Dyson DC17 Animal Cyclone Upright Vacuum Cleaner
by Dyson
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List Price: Our Price: $335.00 You Save: $214.99 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Dyson DC17 Animal Cyclone Upright Vacuum Cleaner
Customer Review: Amazing~ (3 yrs later, still love it!)
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend of mine purchased a Dyson, and he challenged me to purchase one too. So we took the test, after my Hoover broke, and we both vacuumed our place with our old vacuums and then vacuumed the same area with our new Dyson. It was as if the Dyson went UNDER the carpet and picked up everything from underneath. Someone complained earlier that the Dyson canister was too small and had to empty it several times during the job, but this is imho evidence that Dyson picks up far more than your regular vacuum. A year ago, I purchased a Hoover for over $200, badly constructed, flimsy and inexplicably heavy, the weight difference was negligible between my Dyson and my Hoover (unlike what most people have claimed, using a Dyson was no different than a Hoover, weight-wise), but unlike the Hoover that you have to PUSH around, the Dyson does self-propel almost, making the back-and-forth motion of vacuuming far more effortless than with the Hoover or any other vacuum (remember, over time, this motion requires a little more arm stamina). As soon as I took my Dyson from the box, immediately, the difference was obvious. It looks tighter, feels tighter and sturdy, and the extra few hundred dollars are obvious. It is like having a steak at Sizzler's and then having a steak at Mastro's in Beverly Hills, the difference begins with the ambience and as soon as you enter the neighborhood, you begin to see the difference (in this case, even my Dyson box looked far more sophisticated).
I have used a Dyson before, one imported from Germany (a canister Dyson) which we purchased while traveling. We loved it, and it was very practical and it did very well. Nevertheless, I must admit that the DC17 has amazing suction power compared to my old Dyson. I can't attest as to the difference between the CD17 versus any of the uprights imported into the U.S., but having owned a very old Dyson before they were brought into the U.S. market, I can honestly say that Dyson does improve its products when they release new models -- unlike some tech products for which the improvement is almost unnoticeable. Hence, a DC17 is probably a good upgrade, if you've been using a very old Dyson.
As far as how long they last, I can't comment because I just got my Dyson. However, the old one (which was kept by my ex and still uses) has lasted more than eight years without a blink. It did not loose suction during the five years I've used it, never broke, never gave us any trouble or grief, and this is an understatement considering that it is ME who used it -- I am INFAMOUS in making anything last, I'm phenomenally good at breaking anything I own (gone through watches after watches, five iPods, two vacuums, a treadmill, etc., you get the idea).
The instructions that come with the Dyson are bad, I admit. This may be partly due to the fact that it is made by engineers, not fancy writers, and it is marketted worldwide to a very large audience. However, the pictures are not that difficult to figure out, if you have at least half a brain; besides, I never really read instructions anyway, does anyone else?
The cord is long, as mentioned by other reviewers. The Dyson is not as wide and as ignorantly large as my Hoover -- if put side by side, my Hoover is unnecessarily and obviously much larger than my Dyson. Perhaps it is the way they designed the Dyson that they didn't provide an easier way to manage the cord, but who am I to complain when my Hoover's got the EXACT same problem? The cord is in the back and must be manually coiled unto the handle. However, the only reason why this is more of an inconvenience than with my Hoover, is that in order to pull out and use the extending arm, is by uncoiling the entire power cord first.
Moreover, unlike my Hoover, when my Dyson is parked, it stops sucking from the upright and the suction automatically switches over to the extension arm. Neat feature you won't see in any other vacuum. Lastly, it is easy to measure the suction of your Dyson compared to any other vacuum. Notice the amount and power of air coming out of the vacuum while it starts to suction. On my Hoover, I could hardly feel the amount of air coming out, air that made me sneeze, but on my Dyson, it literally blows every piece of paper nearby (is THAT powerful), and you can literally breathe in the air coming out, is so clean.
