Dyson Ball Multi Floor Upright Vacuum - Corded, iron / yellow, (l x w x h): 13.7 x 11.0 x 43.3 (206900-01)

Okay, let me start of by saying I've owned two vacuums before this one in my adult life. One was a Kenmore my mother gave me after college and the other was a Bissell. The Kenmore did it's job but was roughly 25 years old when I finally got the Bissell about four years ago. It has been an awful vacuum for me with little power. The only cool thing about it was the retractable cord.My basis for judging the Dyson is use in my house which has carpet, rugs, and wood floors. I'm breaking this review into four categories so hopefully it is helpful to some folks.Build/materials: Okay, before I purchased this vacuum I did a good deal of research. One of the main points of criticism was the materials used (mainly plastic). The line of argument is that it is cheaply made and will not be a durable machine. First, I knew before purchasing that the plastics issue was largely make weight without citing some specific problem with the Dyson (like part X breaks for a ton of people). I didn't see any of that --- just general worries or concerns. I also know that plastics are plenty durable even compared to many metals. For example, I still have a Kenmore --- which is nearly all plastic --- it's been around since the 1980s. Third, the beauty of products that are made of plastics is that their components are easily replaceable which actually makes most products more durable, not less. As far as my own experience, the Dyson seems really solid but also light which I Iove. One final point about the plastic/durability issue, what the heck are people doing with vacuums that they fear the Dyson will not hold up? Remds me of an eposide of "The Office" where Dwight Schrute threw a baby stroller off a building to see if the costs (I think they said it was $500) was really "worth" it.Design/features: There are four things I love about this vacuum in terms of features. One is the ball that it "rides" on. It is a joy to vacuum because of it as I feel like it is gliding. Sure it takes some getting used to but once I got the hang of it I was vacuuming all over the place. Second, I love the wand with the long extension which allows you to keep the vacuum at the bottom of stairs and clean each step right up to the top. Amazing. I was actually shocked that they vacuum didn't tip over when I got to the top. Third, I'm impressed so far with the self-adjusting cleaning head. I've got hard wood floors, carpets, and rugs in the house. So far it has done a great job on all those surfaces. Fourth, the push button dirtbin is a net and rather "clean" feature. With my old Bissel I would get dirt everywhere trying to emptying out the tray. Not with the Dyson. It allows you to just take the canister out and place it over the trash to release the dirt. My only complaint is the lack of a retractable cord. Really annoying that you have to manually loop the cord. I did it for years with my Kenmore but I got used to the Bissell's retractable cord (Hey, it did one thing right) .Power/Cleaning: Wow! This machine cleans like no other. I can't believe I lived without this vacuum for this long. My wife had just cleaned the rug area of our living room (with the Bissell) not two days before we got the Dyson. Once it was delivered I used it right away in the living room and boy did it get a ton of dirt, etc. Just amazing.

