Dyson DC25 Ball All-Floors Upright Vacuum Cleaner
by Dyson, Inc.
|
List Price: Our Price: $464.49 You Save: $34.51 (7%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $325.00 (click here) Category: Home See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Dyson DC25 Ball All-Floors Upright Vacuum Cleaner
Customer Review: Worth every penny
Summary: 5 Stars
Pretty much once a year I end up buying a vacum cleaner. I've always wanted a Filter Queen but wasn't willing to sink over 2k for a vacum (even though I'm sure it's worth it). So I end up buying the <$200.00 models frequently. Whatever is on sale that looks like it's decent works. Problem is they seldom do a very good job and don't last. So I try again spending a few more dollars and am consistently disappointed. My wife has really bad allergies and has trouble sleeping so I've been trying to do whatever I can to help out with that. (The HoneyWell 18155 was one thing and it was tremendous - but I digress). Last Christmas my mom wanted " A good vacum" and I got her a mid-level Dyson. She raved about it. So this time around, I wasn't worried about breaking the 300.00 mark b/c based on how much mom loved hers, I figured I couldn't lose. I was still ambivalent but was willing to take the risk.
And all I can say is the risk was worth every penny. I picked up the DC25 on sale and had big hopes. It took me all of about 5 minutes to put together, in fact, it took longer to get out of the box than it did to assemble. And although it's not a big deal, It was 100% intuitive to assemble, I didn't even need to look at the instructions or even the box to do it (I mention this b/c from the looks of one, you might think it'd be difficult to do, at least I did). So 5 minutes later it was up and running. It's lightweight for one thing but feels really sturdy. Once you turn it on though, you immediately notice that it's not your typical vacum. It's surprisingly quiet for one thing. But you really can feel the suction. But it's not the same kind of thing as say a wet vac, that has a lot of power but is almost unusable for most things. No, rather it moves along very smootly and leaves nothing on the floor after you go over it. We have a lot of dog hair in the house and it's a persistent problem. So normally I have to make several passes over common dog areas. This time, I could literally see the difference after I just did one forward pass. I went back and forth out of habit but quickly began to notice that it wasn't necessary. For good measure I still do a back and forth, but it's probably force of habit more than necessity.
After doing the carpet, I decided to try some of the attachments b/c in the past, I've seldom used the attachments b/c they really didn't work all that well on previous vacs. It was really easy to figure out what did what and I tried some 'tricky' things which I've never been able to do before very well... the covers the dogs frequently lay on was the first. B/c the dogs love the couch, lazyboy and love seat, we have covers on them to preserve each of them. Usually, when I try to vacum them, the vacum just sucks in the blanket and pulls the thing. You hear the motor rev and have to stop vacuming and pull the cover out. This time no such thing happened. Well, it sort of sucked the blankets but by simply putting my hand on each end I was doing it, I had no problem. This may sound silly but honestly, it's been a huge hassle and for the most part, I just punted and would throw the things in the washer each time b/c vacuming them was impossible. I did have to make a few passes on it but that's just b/c the blankets weren't held down by anything. But all the hair came out and it wasn't a monumental battle.
The same goes for the curtain attachment. Again, I used to approach it with great trepedation b/c I was afraid of pulling down the curtains - and it never did much anyway. There wasn't a lot of visual feedback on the curtains just b/c they don't get dirty as such, they just accumulate dust. But suffice to say it was really easy to do. After that I went around to the corners and crevices of the walls as well as the ceiling fans and again, it was simple. B/c it's light and very maneuvarable and interacts with the surface the way it does, there's not anything that I've had trouble with yet and in the past, pretty much everything was a hassle. So much so that I was pretty lax when it came to vacuming. Were it not for my wife(then fiance), not much vacuming would have been done at all. Now, I end up doing it 99% of the time just b/c it's so hassle free.
The weight, not having to go over an area several times, the ability to get to things easily without sucking them up, the ability to reach just about anywhere and the amazing power are such that vacuming just isn't really a chore any more. B/c you really only need a pass or two for everything means I can do the cleaning really quickly too.
Over the past few years alone, I've probably spent close to 1k on vacums, none of which every did a very good job (or if they did, didn't do it for very long). The Dyson has a 5 year warranty (amazingly enough, the big box chain I bought it at specifically DIDN'T try to cram an extended warranty on it or even offer it b/c Dyson's warranty is more than any of their current plans - the sales person actually told me this. And considering how aggressive the big box stores are with extended warranties, I was really amazed by this). Had I just taken the jump a few years ago, I would have saved myself several hundred dollars, a lot of time and god only knows how much hassle.