I'm most certainly impressed, and I can seriously see how one would and/or SHOULD vacuum with a Dyson if you have children around. I can't imagine all the dusty and contaminated air coming out of any old Hoover near children, especially babies. I have two little nephews and a niece, all between 1 to 2 1/2 years old, and I wouldn't have them over until I was done vacuuming, but now I am not worried about vacuuming while they're over and I'm babysitting.
The Dyson is worth its price and the quality of the product that you'll receive will be apparent once you open the box. You get what you pay for, and I love mine.
It's been three years, and it's a verified Amazon.com purchase (check it out, I'm not lying), and it still performs and looks brand new. We have a housekeeper who drags the monster vacuum around, and I know that when I'm not looking she bumps it left and right, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was thrown around when I wasn't home. Guess what? Not even a dent in that monster of a machine. I recently took a disinfecting wipe and cleaned it, and now it looks like I just took it out of the box. The cords is still a pain in the rear, but as I've mentioned, three years ago, my Hoover had the same problem.
Hope you're enjoying your vacuum, I'm just glad I didn't have to buy two more between now and then.
Customer Review: It really isn't hype... this thing WORKS!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off I have to admit I didn't buy this thru Amazon... my Hoover Windtunnel had broken (again!) and I needed it too quickly to wait even a couple of days to have one delivered. I live with a 75 pound Golden Retreiver who sheds heavily and things get out of control fast. Besides I wasn't sure this was the model I wanted and didn't want to go through the return process if it didn't work out. I shouldn't have worried... this machine is amazing!
The first thing I cleaned was the 8x10 rug in my family room. I had just vacuumed the rug with the Hoover two days before but this machine got out hair from between the fibers and sucked up dust that was buried deep in the weave! The bottom layer in the container was mostly dog hair but on top of that was a fine gray powder. That rug gets moved and the tile under it cleaned on a regular basis so the dust had to be inside the woven fibers of the carpet. There was enough 'stuff' in the container to fill a bag from my Hoover and I think I could have knitted a new dog with all the hair that got sucked up by the Dyson!
Most of my house has tile or wood floors but every carpet I ran this machine over gave up stuff that had apparently lodged itself in there for the duration. On tile it sucks dog hair several inches from the head into the machine! The house immediately smelled cleaner... and it was clean, or so I thought, in the first place. I've noticed that I can go a day or so longer between dustings since I got this machine too. Probably a result of less dust being in the carpets after vacuuming.
True, the machine is mostly plastic but so were almost all the vaccum cleaners I've owned and none of them suffered broken parts after multiple years of use. The canister is really easy to remove and empty although you might have to give it a wiggle to dislodge clumps of dog hair. You don't have to touch it to close it up again either- just set it down gently on the floor and pick it up again. The cord does have to be off the machine in order to use the wand but chances are it's going to be off anyway... how much cleaning do you do with the cord wrapped on the machine anyway?
I've heard about problems with sharp edges on the machine cutting material on furniture. If you don't bang your furniture with the machine by shoving it too far under you won't have any problems. I can't find any sharp edges on my machine anyway.
The machine is easy to take apart to clean. Someone whose name won't be mentioned here decided to try and vaccum up a spot where the dog had gotten sick and coated the insides of the machine with dog barf. The parts came apart with just a quarter as a tool and were very easy to clean. It's as good as new but Dyson privledges were still revoked!
The machine seems to pull itself along with the beater brush on but it's surprisingly easy to pull back as well. I like the fact that I can turn off the brush so it won't scratch delicate floors or pull carpet fringes. It's nice to not have to adjust the height for different floor types as well but I've noticed the brush head bounces sometimes when pulling it back over the edge of an area rug. A minor irritant.
This machine is basically the same as the DC17 Asthma+Allergy except this one comes with some different attachements and it's purple instead of blue. If you need the mini turbine and low reach tool instead of the soft brush and mattress tool it's a good deal; if not get the other model and save $50. Most extra tools don't store onboard though so keep that in mind - they need a home of their own for storage.
