I just went to pick up some supplies at Lowes for a customer, and he asked me to look for a new vacuum cleaner for him while I was there, because he's immobile, so I looked at all the models they had, which included 3-4 new Dyson vac's, which are WAY overpriced considering they are made entirely of plastic, and I mean cheap, thin plastic. Plus they wanted $349 - $499 for them. But I also looked at their mechanisms, and the ball type wheel on the Dyson ball looks to me as if it will probably break fairly easily at some point. Its just not very sturdy feeling IMO.
Now the other major vaccuum companies are coming up with their own "never lose suction" vaccuums with HEPA filters that are made of the same basic components. So I bought him a Hoover Windtunnel upright for $169, and its a great vac so far. He's had it 2 months and it sucks the same or more debris out of the carpet than some earlier $500 vacuums I've seen from the 90's like the Rainbow. It seems fairly well made, compared with modern vacs. Its not as good as some of the Electrolux vacs from the early 70's which were metal mostly, as I recall. We had one of those for like the first 20 years of my life!
it's been a while, but i saw this and have to say something
Dyson specifically engineers the vacs to handle dropping down stairs, bashing against walls...etc. yanking the
hose...abuse from all angles.
Nothing, not one millimeter of the Dyson has been engineered poorly or an afterthought.
You cannot kill one, it won't break. Ok if you are a knob and decide to intentionally break it fine...but
the plastic is designed to flex and take abuse, and be strong where it needs to, and have gaps where
there needs to be flex and gaps.... The vac is designed to tighten up and seal perfectly when turned on,
and looser when off so you can easily dump the canister and reinstall it.
The ball breaking ? go ahead, go to Lowes and knock one off the shelf and see if
it breaks. lemme save you the trouble...it won't. This ain't yer granpappies bakelite plastic....
You just cannot write off Dyson as 'thin plastic' because all that plastic and design is
the result of -serious- testing and redesign and 'back to the drawing board'.
It is about as perfect a consumer product as you can buy and that is no lie.
Dyson owners know what I am saying...