Yes, it's a little pricey and theres' just something awkward about dropping that much money on a vacum, at least there was for me. But I couldn't be happier with it. In fact, even though my mom loves the Dyson I got her, this is a higher end model and I am defintely going to upgrade her for her next B-day. That's just b/c irrespective of the price, this tool is worth every penny and then some. It's much more powerful than I expected, so light and so easy to use, I couldn't recommend it higher. I know I probably sound like a ridiculous cheerleader or Dyson employee, but none of that is the case - I've just been so disappointed with everything else I've bought and am that impressed with this thing. I can say this with virtual certainty - if you buy one, you won't regret it for a second once you give it a try. If only every household utility had a twin of the DC25 - I"d have the cleanest house in the world b/c it makes being a clean freak really painless.
Customer Review: Wonderful vacuum--worth every dollar!
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband and I bought this vacuum after our cheap Bissell just wasn't getting the job done. I read a lot of reviews and carefully chose this vacuum and I'm very happy with our purchase. Our Bissell hardly did anything, I never felt like my floors were ever clean when I was done vacuuming, I felt like I was just wasting my time. This vaccuum made me very happy, though, the first few times I vacuumed! I had to empty the cannister several times the first time vacuuming our house, and I had just used the Bissell the day before. After the first few times, you won't have the empty the cannister nearly as often, I only empty it every few times now. It's the initial vacuuming that fills it up!
What I love about this vacuum:
- It is sooo easy to manuever! I can hold my toddler son on one hip and vaccum with my other hand if I have to! It's really effortless and honestly, fun! I love the ball technology on this vacuum, I don't think I can ever go back to a "normal" vacuum again!
- It REALLY gets your floors clean! I never find anything in my carpet after vaccuming, and my floors look and smell better.
- You can use it on hard floors, too. There's a button to turn off the rotating brush action so that you can vaccum hard floors as well. I LOVE this function, and I use the vacuum to clean my laminate floors often. It saves pushing dirt around with a broom!
- It has edge cleaning, which is wonderful, and eliminates having to pull out the extension tools often. With my Bissell, I was continually pulling out my extension tools to clean the edges of my room and around my couch, etc. With the ball and the edge cleaning combined, I rarely pull out my tools, as the vaccuum gets right up against the wall and gets all my carpet clean.
- The cannister is super easy to empty, just pop off the cannister, hold it into a trash can, and push the release button and shake. I have had to take a paper towel and wipe the inside of the cannister a few times, as dust sometimes builds up inside and the cannister and won't shake out easily.
- It's so much quieter than my other vaccum! My Bissell sounded like a plane coming in for landing, and my toddler son was terrified of it! It took him just a few times to get used to this vaccum and now he "pushes it around the house," pretending to vacuum :0)
- It really feels sturdy. I was nervous paying this much for a vaccum and was terrified it would break, but it's surprisingly solid! It feels like it will last a long time.
What I don't like:
- You can't vacuum up fine powder, like flour or floor cleaning powders. This is frustrating for me, as I was using a deep clean powder on my floors before purchasing this vacuum. Dyson told me, though, that fine powder can clog up the filters, causing problems with sunction and/or shortening the life of the vacuum. So no more deep clean powders for me. I bought a deep cleaner instead, and it works great. Dyson does sell a product called Zorb that you sprinkle on your powder and then vaccum up, but I wasn't happy with the reviews I read of the product. <http://www.amazon.com/Dyson-Zorb-Carpet-Maintenance-Powder/dp/B00062MT88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1243011548&sr=8-1>
- Dyson doesn't explain how to take the cannister apart to occasionally clean it. I had a lot of dust build up inside the cannister walls and hate seeing it in there. I figured out how to easily take the cannister apart, it's actually made to come apart, but Dyson doesn't tell you how to do it. You have to figure that out on your own.
- For me, the directions on how to assemble the vaccuum were a little frustrating. They don't really explain anything, they only have pictures. I'm a person who puts things together by reading instructions, not looking at pictures, but thankfully, my husband is a picture guy, and we got it together fine.
Bottom line: This vaccum is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone. We've told all our family and friends about it and I'm so glad we spent the extra bucks to get a really quality vacuum. Our house is a lot cleaner now that we've made this purchase!
Customer Review: I Think I'm In Love!
Summary: 5 Stars
It must have been the full moon! I was trying to vacuum our carpet but was seeing that pet hair was not coming up. I checked our old Hoover Windtunnel and found the rotating brush was not moving. Not a surprise since it has been temperamental lately. In checking the brush I found that the plastic bar rotates on bearings of felt - that's right felt! The felt had worn away and the bar now was straining against the plastic and would not turn.