The instructions for this machine flat out suck! You won't need an engineering degree to assemble it but it may seem like it at first. You have to attach the hose to the wand and then attach that combo to the machine. The picture directions DO NOT help and it doesn't fit together like you think it should.
Here's how to do it: The wand/handle is packed seperately - pull the metal wand out of the plastic handle by grabbing onto the red part and pulling it straight out. The red part is where you connect the attachments so the hose attachment is on the other end. Attach the hose to that side and then push the wand back down into the hose. As you do this the assembly will be brought closer and closer to the machine... now just slip the assembly into it's slot and click it back into the base. Now wasn't that easy? Not if you follow their instructions!
To use the wand just grab the red part and gently pull straight up. There is nothing to click or release. When you're done slip the wand back inside the hose and click it back into place on the machine. Simple... if you know how!
There is no release lever for the vacuum head either - to use the vacuum you step gently on the indented section at the front corner of the machine and gently pull back on the handle to release it.
All the plastic parts seem to be high quality. If you don't manhandle this machine I can see it lasting for years... get a little rough or handle it carelessly and you'll be buying some expensive parts quickly. This means adolescents, angry teenagers who don't want to vaccum for you and people who think dog barf is vaccumable probably shouldn't be using a $500+ machine unsupervised! Common sense will keep you from damaging it.
I never thought I'd be happy about spending this much money on a vaccum but I'd buy another one tomorrow! I've had a Kirby, an Electrolux, a Hoover, a Dirt Devil AND a Roomba (which I still love for different reasons) but this is by far the best machine I've owned. If you get one I hope you'll love it as much as I love mine!
Customer Review: Worth The Money
Summary: 5 Stars
After about 3 years of spotty service, our old Bissell finally bit the dust. Actually it bit the dust about a year ago, I just got tired of trying to fix the thing every two weeks.
I think for most people buying a vacuum is not a big deal, but we are cat owners so pet hair is a big problem for us. On top of that I didn't want to buy a cheap vacuum that would fall apart after a few years like our Bissell did. Thanks to a clever marketing campaign, the Dyson DC17 Animal was at the top of our list.
I didn't worry about less than positive reviews at Consumer Reports since our last vacuum was rated highly and yet still turned out to be junk. What I did look at were the many positive reviews at Amazon, which in the end persuaded me to go ahead an make the purchase. So far I am glad I did.
The first impression of this vacuum is good. I was surprised by the weight. It's quite heavy for plastic, but it feels sturdy, which is a good thing. When I first vacuumed I was not really surprised with the amount of hair and dirt it pulled up. For the price I expected it to clean really well, especially since our old vacuum didn't work that well anymore.
What I was surprised at was how well it cleaned our apartments every single week since the first cleaning. Our cats track liter out of the cat box and shed like crazy. So seeing mounds of dirt and clutter in the dust bin makes me believe this thing is really working.
A few of the things I really like about the Dyson DC17:
The low reach floor tool is great for getting under tables and couches without having to move them. It's also great for cleaning under our bed, which is near impossible to move easily thanks to its size and weight. And since the cats hide under there, we were finally able to clean up a big source of dust and hair.
The rotating bar is easy to turn off, simply push the button next to the power switch. The kitty litter box is in the bathroom, and normally trying to vacuum the litter off the tile floor caused litter to spray everywhere, which meant getting a broom and dust pan out to clean up. Not so with the Dyson. We simply hit the button to turn the spinning bottom off and then vacuum. It works great. I can imagine this would be great for someone with hardwood floors too.
I also feel like the air coming out of the vacuum is cleaner than normal. I think this is the HEPA filter at work sucking the small particles out the carpet. Maybe it's my imagination, but I still like it.
