mrs-j's Full Review: Dyson DC15 Bagless Upright Cyclonic Vacuum
Oh how I do love my in-laws. I know, funny thing to hear coming from a woman about her husband's family, but it's true. My father-in-law is the best. We're peas in a pod, early adopters almost always willing to shell out the big bucks for the latest-n-greatest technology. This time I benefited greatly from his outlay of nearly $600 for the Dyson DC15 Vacuum. A vacuum so wicked cool it's referred to as "The Ball Vacuum". While staying with them for a week, I pored over this vacuum, vacuumed up half their house (my mother-in-law loves me more than ever now) and basically drooled continually. Now Mr-J has to contend with a wife who gravitates to the Dyson section at Best Buy and other stores, staring at the vacuum longingly like some petulant, but hopeful child in a candy aisle.
Will I get "The Ball Vacuum" for my birthday? For Christmas? Perhaps for Halloween? We shall see. But until then, let me tell you about the only week when I enjoyed vacuuming!
About Dyson and the Dyson Vacuum Line
I think we've all seen the commercials, haven't we? Snooty Mr. Dyson with his snooty sounding British accent (not all Brits sound snooty but he sure does) talking about how he developed a patented cyclonic system because he got tired of "vacuums losing their suction". James Dyson opened up a factory near his home to produce his first bagless cyclonic vacuum in 1993. Since then Dyson's produced a number of elite vacuums including the original Dyson Cyclone.
Today's lineup of vacuums is far more technologically advanced than even the original. The current product line consists of three main categories: the DC7, the DC14 and the DC15.
Within the DC7 and DC14 product line there are variations from low-to-high end, starting with "All Floors" and moving up to the super duper vacuums that practically wash dishes too. Not so with the DC15, the DC15 is just one: The "All Floors" model.
About the Dyson DC15
(Ever notice that DC15 sounds like an airplane model. Is that a coincidence? Probably not.)
The Dyson DC15 is the top of the line Dyson model currently. Its name "The Ball Vacuum" comes from its unique ability to pivot on the single ball that it uses to glide along floors. That's right: a single ball. No wheels anymore, it's all about the physics of the ball. The result is that the vacuum moves much more effortlessly and twists and turns like a dream. It's intuitive to use, just turn your hand and the vacuum goes where you want it to. Short of mentally steering the vacuum, this is about as effortless as vacuum-steering gets. It navigates places where you couldn't navigate before. It's a really fantastic design.
The ball design is unique to the DC15 alone, currently, but the DC15 also has many other great inventions factored in which are available across the whole Dyson line of products. One of my favorite features is the telescoping wand that sits on the vacuum. With just a quick lift, you can switch from vacuuming floors to vacuuming drapes and other areas. I also love this feature on my home vacuum, a Eureka bagged vacuum. The Dyson makes the process of using the telescoping wand every bit as easy, if not easier.
The Ball Vacuum design also picks up larger debris very well, and Dyson's "Root 8" Cyclone technology really does seem to keep the vacuum from losing its suction power through heavy use.
Only a couple of paragraphs into my review of my Eureka bagged vacuum I noted that my previous experience with bagless vacuums caused me to think that the "bagless" concept wasn't all that great. First off, it didn't work that well, and secondly it was messy. I have allergies. Half of the point of a bagless vacuum is how they're supposed to be less dusty, right? Well my old Fantom Thunder vacuum was nothing but dusty everytime I emptied it. The Dyson DC15 has not only solved the lackluster suction problem bagless vacuums used to suffer from, it has also solved the messy canister-emptying problem. To empty the canister you just pop it out, take it to the trash (outside preferably) and with the touch of a finger on a lever, the bottom empties out. This is genius, and it's so much cleaner than traditional bagless vacuums that I've used.
Specifications
Here are some of the published specifications for the Dyson DC15 Ball Vacuum, courtesy of the Dyson website:
Dimensions 44.09"H x 13.66"W x 11.41"D
Weight 19.95 lbs
Motor wattage: 10 amps. The power of a vacuum cleaner is best measured in airwatts (suction power). Motor wattage simply tells you how much electricity a cleaner uses.