So, a new vacuum was in order. We have several pets and pet hair was a prime consideration. We went through the reviews and quickly noted that Dyson was positively reviewed in most places. But really, - $500 for a vacuum? We were heading toward another Hoover or Bissell but stopped short. Reviews of those units talked about noise, weight, messy bagless clean-up. If you hate a product going out the door - maybe we should be looking elsewhere?
So we took the plunge and bought a Dyson DC25 "All Floors". In reading the reviews it sounded like "The Animal" was what we needed for the pet hair. But Dyson, like many manufacturers, uses model numbers in a bewildering mix of letters/numbers. It turns out there are 3 DC25 models - The Animal, All Floors, and a Blueprint -Special Edition. They appear to have the same base machine - just different colors and attachments.
We found the only difference between the All Floors and The Animal was an attachment for The Animal that was used to clean stairs and furniture. The Mini Turbine Head fit at the end of the hose. This, the purple color and $50 seem to be the only difference. The Blueprint-Special Edition has a flatter head configuration to better get under things. It is about $30 more than the All Floors.
What we found was that we didn't need the Mini Turbine Head - the All Floors easily picked up hair with the include tools. If you find you want it - it can be purchased separately. We saw many on eBay.
So we got the unit home and unpacked it. Its various parts snapped together. The unit is all plastic, but strong plastic. The click-together was solid and reassuring. When turned on the unit is very quiet (compared to our old Hoover) and pretty light. The pet hair was sucked-up in one pass - amazing. It was actually kind of fun using this machine; I never thought I'd say that about a vacuum cleaner! It just works so well.
So, what the down-side? Well, the electrical cord is slightly shorter than our old Hoover and need to be moved more. In our house, the Hoover could be plugged in once downstairs and get all areas. The Dyson has to be plugged in a couple of places to reach the far ends of the house. The hose attachment is a built-in part of the machine that extends to clean stairs, furniture, and dust ceilings and so on. It too, is slightly shorter than the Hoover (although the Hoover hose was a separate attachment not stored within the unit itself like the Dyson). I could clean all the stairs with the Hoover hose without moving the unit - the Dyson will reach almost all the way but need to be repositioned to get all the stairs. The Dyson does not have a light - I came to rely on the Hoover headlight to see into dark corners.
I have forgotten to mention the bagless nature of the machine. We have always had vacuum bags in the machines prior to this. In reading the reviews, many people noted other manufacturers had awkward bagless set-ups. They were hard to get to, hard to remove, hard to empty and easy to spill dirt all over the place. Not the Dyson - the clear canister is up front where you can see when it's full, has an easy click button to remove it and take it to the trash can. A simple button releases the bottom of the canister and the dirt falls out. Clean, simple and effective.
We have had the machine about 3 weeks and are having no buyer's remorse. As long as the unit continues to work as well as it has so far - we will have thought our money has been well spent. It is just a joy to use this great product!
Customer Review: Stop R&Ding (Research & Delaying) just buy it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Was always interested in the Dysons. Really neat design especially for a vacuum cleaner. What can I say, I'm a sucker for "cool". Anyway, I'm the guy who usually get's stuck with vacuuming and I was tired of our Hoover. Big, heavy, not maneuverable and it didn't "suck". So, I started researching. Lots of choices but fell for the Dyson DC25. I actually read ALL the reviews, yeah really. For those of you who don't read them all let me quote an early review of the DC15 (predecessor of the DC25 I believe) that had me rolling on the floor:
"5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Man's Vacuum!, June 13, 2007
By The One-Man Swarm (Aurora, IL) - See all my reviews
When the wife and I divided household chores, I drew vacuuming. "No problem," I thought. "I'll just go out and get the baddest vacuum out there." That vacuum, friends, is the Dyson DC15. This is the vacuum that Tim and Al would have built on Tool Time. The vacuum that the Spartans would have taken into the Battle of Thermopylae. The vacuum the NFL uses to suck body parts out of field turf. This is a man's vacuum."
That did it for me. Discussed this with my wife who was a bit concerned about the price but she said ok. This is one slick vacuum. First, I noticed in some of the reviews that there was some actual complaining about the packaging and the being able to get the unit out of the box due to the styrofoam. No problems, they must have changed that as mine was in 3 pieces that were packed in cardboard packaging (off to the recycling thank you). I put the unit together in minutes....snap snap. Now sweat de da. Then it was off to testing. The unit is quiet or at least quieter than the Hoover (also a tornado style unit) and it is much better at maneuvering with the "ball". Really nice. The hose/wand in the handle is neat. The larger canister is nice, especially in that you hit a button and it pops out. Take it to the trash can and hit another button and bottom opens and the "yuckie stuff falls out". No touchie the yuckie stuff. Cool.