A few of the things I don't like about the Dyson DC17:
The reason we bought this model over a standard model was the name "animal." We figured since we have pets we should get the vacuum made for pets. As far as I can tell though, the only difference between this model and the non-animal models is the worthless mini-turbine brush. The brush seems to be suction driven, and has proven to be no match for the cat hair lodged in our couch. A better method has been to use either the brush tool or the stair tool, both of which are standard I think, to clean the couches.
I am also not fond of the telescoping reach wand. The solid section is pretty long, which makes vacuuming in close up areas like in a window sill slightly awkward. It's not a deal breaker, but it is a minor gripe.
Recommendation:
If you are in need of a good vacuum, and I think everyone is, and you have the money to spend, I think the Dyson DC17 is a great buy. I don't know if the other versions of the DC17 are cheaper than the animal, but if they are it might be smart to consider one of those over this one. Like I said, I have found the mini-turbine head attachment to be close to useless.
Other than that, this vacuum is great. And when looking at the price, don't forget that there are no filters to replace ever. Our Bissell vacuum had 4 different filters that would have cost about $50 total to replace, and we were supposed to replace them every 6 months to keep it cleaning well. So over the course of a few years this vacuum could actually save you money if you normally stick to the filter replacement schedule.
Customer Review: Finally a vaccum I didn't return
Summary: 5 Stars
After my 6 year old Sharp died I began a search that took much longer than I expected. I read Consumer Reports, went to 2 vaccum cleaner shops, cleaned the floor at Sears with everyone of their floor modles and even sat through a Rainbow demonstration. Who knew finding a vaccum cleaner would be so time consuming and quite frankly expensive????
I tried a Riccar upright....sale price $399 and took it back the same day. After the home demo of the Rainbow, and not wanting to spend $1895 for something I might not like, I borrowed a friends (she is s really good friend to lend me her relatively new Rainbow) and tried it for a weekend. I found it to be combersome and after it was all said and done I had strined a muscle in my neck with all the cleaning I did and had to see a chiropracter. The Rainbow did not cause all my muscle problems as I have been treated by a chiropracter for a little over a year, but I can certianly say it didn't help it either.
I have a 2000 sq ft home with hardwood floors throught and several antique rugs...all with fringe (this vaccum will automatically shut off the beater bar if I accidently suck up the fringe....that was worth $500 to me). My husband is an oriental rug dealer and these rugs are very old and have lots of deep down dust in them I'm sure. So I wanted something that would clean the wood floors and rugs with as much ease as possible.
January 17th was my birthday. I met my mom for lunch but before we ate we went to the mall. I was making one last ditch effort to find the "perfect" vaccum cleaner. And there it was.......the Dyson 17. I had looked at it once before but for $500+ was it really worth it? The salesman was quite patient as I asked quesiton after question as I vaccumed most of the appliance department. Still a bit uneasy I sucked it up and made it purchase.
When I got back home I put it all together (not hard at all) and began to vaccum.........WOW!!! I could not believe what I was seeing? The Rainbow was just used on that some rug and the Dyson still picked up more dust and dirt. Then came time to empty the canister. I expected this to be the point at which I would pack it up again to take it back, but no, it was so easy and the dust didn't fly everywhere. Yeah a little flew back into the air so now I have started using a plastic shopping bag and I just empty it and tie it up and throw it away. Very little , if any, mess is made now.
The attachments are terrific. I love the low floor tool for getting my bathroom floors and it even fits behind the toilet. The dusting brush is great for my plantation blinds and even ceiling fans. The upholstry tool is great for throw pillows. I have leather furniture and that is all I have used it on so far.
I know this is a bit lengthy but if someone else is out there reading reviews like I did I wanted as much information as anyone was willing to give, especially when you are considering spending $500+ for a vaccum cleaner.
