Dyson DC15, great for body builders, not for little old ladies! (Dyson DC15)

Member Name: eowyn3066

Product:	Dyson DC15
Date:	03/06/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great suction, hepa filtration, mobile.

Disadvantages: very heavy, hose is always breaking.

The Dyson DC15 is my second Dyson, having had one of the original DC01's. Lets face it, we have all heard about their constant sucking ability, cyclone technology and hepa filtration systems rammed down our throats for years! So I don't plan on talking about them here at all!

We all know they are great vacuum cleaners, I guess that fact that I am now on my second one says a lot. Lets face it they do exactly what they say on the box. So why am I bothering to review it you may ask, why indeed! The question is is this the best vacuum on the market in it's category?

My current model is the DC15 animal ball. I have a cat who sheds lots of hair and there is no doubt that it does pick up lots of fur. The suction capabilities are impressive, that's a given. The manoeuvrability is fabulous, compared to a standard vacuum, it's mobile and responsive. The downdside is that because the ball is bulky you can't reach under low or not so low furniture. You end up having to use the attachments to reach under furniture, which just adds time to an already very dull job!

It's also incredibly heavy! I'm pretty strong, but I still struggle to get this up and down the stairs. If you have a bad back or are elderly this machine would be a disaster for you! In fact I have a friend that has two of these, one for downstairs and one for upstairs, just to avoid this problem. It's also made for quite tall people, if you are short heaven help you trying to carry this anywhere! I am 5'6" and I still have my hand tucked up under my arm when I take this upstairs, not a very comfortable position!

Onto the attachments! They are all attached to the machine, however when you are struggling upstairs with your very tall, heavy DC15, as it brushes against you you knock off at least two attachments which then bounce back down the stairs behind you. Very irritating and causes you an extra trip back down to retrieve them!!

The hose is not long enough to reach from the bottom of the stairs to the top (we have pretty average length stairs). This means that you have to then take it upstairs to do the top 3 or 4 stairs that you can't reach from the bottom. All very well as you have to take it up anyway. However, as mentioned this is a tall vacuum, so resting it at the top of the stairs while you vacuum down them is precarious to say the least. To say I have had to catch it on it's downwards fall on a few occassions is being kind to it. Believe me, catching one of these beasts is no mean feat! Especially as you are holding onto the hose at the time so your hands aren't free. It's a bit scary shall we say, and on one particularly bad occasion, it took me with it.

On the subject of the hose, it breaks so often it's a nightmare! To replace it is costly at around £30, it the two years I have had my DC15 I am on my 2nd hose. I have also had to replace the stair attachment twice too again at around £20 each.

The cheaper way of replacing attachments is actually to have an inhouse service, the last time I had one of these it was a fixed £55. for this they replaced any attachments that were broken or worn and all other parts that needed replacing except the motor (which if needed costs extra) so if you need lots of new parts this is definately the way to go.

On the whole it is a great vacuum, there are some irritation with it, as with most things. I guess the question is would I buy a third one? I think next time I would check out the sebo before making a choice!!

Summary: Does exaclty what it says on the box!

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