One of the recurring items in the customer reviews was that "their houses actually smelled better" after using the Dyson. Well, can't confirm that yet as we haven't been using it that much. Think that this may be due to the 2 hepa filters in the unit. (they have to cleaned....rinsed out ... every 3 months). As some of you have commented....Dyson seems to be the Apple of the vacuum world. I agree, the unit actually looks nice....neat...cool. Did I mention a 5 yr guarantee???? I agree with only two complaints of owners. First, the unit will always start up in the brush mode. You have to hit a button to stop the beater. Wish that you could "tell" it what you wanted b4 startup but a minor point. Second, when using the hose/wand the hose is a bit stiff. It tends to pull the unit along with it. Well, I don't use the hose that much so I can live with it. Maybe it will loosen up a bit later. For those out there with critters. We have 2 dogs and one cat. The Dyson does great with critter hair. I believe that Dyson does have a model that is marketed at people with critters. Don't know how it could be any better than the DC25. Does anyone else shudder when you empty the canister? I mean is this stuff REALLY in the rugs???? BTW, we have wood floors with carpets, it does great on both. Did I mention that this thing "sucks"....in a good way. Amazon had the best price I could find but other have purchased with coupons at Bed & Bath for even lower but I decided to go with Amazon. If you are even thinking of a new vacuum I'd recommend the DC 25. Cheers
Customer Review: A machine that deserves 5 stars
Summary: 5 Stars
When I saw a lot of 5 star reviews and heard people raving about the Dyson, it made me curious. I checked out Consumer Reports reviews, and I found it odd that the vacuums CR recommends have a lot of negative reviews while the Dysons were much more positive. At the time of this review, the DC25 wasn't listed in their testing, but I would expect it to rate very highly. If it isn't, I will have to conclude that CR has no idea what they are talking about. So, with that out of the way, let's move onto the review.
Out of the box, the vacuum requires minimal assembly. The roller brush head must be snapped into the body. One click and you're done. No tools. The attachment wand/handle must be clicked into place, as well. And finally, the two wand attachments included must be snapped onto the body. That's it. Nothing more. Four clicks and you're done. I barely consider it assembly.
As many have stated, the vacuum has great suction. In our closet, we vacuumed the edge of the carpet where it meets our hardwards. The edge wasn't tacked down very well during installation, and we could see it physically sucking the carpet up, lifting it from the floor.
As a test, we vacuumed a roughly 4x8 section of carpet that sees average traffic. The canister was half-filled with very fine grey dust and dog hairs. It was nasty. We had been using an Oreck XL, which stank terribly when in use. The Dyson was clearly pulling up a lot of old dust and dirt from the carpet.
We have a Jack Russell with fine white sharp hairs. He sheds constantly. The DC25 took care of all the hair on hardwoods, irregular slate tile, and carpet. We were told about the Bissell Pet Pack attachments Bissell 3260 Pet Pack Vacuum-Cleaner Attachments that work with the DC25. They don't snap-fit, but work just fine with pressure fitting. Using the pet roller and rubber head, I was able to quickly clean our dog's pet bed. I thought it would be a total waste of time, because hairs were imbedded into the fleece. I had the entire bed looking like new in less than a minute, and the canister on the Dyson looked like I was making cotton candy with the hair swirling around inside. Amazing.
I find the cord length just right. I would think a lot of cord would be a pain to manage. I don't mind plugging it in after each room. And like others have stated, if this is a problem, you can always buy a drop cord.
The attachments work well, but I do wish Dyson had included a swivel/flexi head standard. An angled brush attachment would make using the wand easier. Still, the simple lift-off action of the wand is great. Flip open the top cap, pull up on the wand, and it disconnects from the vacuum and suction diverts to the wand. Or, disconnet the wand and use the hose directly. The expanding hose is a little stiff, but the one I tried in the store was much looser, so I expect that to get better with age and loosen up. If there is any area I would like to see improved, it is that I wish the wheels could lock on the body when using the hose. I guess having it roll prevents the vacuum from tipping over if the hose is pulled too tight, but it would be handy to have the option to lock the wheels and prevent the vacuum from rolling at times.
I am very happy with my purchase, and I would highly recommend this vacuum.