One of the most important things to me was getting one that would suck up pet hair. We have a 1 yr old black lab and he sheds, not too bad but enough that my husband thinks our house is never clean. The greatest thing is that after using the Dyson 17 he said everything looked cleaner to him. WOW! He is a wonderful man and tries to be supporative but spending $500+ on a vaccum cleaner was not top on his list of things to do but he is glad I did it now. I have yet to try the mini turbine tool but I think it will be great for vaccuming out the car.
I would strongly recommend this vaccum to anyone who wants to make cleaning a little easier. I have not had a problem with the hose as some people have stated. It is easy to pull out and has a very long reach. The cord is longer than most I have tried. Auto shut off of the brush beater bar is a huge plus for me as is the bagless feature. I just cannot say enough good things about it. Go ahead.....spend the money and enjoy cleaning for a change.
Customer Review: Owned for over two years and still blown away by it.
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, I just got through cleaning my DC17 yesterday and thought I would finally write a review on it for Amazon. I've owned the vac for 2 years and 5 months now, so I've had plenty of time to use the heck out of it. Still to this day, I am impressed with the unit's build quality, functionality and suction power. Like many other Dyson owners, I struggled to find a good vacuum that would last before purchasing my Dyson. I owned two Kenmore vacs, two Bissells, a Panasonic and a Dirt Devil before purchasing my DC17 back in Jan of '07. All vacuums I used before my Dyson would usually last about a year or so before finally giving out or losing 50% or more of their suction due to the motor being overwhelmed with dust, or the mechanics getting clogged.
The last vacuum before my Dyson was a $165.00 Bissell cyclonic with double HEPA filters. It was supposed to be one of the best vacs on the market, so I thought I would give it a try and finally replaced an ailing $200.00 Kenmore that only lasted a couple years. I took really good care of the Bissell and it worked great for about 8 months or so until the HEPA filters and the pre motor filters finally clogged to no end. I then found out that to order all the replacement filters I needed, it would cost me around $90.00!! This is less than a year after purchasing the unit brand new. I was very disappointed to say the least, especially since if you go by the unit's manual, you should replace all filters every six months or so to keep the machine operating at peak performance. I also noticed that an inordinate amount of dust had been building up in the mechanical bits of the unit and in the pre motor assembly. You could literally smell the dust when you used the unit. I regularly cleaned the unit and sucked out all the dust from inside the machine with another vacuum, so it wasn't due to lack of maintenance. I thought there had to be a better way and a better vacuum out there than this poor excuse of engineering.
I had many reservations about purchasing a Dyson at first, due to their high price and the fact that they were relatively new to the states. I got a 20% coupon from Linen's n Things and thought I would give Dyson a try. Upon unpacking my new shiny Dyson at home, I was immediately impressed with the build quality of the unit and all of its accessories. I really does look and feel like you would think a $600.00 vacuum would look and feel. The parts fit together perfectly, there are no sharp edges, each component seems overly-engineered for a vacuum and it has a very sturdy feel to it. After owning the unit for two and a half years now, I can say that my initial assessment was spot on. I have not had one single problem with the machine and it has performed brilliantly. You won't believe the dust this thing picks up!! I take very good care of it and clean the filter every three months or so and use a brush to clean out and dust the root cyclone assembly about 4 to 5 times per year to keep it operating at top performance. I inspect the belt, clean the sole plate assembly and the brush bar and wipe and dust the unit. It still performs today at the exact same level as it did when it was brand new. I am still impressed with its level of suction and build quality. I just can't say enough about my Dyson. As long as Dyson continues to make vacuums like my DC17, I will never buy another brand as long as I live. I also own a Dyson Root 6 Animal hand held and love it!!
Pros:
- Build quality
- 5-year warranty (Best in the business)
- Dyson customer support
- Suction power
- Accessories (price is very good too)
- Cleaning power
- Ease to clean and maintain
- Lifetime filters (no need to buy anything else)
- Excellent air filtration (I have horrible allergies)
Cons:
- Cumbersome to carry
- Wand hose a little stiff, even two plus years later