I want to start out by saying this is THE Dyson. The 'full' version when it comes to power. I state that because a lot of questions, answers to questions and reviews here state a lot of stuff that just isn't true.This Dyson, the Multi Floor, is the replacement for the DC65. Just do an Amazon search on the DC65 and it will tell you it's only available through 3rd party sellers and that the Multi Floor has replaced it.There is one 3rd party seller in particular who is answering questions about the comparison of the DC65 and this Multi Floor and says this is the DC40 and that the DC65 is much more powerful. That's a bald face lie. Most likely he's left holding the bag on old stock that was overpriced by $100 and now the new version is out for $100 less, probably less than he paid for his DC65's and he's worried about that.I did some checking by googling "Dyson DC40 vs Multi Floor" and Dyson "DC65 vs Multi Floor"http://www.2compareit.com/dyson-ball-multi-floor-vs-dc40-review/http://www.2compareit.com/dyson-ball-multi-floor-vs-dc65-review/If these 2 comparisons don't convince you that the Multi Floor is the replacement for the DC65 and not the DC40, then good luck to you!! Power, weight, size, suction rating, etc. The only real difference I can see is the power cord is slightly shorter than the DC65; 'only' 30' instead of the original DC65 35'.With all that out of the way, here's my review. I have an older Dyson vac. It is the DC17 Animal with all the attachments. It worked and does still work o.k. It is very hard to push along thick carpeted floors and loads down so much doing so, it sometimes trips out it's internal thermal breaker. Eventually the thermal breaker needed replacing. Of course that was outside warranty by then! My wife was really tired of pushing it around. I was stuck with the 'heavy' vacuuming. So when this model came up on a lightning deal of some sort, I snatched it up.Testing it on a runner rug in front of our kitchen sink, trash compactor and dish washer, where our dogs regularly hang out to catch scraps as dishes are done, I fired up the Multi Floor. (A brief assembly that was easy to do preceded this testing) After vacuuming this rug, 8 x 2 sized, I emptied the new bin on some paper towels on the counter. It was shocking how much dirt and dog hair was in that rug. I pride myself on keeping floors clean. I even run a Roomba every day between my weekly vacuums. It's just me, wife and dog. No kids, guests or anyone else to add to our filth. A lot of dog hair and a lot of dust dirt was now on the towels. I tackled the rest of the house and was equally amazed how much the old vac had been leaving behind and the Roomba was incapable of picking up as well.I'm not sold on the Ball technology, but it's worlds better than the old Dyson style of slogging the vac around the room and across the floor. To move the head, lean the handle in the direction you want to go. That's opposite of the old vac where you moved it like a wheelbarrow; swing the handle left to point the head right and visa versa. Think more like steering it instead of pushing it around and you'll get the idea. Steer left, turns left. Steer right, turns right.One thing I don't care for is that it won't stay in the upright locked position when I go to move it from room to room. I unlatches and the head rests on the floor. Not a big deal. Not enough to take away a star even.I'm quite satisfied with the performance of this vacuum. It's very easy to use. Practically pulls itself across carpets and rugs. Easy to pull back too, compared to the old Dyson I had.****EDIT****I just tried to use the very expensive attachments from my older Dyson DC17 on this newer one. They don't fit!! The hose fitting is the same size as the attachment end. Evidently the old Dyson had a slightly larger fitting than this new one and now my attachments are worthless to me. I'm not about to spend a bunch of money for more attachments, so it's off to the garage to build an adapter to get these to work on the new Dyson.So attention Dyson;You really do a big disservice with your customers for not standardizing the hose and attachments on your vacuums that your customers have spent good money on.

So far, so good. I've only used the vacuum a few times since we first got it, but it seems to be doing a very good job of sucking a scary amount of stuff out of our carpets. We bought the Dyson Ball to replace a Hoover industrial strength vacuum whose zipper was no longer working. This Dyson bagless vacuum smokes that Hoover bagged vacuum. Every time I've vacuumed with the Dyson, it collects a disturbingly large quantity of dirt and hair. The amount is gradually lessening, so I think this vacuum will soon be able to outpace (or at least keep up with) my two kids and their ability to funk things up.I cannot attest to the longevity of this vacuum, but I'm a bit worried that the entire thing is made of plastic. Some of the parts seem a bit wimpy, but time will tell if it holds up or not. Right now it is working amazingly well, so no problems to note. I really like the way the vacuum handles and I'm totally impressed by the way it cleans. The container is easy to remove and empty, but it relies on some rather precise alignment in order to create a good seal every time the canister is removed and replaced. Again, I'm curious to see how this device will hold up against the test of time. I only gave it 4 stars because of the quantity of plastic used in its construction. To me, plastic equals disposable. If this thing lasts for at least 5 years, I guess it was worth the price. However, to put things into perspective, the Kirby vacuum that my grandmother bought like 50 years ago is still in perfect working condition. I seriously doubt that this Dyson will last as long as that Kirby...those old vacuums are made almost exclusively of metal. They were expensive, but you only ever needed to buy one.