Dancing with the Ugly Dyson
Written: Mar 14 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
|
|
| Style: |
|
|
|
Pros: Superb vacuum suction, easy emptying, light weight, manuverable, nothing else to buy.
Cons: Have to unwind the entire long power cord to use the wand.
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend the Dyson to anyone wanting cleaner carpets. Superb suction and ease of use.
|
|
|
| joetrent's Full Review: Dyson DC07 steel / yellow Upright Vacuum |
We switched to the Dyson DC07, and darned glad we did. Er, it should read I switched to the Dyson DC07, and darned glad I did. To make a long sad story short, my beautiful (but Machiavellian bride) had somewhere over the years shifted the household vacuuming duties into my less than happy homemaker hands. Heck, I’m the woodworking, computer running, airplane driving, and (sigh) vacuuming man of the house. Never mind.
Our 4-year-old Dirt Devil Vision MVP 12 amp bagless had finally worn ME out. It worked well enough over that time, but I’m just plumb tired of pushing that dead weight appliance through the medium height carpet we have throughout the castle. It was sort of like pushing a VW up a sand dune without wheels. Work ain’t supposed to be that much work.
Another buttock biter I had with our Dirt Devil was cleaning the dirt canister. The canister came off of the machine easy enough with just the push of a button, but cleaning it thoroughly enough to get some suction back was a dirty mess. After dumping the main debris into the trash, I’d remove the ceramic looking filter from the center of the canister. To get it clean, I’d have to use my air compressor to blow the fine particles free from the surface of the filter. By the time I was finished I had an “all over” look like our granddaughters heiny just prior to the re-covering operation. I’d be completely covered by a fine powder that most certainly did not serve the valued purpose that her powder did. Enough was enough.
We had seen the Dyson commercials on TV. Being a gadgetry kind of guy, I was intrigued. Being old enough to have had too many “cool” things not perform as advertised, I was skeptical. Then I started to see the plethora of great reviews for the Dyson start hitting Epinions. That made me curious. It was time to take manly action and check out this vacuum cleaner.
We went to Best Buy to get a first hand look at this thing. When I say look at it, I don’t mean it’s appearance, I mean it’s construction, weight, and usability.
We were interested in the yellow basic model since our house has carpeting virtually throughout. My queen makes me clean the tile bathroom floors and the Pergo kitchen floor on my hands and knees anyway, so we had no need for the other bells and whistles offered on the other models.
But first, let me comment on the Dyson DC07’s appearance. It looks like R2D2’s really, really ugly little sister. I don’t care. Does it do the job? Besides, being an old Navy guy, I’ll just have a couple of beers before I vacuum, and it’ll be like dancing with a jaundiced Miss America.
The Dysons were set up for display on the second shelf in the vacuum row. The first thing I did was to look it over for construction and usability. The whole thing is made out of plastic. The advertising says it’s made out of the same high-impact materials used in crash helmets. Here, my mind started to hum the old blah, blah song. We’ve bought enough “plastic” stuff to not be too concerned. Heck, if it breaks I’ll just review the warranty process. One thing about it though, the use of this space age, high impact (ah oh, blah- blah- blah) makes it very light. I was able to lift it off the shelf with just one hand. It weighs about 12 pounds. Pushing it around the carpeted aisle was extremely easy because the machine is so well balanced. The box said the effort at the handle is 4 lbs. I didn’t bring a fish scale, but it’s very light.
Prior to pushing the Dyson around the store though, I first had to release the handle from its upright and locked position. (Yeah, I fly way too much.) This machine has a whole lot of buttons, snaps, and other moving parts. Some I pushed and parts fell off, some didn’t seem to do anything. I don’t know what I did, but the handle released and I was able to make vroom, vroom noises while once again embarrassing her highness in public.
By now this in-store assessment was getting too complicated. We (she) made the executive decision to just buy the darn thing and take it home to try. We’d just take it back if it didn’t suck. (I’m not sure if that’s an oxymoron, or it just sounds stupid and backwards.)
I put the display machine back on the shelf, hid the parts I caused to fall off behind it, and paid the nice person $399. I grabbed the slippery 4-foot long by 1 and a half foot square box into my arms and away we went with me wrestling the box to the car. When I turned it over to lay it in the trunk, the carrying handle built into the box caught my hand. Stupid and his queen then returned to their castle.
With the well-balanced ease of using the carrying handle on the box, I toted the Dyson to the assembly area in front of my recliner. I didn’t know what to expect as far as assembly went considering the number of unidentified snaps, lever, and buttons I was able to play with in the store. Fret not; assembly is a snap. Actually it’s five snaps and a slide. Heck, the box even has a picture on its top that shows you how to properly open the box! Onward!!
Upon properly opening the box I was presented with the following. The main part of the machine fully assembled, the 17-foot wand pullout hose, the wand/handle assembly, 3 cleaning tools, and the instruction book. Not bad.
