum is designed to rest on a step while I vacuum. the stairs Previous vacuums were too big and would fall down the stairs. It takes up very little room in my storage closet. The vacuum can even lay flat to vacuum under the bed. The noise is not the same as other vacuums. It has a different pitch. It must not be too loud becuase when I vacuumed on the second floor of our wood framed house, nobody on the first floor could hear it. f'm very satisfied with this purchase and feel the cost is worth it.

I owned a Dyson upright vacuum cleaner before this purchase and the head/brush was very hard to clean. It was also too heavy to bring up and down the stairs. The new canister is very light but the suction is not as strong as the upright. I find myself running over the area 1 more time than I did with the upright. I don't mind it as it is much lighter to manuever and its easier to clean under the furniture. The head/brush is also easy to clean. So I traded the stronger suction of the upright to the ease of the canister. All in all, I am not sorry I bought it and still love the fact that I do not have to change bags. I own a dog and it does the job of picking up the dog hair.

Pros: Very high quality. Parts fit well, everything stays together as it should, rugged construction. Rotating joints work smoothly and easily. Strong suction - Finds dirt my old vacuum left behind. Low profile floor tools are great. Very maneuverable and fit under most furniture. Vacuum powered brush is excellent. Much better made than most other vacuums out there at similar price. Cons: Very heavy and hard to pull, especially on carpet. The front roller/swivel is useless. You are always picking it up to move it cause it won't slide on its own, which makes it quite fatiguing to use. Hose is too short making it hard to reach the top of cabinets, bookcases, and such and requiring you to constantly pull the unit along. Should be 3 feet longer. Power on switch is where the hose retract button should be and vice versa. It's hard to see and hard to get at with your foot. I miss not having it on the handle. Surely with today's wireless technology a remote power switch would be easy to add. Power cord is too short compared to our Hoover upright. Messy to empty, especially if you accidentally sucked up a tissue or plant leaf, which requires you to go into the tank and dig it out. There is just no way to empty the tank without having a cloud of fine dust and allergens in the air. I do not recommend this vacuum for someone with allergies.

This is a great vacuum! I researched many different brands of cannister vacuums, (Hoover, Miele, Eureka, Electrolux), but all of them had at least one review that said they were poor at either cat litter or hair. The Dyson cannister has a feature where you can turn off the roller brush so the hair doesn't tangle on the roller bar. If some does get tangled around it, it's an easy procedure to remove the roller bar and clean it off. It also has no problem with cat litter. The manuverability of the handle is incredible because the roller head pivots, so it's easy to get corners. The suction release on the handle is very helpful for throw rugs, because this vacuum really does have powerful suction! The 5-year warranty is nice too! The only 2 things that are not so great about is is that you have to be careful pulling it around corners or furniture or it will run into them. But that is more just getting used to handling it. The second thing is that the dirt cannister is fairly small. I wish it had not been so expensive, but it's definitely worth the money for the performance! Oh, and no bags to buy!

It is a good vacuum, but the trash can is so small.

I prefer canister vacuums because when I use an attachment on a upright the vacuum often tips over. With the first use I was surprised how much it picked up. The machine was quieter than my previous vacuum. The head on the vacuum isn't as wide as most vacuums so it can get into smaller areas. The beater bar is strong and does occasionally catch on carpet . That lets me know it has power to move the fibers so it can loosen the dust and dirt.

After weeks of reading reviews after reviews to find the best-fit vacuum for my home, I decided to spend the money on a Dyson. And, was it worth it! I chose the cannister b/c of my multi-level home and also to get under furniture with ease. I absolutely love the accessories, the retractable cord, the awesome suction, and everything is labeled! I'm very pleased w/ this product! So easy to switch from carpet to hard wood, easy to empty cannister, and it's light-weight for carrying up and down the stairs. I do not have any pets in the home (Dyson offers a specific vacuum for pets). I have mostly hardwood floors and area rugs. It picks up dust, sand, food crumbs, w/ no problem. I use the vacuum everywhere! Kitchen, living room, and even the bathrooms have hardwoods, and the Dyson has been perfect for it! I don't even need the broom anymore! What I loved even more, you don't have to buy filters for it like the other vacuums I had considered in purchasing! It does come w/ a filter, but all that is required that you rinse it off w/ warm water after 3 months of use. All of these were factors when I decided to purchase the Dyson. I am very pleased w/ this purchase! Within the last month that I've had it, I have not had a single problem w/ loss of suction. Not even when the cannister begins to get full. The ONLY thing that made me think twice about this purchase (other than the price!) was that Best Buy did not offer any protection plan. As expensive as this product was, I was a little leery. However, when I opened the box, I found that Dyson offers a FIVE year warranty once you register it. Problem solved. If you're considering buying a Dyson, go get one, you will not be dissapointed!