Unlike many other industries, most home appliances tend to have increasing performance, reliability and value as the price increases compared to the competition. Household vacuums fit this description beautifully, and with the Dyson DC07, you may spend a bit extra, but the results are well worth it.

BACKGROUND

We bought the Dyson from Amazon.com as a refurbished unit. I was surprised that Dyson had refurbished units, because from what I understood, their produces are supposed to be extremely reliable and very durable. So far, I've had zero problems with my refurbished Dyson.

We replaced a Hoover vac that I purchased about 4 years ago after my brother some how managed to destroy the motor mechanism. The original price of the Hoover was $350. I felt that the Dyson, which retails around $400 should perform a little better than the Hoover, so I quickly snatched up a refurbished model when Amazon got them back in stock for $280, a huge discount from the $400 I expected to pay for a new one.

OUT OF THE BOX
The Dyson arrived in a neatly packaged box within a day or two of my order with Amazon (who shipped it for free). Out of the box, you need to do minimal assembly... just attach the removable hose and wand, and snap the 3 included attachments onto the vacuum itself for later use. It was up and running within 5 minutes.

FIRST USE
As much as I hate to vacuum, I was very excited to try the Dyson after reading about it for months in my Sharper Image catalog. I quickly plugged it in and vacuumed the entire 200 sq. ft. living room rather quickly. The dirt collection tube quickly collected with a swirling mass of debris. Once I finished vacuuming, I turned off the machine and the debris settled. At the bottom of the dirt collection tube was a quarter inch of dirt and dust. On top of all the dirt was at least 5 inches of lint, hair, threads and crumbs.

I wasn't too surprised about the amount of dirt it picked up at that point (since my old vacuum was out of commission for a few weeks), but the big surprise came a few days later.

SHOWING OFF
A few days after my mini cleaning spree, I had some friends over. They noticed the new vacuum and we started talking about it. They wanted a demo, but I warned that I just vacuumed, so they would be a little disappointed by the results. Anyway, I plugged it in and did a real thorough job in the living room again. I couldn't believe how much dust and dirt came up! It wasn't as much as the first time, but still, there was so much junk in the collection bin, I was actually a bit embarrassed.

I thought the vacuum might not have done a great job the first time, so I emptied the collection bin, and re-vacuumed the room then and there. After this second demo of the day, there was little dirt in the collection bin, reinforcing my belief that this thing works great, and gets the job done the first time.

OBSERVATIONS

Some basic observations to consider:
-It weighs about as much as my old hoover, so the weight didn't really concern me. My wife found it easy to move and handle.
-The vacuum head itself is a little large, so I need to move some of the furniture to get underneath. I understand there may be a newer Dyson vac out there that takes care of this concern. Not that big of a deal for me since my old vacuum was even larger on the floor.
-Cost of operation is lower since I do not have to buy new bags every few weeks, and because it does such a good job vacuuming, I do not need to go over and over the same areas again. This probably saves me a ton of time and money in electricity.
-Dyson is known to produce good quality products. Despite the fact that my Dyson was refurbished, it works great and I haven't any problems with it. You may consider this, since the refurbished model was $280, 30% less than the brand new one.
-If you want a brand new one, consider Bed Bath and Beyond. They often circulate a 20% off one item coupon that can be used to discount the Dyson by $80. At least its better than paying full retail.
-My old vacuum has a little headlight for under dark areas. I cant remember the Dyson having that, which could be helpful. I don't really care, but maybe you do?!
-At $400, you are getting value for your dollar. I wouldn't recommend this for the cost conscious, because you can get good vacuums for around $200-$250, but if you want a vacuum you can use for years, and have a lot of house to clean, this may be the best investment you can make.
-Dyson offers a 2 year warranty on the new models, 6-months on the refurbished ones. I don't expect they get too many warranty claims one way or the other, since these things seem to work real well. But, you may consider buying it with an American Express card or some other card that extends the manufacturer's warranty by a year to help save in case you do run into problems.

OVERALL:
5 stars for another great product. I enjoy using the vacuum, and it does a good job. Its easy to clean out and comes with a few attachments to make life a bit easier around my home.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 280