Because of my aforementioned experience with unknown buttons, snaps, and other stuff, I decided to break an old habit and read the directions first. I can’t stress enough that by reading first and doing second, how much easier your Dyson life will be. This company has provided what I consider to be the simplest and most comprehensive owners manual I’ve ever gotten with a product. That might explain at least some of the cost of this unit. The assembly and use illustrations and text are clear, concise and imminently user friendly.
Reading the book took about 10 minutes. Assembly took about 2 minutes. The first snap, er step, is to snap the hose into the machine. Then slide the wand into the hose and snap the wand/handle onto the top of the machine. The last assembly is to snap the three cleaning tool attachments into their proper place. Count up the snaps and slides. Snap the hose, slide the wand, snap the wand, snap, snap, snap the three included cleaning attachments. Yep, 5 snaps and a slide. It couldn’t be easier because of the fine engineering used on this machine. I was ready for blastoff!!!
By the way, an added bonus to reading the instructions was that I now know how to release the handle. You just put your foot in the indention on the front and side of the machine that has the footprint picture on it. Then push the handle forward and then backward. Who would have ever thought of actually looking at all the pictures on the controls?
Like all good househusbands, I had vacuumed just a couple of days ago with the old “beast” so I thought this would be a good test of the Dyson. I plugged in the long, long power cord, pushed the really big yellow “ON” button that is right in front of the handle, and sallied forth to suck dirt.
I wasn’t prepared for the results. Within the first 10 square feet of vacuuming, I’d already covered the bottom of the canister with dirt and really fine powder we’d never picked up with the Dirt Devil. I can state without any doubt in my own mind that the Dyson picked up more dirt from our carpet, by a huge margin, than any vacuum I have ever used or seen. That includes the old vacuum cleaner salesman’s trick of having you clean with yours, then his. His will pick up dirt; the Dyson will need emptied. No kidding.
The other kicker is the look when done. Our old vacs left a trail of marks from the brushbar making it look like the floor was vacuumed. The Dyson does this also, but it sucks the carpet pile back up into its intended position. It also gets very close to the edges on both sides. The down side is that my “real boss” can readily see what I didn’t do. The pox on Dyson!!!!
Just like in the store, the Dyson is very easy to push and maneuver across the carpet. It has 2 wheels in the back of the unit, and rides on the spinning brush in the front. By the way, the brush only spins when you move the vac. Don’t have a clue how that works, but it does. A big yellow selector in the front sets carpet or bare floor functions. In bare floor, the brush doesn’t spin. Carpet height automatically adjusts for varying rug heights. That feature also works great.
If you happen to suck up something that’s not dirt, such as my honeys favorite couch throw, the brushbar makes a ratcheting sound to both tell you that your trying to suck up an afghan, but also to protect the brushbar from damage. Good thinking Dyson people.
By the time I finished the house, it was time to empty the full canister. Beside the phenomenal, and consistent, suction provided by the Dyson, emptying the thing one-handed is the best feature. Press one button and pull out the canister unit. Walk over to the trashcan, hold the canister over the trash bag, and pull up on the release lever. The bottom of the canister flops open completely, emptying all the contents into the trash. Snap the bottom closed, shove it in the machine, and it’s back to back to work. Hey wait! Let me think a minute. Is that a good thing? Nope, it’s a great thing!!! (Sadly, I DO need to get a life.)
The wand/handle thing works extremely well. It does its job in two different configurations. The first configuration is just how it was assembled in the first place. The attachments connect to the top of the handle after pulling back a yellow cover. Then push a really big button on the front of the machine, and the handle and 17 feet of stretchy-coiled hose comes out of the machine. In this configuration, the attachments for crevices, stair steps, and the little round brush are close to your hand. This lets you get up close and personal with the dirt. Or you can push a little yellow button on the wand handle (after releasing it from the machine), unslide the 3 foot of aluminum wand from the stretchy-coiled hose thingy, reattach it handle side to hose, and stand up away from the dirt. The only hitch is that the entire super long cord needs to be uncoiled before the wand can be used. Ho Hum. Oh yeah, does anyone know what the little round brush is for??? And, could somebody explain why the vacuum doesn’t tip over with 17 feet of stretchy-coiled hose thingy trailing from it?
The rest of the previously mentioned snap, levers, and other stuff are no longer a mystery. One lever lets you separate the canister unit into two pieces so that the clear plastic part can be washed. Just don’t wash the yellow part. The other little buttons release the parts the have radical turns in them so it’s a snap to clean a clog if that ever happens. Again, that’s some great engineering.
The Dyson has a couple of cleanable filters that are really easy to get to. They recommend cleaning them every six months. We’ll see.
So, after this pithy attempt to review the Dyson DC07 (and amuse myself), what do I really think of this machine. Well, it’s without a doubt the finest residential vacuum cleaner I’ve ever used or seen. The engineering is fantastic, it does everything it says it will do, and it’s easy to use and maintain. For just a vacuum cleaner, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Here’s a case of “you get what you pay for”.
It works so well that I told momma that the house wouldn’t need cleaning for 6 or 7 months. I’m flying somewhere to a computer show about woodworking and do manly stuff.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 399
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
joetrent
|
|
Location: Riverside, CA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 6 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.