We have a Dyson (a pink one... it's the DC 14, I think, with breast cancer awareness pink coloring). I bought it September 2006. Target has great deals where you can get them on sale for $100 off PLUS you get a $100 giftcard. My husband and I actually fight over who gets to vacuum. Our dog (Australian Cattle Dog with long, white hair) sheds like crazy, and we vacuum twice a week to keep the house clean. It's amazing what it picks up. When we first got it, we vacuumed with our old vacuum and then with the Dyson, and we were grossed out by what our old vacuum left behind.

We have the Dyson DC14 that we bought last year at Costco. I love that thing...

It was worth every damn penny we paid for it

Now you all have me paranoid about just how much junk is in my carpet. Thanks a lot.

Maybe I'll just give up vacuuming altogether since my vacuum is grossly ineffective. :D

Are the Dyson dirt receptacles messy to empty/clean? I told my husband last year that I wanted to use part of this year's tax return and "splurge" on a Dyson. After getting over my depression that a high-end housecleaning item is now what defines a "splurge" in my life, I realized that I hate the bagless one that we got as a "starter" bagless last year. Granted, it's a cheapie in relation to a Dyson, but I'm finding I despise emptying that container and dealing with the clouds of dust, dirt, and cleaning the container. I actually miss a bag.

Does anyone have any opinions about Oreck in contrast to the Dyson? I've been looking into their new (with bag, but improved) models. They say they're lighter than Dyson and have a lower profile so they fit better under furniture, etc.

I recently canned the aforementioned cheapo vacuum and bought a Kenmore 36932 with Intelliclean. It's excellent. It has a feature which actually informs you when the carpet you're vacuuming is actually clean. It was about half the price of a Dyson.

I used to sell Oreck vacuums back in college. Overrated. Bose-like. Stay away.

LOL, thanks for the feedback! Noted.

I guess I'll stay with my original plan of pursuing a Dyson and hope they're not as difficult to empty/clean as our current bagless.

It's really not a problem to empty the Dyson - just make sure you have the cannister over the garbage pail, and you'll have no problems.

It's really easy to empty. Just click out the canister, then press the button over the trash can.

I am intrigued by the iRobot Scooba. I notice it uses a clorox product - is it bleach? I try not to use chemicals in my home, so would it take another product?

Did you go door to door?

The Scooba uses a Clorox cleaner, but it does not contain bleach. They warn you about using other products, and doing so can void the warranty (which is great, btw - they totally replaced my first one, no questions asked, when I had problems). I love my Scooba! HTH

Nah, I worked a year at the Sharper Image.

I'm trying to decide between the DC07 and the DC17... any suggestions? I know this thread is old, but everyone seems to like the DC07...

We bought ourselves the DC07 for a wedding gift to ourselves and it is amazing. Literally I never thought I would be in awe of a vacuum.

We ended up with the DC17 Absolute Total Clean, from Sam's. ($399) It came with the animal attatchment. OMG we had to empty the canister 12 times in my living room alone. I'd been telling hubby that our Hoover wasn't working, but this was amazing. :D

Adam never believes any hype... ever. He was really skeptical of the Dyson, and we made a deal that if it wasn't as great as we thought it should be, we'd take it back. Well-- he's now a believer. He said it was the best buy we'd ever made.