Bin capacity 0.71 gallons
Cable length 37 ft.
Maximum reach 51 ft.
Using the Dyson DC15 and How Well It Works
The first thing I noticed when picking up the Dyson is that it's as heavy as my Eureka vacuum. That's one of the drawbacks of both vacuums. If only they made a vacuum that was phenomenal, had every feature under the sun, and weighed about five pounds I'd be happy. Maybe in another ten years...
My mother-in-law showed me the vacuum and started to demonstrate it and in a few minutes I'd taken it from her and was having fun with it myself. My father-in-law is a veterinarian and my husband's whole family are animal lovers. The permanent pet residents in the J family household include two large parrots, a 90 pound Golden Retriever and two Tonkinese cats (yes, they have a Golden & 2 Tonks just like we do... we think they are copying us. ;-) . When we show up we add our 55 pound Golden Retriever to the mix. When my sisters-in-law show up they bring their three cats and one miniature dog (of some variety I can't remember, but she's a cute little midget of a dog).
So let's take a grand tally of the residents at the J household the week I gave the vacuum a spin:
8 adults
5 cats
4 dogs
2 birds
No partridges or pear trees, but it wasn't Christmas. Just wait until December...
Yes, it's a zoo, which means it gets messy. Half of us have allergies so vacuuming must be done every single day. First up for me, the bird room. The Dyson is loud on the tiled sunroom floor, which just makes the birds yell louder, but it picked up everything in sight. Thrown seeds scattered about, bits of this and that... The bird room isn't huge, but the Dyson could navigate through it easily, pivoting on just the ball. Using the extender, and getting the birds out of the room first, I was able to just suck seeds up from the bottom edges of their enormous cages. The Dyson did great.
Then it was on to the normal carpets. The Goldens shed hair that's visible... Large clumps of Golden Retriever hair will quickly accumulate in areas if left unvacuumed for long. Again, the suction of the Dyson is extreme and I didn't find myself having to spend any large amounts of time going over the same areas of carpet again and again to get everything up. One large swipe and it's all done. The only problem I noticed is that in some darker areas, the lack of a light on the front of the vacuum made it tough to see what was being vacuumed up.
Dog and cat hair gets everywhere when the J family home is in full Zoo mode. So I frequently used the telescoping wand to clean pet hair off the back of the television, where static pulled it in, and even used it to clean off the cat trees, where the cats loll about and of course, shed. And the wand was great for getting the stray cat food and kitty litter off the floor and out of corners as well.
Summary
All in all, the Dyson DC15 performed every bit as well as a $600 vacuum should. I found it very easy to use, albeit slightly heavy to lift up stairs. I wouldn't want to have to haul this vacuum up and down stairs all day. There are three things that really stand out about this vacuum to me (aside from its eye-catching design and heart-palpatatingly high price). 1) The ball design really does make the vacuum far more maneuverable than other comparable vacs. 2) The suction of the vacuum is incredible and it is powerful from the moment you turn it on until you turn it off to empty the full canister and, 3) Emptying the full canister is a dream compared to the bagless vacuums of yesteryear. I can't emphasize enough how much easier emptying out the contents is with this vacuum.
In short, if you want a bagless and you have six big ones to drop on it, I suggest you go for the Dyson DC15 "Ball Bagless Upright" vacuum. It's a piece of work, quite literally. It cleans well, it's easy to use, and it's built to last. The only drawback is its price.
Support and Warranties
The vacuum carries a two year warranty which covers all parts and labor to replace any manufacturer's defect within the period from the date of purchase. For a $600 vacuum, I think the warranty should be a little longer, at least 3 years.
The HEPA filtration system is a lifetime system, and the filters are washable so at least you won't have to fork over up to a hundred bucks every couple of years for a new filter.
Customer support and warranty service is available via the Dyson helpline at 866-693-9766, 7 days a week. If you need warranty service, Dyson will help you locate an authorized service representative near you.
Dyson, Inc. US
Customer Support: 866-693-9766
E-Mail: usa.enquiries@dyson.com
520 West Erie Street
Suite 410
Chicago, IL 60610
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