Old Mr Dyson has done alright (Dyson DC04i)

Member Name: buzzard_cad

Product:	Dyson DC04i
Date:	24/10/07 (177 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good suction, easy to empty

Disadvantages: Noisy, lose plastic fittings

My Dyson DC04 has been completely reliable, it picks up everything including cat hair and it is easy to empty and maintain. On the flip side the Dyson brand has reliability problems, its noisy and some of the plastic fittings may not fit very well.

I bought my DC04 from Powerhouse back way back in May 2000, I paid £269.99 and it came in a coloured box. To get the box in the car I only had to put one side of the rear seats down (Model used 1992 Vauxhall Cavalier Saloon). I had just bought my first house a tiny one bedroom terraced place with stairs and nice thick carpets. I had heard how wonderful the Dyson vacuum cleaners were and a liked the bright yellow colour. I picked the DC04 as it had the minimal amount of attachments and I didn't need the extra cleaning and filtering of the higher spec' models.

The DC04 is an upright cleaner, it is bagless with a large clear plastic container for the collected detritus, the rest of the cleaner is also plastic and is coloured light grey or bright yellow. It has a handle for upright use that also converts to the extension hose and it has three cleaning attachments available to go on the end. All this came in a large box with good clear instructions so I had no problem in putting it together and using it.

This cleaner is powerful it works really well on carpets and lino floors. It picks up everything including cat hair, building waste such as small lumps of plaster and the occasional Monday morning cornflake explosion. The DC04 has an extension hose for cleaning stairs, nooks and crannies, however on stairs it will not reach right to the top step. The extension hose is much better than other cleaners of the time, as they had a separate hose mounted on the side. A push of a yellow button and the handle lifts up, there is a yellow cap that flips open and you can attach one of the three nozzles onto the end. Two of the nozzles are located above the plastic container in shaped recesses, the other thin nozzle is attached to the handle and all stay on the cleaner when I'm using it around the house.
The only problem I have had is the flexible extension hose always comes away from the metal extension pipe. I guess the plastic clip doesn't fit or work very well. It has never been much of a problem as I hold the plastic end of the hose when using the extension and it is not in an uncomfortable position. It is also a very noisy cleaner, making the cats dash out of the house every time it starts up. It is slightly heavy to carry up stairs, but when is an upright easy to get upstairs? I solved this problem by moving to a ground floor maisonette.

To empty the cleaner is very easy, push a yellow button and the collector comes away in one large chunk. Place it on the floor near the bin and unclip the top filter housing from the collector and empty the collector into the bin. It's easy and you don't have to find a new paper bag and attach it on. Yes you get a little kick back of dust, but you get that from the old bags when you put something on top of them in the bin. I tend wash out the clear collector every other empty to wash away the dust stuck on the inside.

The cleaner has numerous little plastic items that can be removed for maintenance. The filter on the top needs removing and wash every six months and I tend to take apart the extension hose and some detachable bends and wash them out once a year. I do this as dust can get clogged on the bends and in my view looking after something is better than paying for an extended warranty.

The DC04 came with a two year warranty, I've had no need for this as everything so far has held together. Dyson offered me an extension to the warranty of up to five years, but I didn't bother with it as I think warranties are a waste of money. If any thing goes wrong it is usually within the first year or two and the manufacturers warranty should cover it. I my view there should be no need to pay for any extensions, they are not worth the paper they are written on, particularly if the item needing repair is not covered by the small print in the warranty.

For me this has been a good vacuum cleaner, true I have looked after it, but I do the same to any appliance in the house. It has given me over seven years of trouble free use and I haven't spent a single penny on paper bags or getting it fixed. I would definitely buy another Dyson, despite what people say about the brand being unreliable and noisy. It does a very good job picking up the mess and it is very easy to maintain.

Thanks for reading

(c)2007 buzzard_cad
This review can be found at other websites under the same user name and is also written by me.

Summary: It's given good service and I'm in no hurry to change it.

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Cleaning/Maintenance: