Dyson DC15 Total clean Upright Cleaner

I have owned this vacuum for a little over a year.

Regardless of its faults, this is the best vacuum I have ever owned or used.

"The Ball"
It may look strange to have only one ball and no wheels on the vacuum, but this makes it easy to pivot the vacuum around the point of the ball. Do not try to "manhandle" the vacuum. A simply twist of the wrist will make the vacuum pivot on the ball and turn at a 90 degree angle.

Carpet vs. Floor
The vacuum works awesome on carpeting with the rollers on and on floors with the rollers off (the rollers are deactivated by pressing a button which is located next to the power button. I sometimes confuse the two. Just me I guess). However, if you try to use the rollers on the floor (which I sometimes do), the rollers can actually fling larger dirt particles around on the floor.

Vacuum Size
The size of the vacuum makes it a bit heavy and sometimes difficult to carry or haul around when using the attachments feature. The size also makes it just about impossible to get the vacuum under beds and other tight places. You have to use the floor attachment for these uses.

Non-Retractable Cord
It would be so nice if the cord could retract either at the end of use or during use so that the vacuum doesn't keep going over the cord.

Attachments
The location of the attachments on the vacuum are very inconvenient. The cord gets snagged on the attachments and ends up pulling them off the vacuum. The location of the mini-floor attachment blocks total access to the carry handle. I do like how the brush and mini-floor attachments can be twisted so that they go from having a bend in them to being straight. The telescoping attachment arm length does not allow for close in, hands on use. Remember on your old vacuum when you could detach the power head and just hold the handle and hook the attachment up to it? Well, that doesn't fly here.

Dirt Canister
It is so nice to not have to change bags. It saves money and time. The dirt canister is released from the vacuum with the simple push of a button, then just place the lower part of the canister in a garbage pail, then press the release button and the bottom of the canister drops open letting the dirt fall out into the garbage. On the top of the canister is the air filter. This needs to be washed out once every six months. This is very convenient as well and nice that it cleans the dust and odors out of the air going through the vacuum before it is returned to the room. Although the vacuum doesn't need bags and for the most part, contact with the dirt doesn't take place, nonetheless you need to on occasion clean the stuck dirt off the suction unit while the canister is removed.

Vacuum Upright Lock
After you turn the vacuum on and you plan on using it as a traditional vacuum, you have to step on a pedal to release the handle part of the vacuum to tilt down. This pedal release can sometimes be difficult to engage. Or I should say disengage the locking mechanism which keeps the vacuum upright. I find that I have to push forward on the handle just prior to stepping on the pedal to get it to release. Then when you are done with the vacuum and are putting it back into the upright position, the locking mechanism sometimes doesn't engage and hold the vacuum up. What ends up happening is that when you let go...BANG"! You will hear the handle part of the vacuum crash to the floor. Not good.

Like I said above, despite all its faults, the Dyson DC15 is the best vacuum I have ever seen.

I never thought I'd switch from a Kirby, but the Kirby was too much of a pain to hook up the attachments too it. No bags to change with the Dyson. Just vacuum and dump it when it's full. You don't get dirty at all. It took me a little to figure out the attachments. You actually use the vacuum handle, pull up on it and out pops a hose that's already connected to it. It sucks up cat hair and all kinds of things. It's great to see what's actually being picked up. I love to vacuum now!

I'm writing this review because i've yet received the product that i purchased. Ebay if u would so kindly find out what the matter is. Why i have not receive item purchased. The payment hit my credit card already. I was suppose to receive the around the 9th of Nov.

thank you, Mike & Danielle Lucas
11/16/2009

It appears to be a great vacum. It was a little more "used" then the seller actually said but it works great. I wish I had the owners manual. It has been a little tricky getting all the parts working and I think it would be more efficeint if I knew more about the settings. Overall it was a great purchase.

I have been a Kirby Vacuum owner for over 20 years. It was durable and cleaned very well. Never thought I'd get rid of it.

Bye bye, Kirby!!!

I was set to buy another one--not looking forward to going through the haggling of the salespersons who sell you a vacuum they buy for about $400 for over one thousand dollars. Then, my wife said, "I want a Dyson". She had seen an article on The Science Channel.

I looked them up--the price was right, and well within what I thought a vacuum of it's size and attachments should be. Then, I looked it up on EBay--and found even better prices!!!

The vacuum came today; I had it unboxed and running within 5 minutes.

The amount of dirt and pet hair it picked up was nothing short of amazing! I was also very pleased with its ease of maneuvering--a simple turn of the wrist and the vacuum went where I wanted it to. Within a short period of time, the chamber of the vacuum was filled with pet hair and stuff from WAY inside the carpet--AFTER a Kirby went over it!!!

The BEST part of this vacuum is the ease of maintenance. A push of a button, and the entire self contained catch system came off. Place the bottom in a bag, and push the release button--the entire mess dumps right out! Close the bottom, and you're ready to go again.

The air vents and exhaust/intake chambers clean easily with a few squirts of a can of canned air. The canister also disassembles easily for access to the internals for cleaning and maintenance.

Superior! No more nasty smell from a partially full vacuum bag! No more decreased performance from the bag being clogged with dirt and dust. No more wrestling and sneezing when you have to disconnect the bag and discard it--and no more pushing, twisting, grunting and frustration when trying to place a new bag on. Remove, empty and replace in 30 seconds!

A superior home care product, at a reasonable price, with outstanding performance. What more can you ask for? BUY ONE!!!!