We have the "Dyson Animal" - the purple one. Amazing for doggie hair!

Janie, we briefly considered The Animal, but Abbye doesn't shed enough to warrant the extra cost.

Yowsa! Them's some expensive vacuum cleaners!! I think I spotted some chrome and gas pipe mufflers on one of 'em. Midlife crisis, maybe? ;-)

excuse me...a common female slip-up..."glass" pipe was what I meant...but you knew that already.

Midlife crisis, maybe?

Actually, there's a pseudo-semi-quasi interesting story behind this purchase, which I may or may not share some day.

Ahhhhhhhh, but the ease of changing attachments and the Dyson works wonders on our upholstery! And you can also use the 20% off coupon at Linens and Things or Bed Bath and Beyond. Helps out a lot!

Solid liver colored German shorthair = mucho liver colored short hair...

Abbye is afraid of falling leaves...my Jenny is scared to death of vacuums. I think she fears they want to suck up all her hair before she sheds it.

We already have three different types of vacuums. Do we really need a Dyson just because it really sucks? Is the performance that much better that I would be willing to pay five hundred bucks for one?

Clarence, Abbye's none too thrilled when the vacuum cleaner is hauled out. There's very little she isn't afraid of.

As to whether you need a Dyson or not, well, only you can decide. As I said, our previous vacuum was old (you may recall that the retractable cord wasn't) and we were just amazed at how much the new vacuum picked up from the carpets and rugs that we thought were being adequately cleaned.

As to the price, I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't have spent $500, but thanks to some Christmas gift return wrangling, we didn't have to.

True Midland story: Phone rings. "Sir, you've won a free carpet shampoo." blah blah blah. Me: "Sure, come one over." Ding Dong. It's the Kirby vacuum cleaner sales manager (we'll call her Kir). Kir: "Sir, this vacuum shampoos, vacuums, does the dishes and puts out the trash" (OK, I made that part up). Kir: "Why not bring out your old vacuum cleaner?" I bring out the Kenmore Model T from a LONG time ago. Kir: "Let's pour half a box of Arm & Hammer baking powder on the carpet here...Now use your Kenmore, and run it by 52 times, which is like once a week for a year." OK, I do that. Kir: "Now I'll run my Kirby ONE time." Kirby picks up about half the actual box of powder in one suck.
Next, Kir runs Kirby all over the living room rug, vacuuming and showing me the resulting horrible dust. I'm nearly sold. I cry (I am not making this up) "Wow, that's a great vacuum cleaner, but I bet it costs a thousand dollars." Kir: "Well, sir, normally it costs $1,600, but since I'm the manager I can sell it to you for a little less."
Me: "Sixteen hundred dollars!?! For Sixteen hundred dollars I can replace the carpet." Thanks, but nope.
Then I got Consumer Reports, found that the best vacuum at that time was the Hoover top-of-the-line for $400, and boldly bought it. The first time I used it on my Midland carpets, I had to empty the bag - it was completely full of 10 years of dust.

Hey, John...amigo! Como esta usted? (Get it?..."Como" "Comeaux" I kill myself sometimes.)

You know, I buy all of that story except the last phrase, because anyone who's lived out here knows that 10 years of dust in west Texas requires a front end loader to dispose of. ;-)

Anyway, your point is well taken. Sometimes you get what you pay for; sometimes you can pay less and still get the same thing (or better). I know that Dyson is not the top-rated vacuum cleaner in CR, at least not for the price.

Hey, I stubbed my toe on a Dyson Animal this weekend in Sharper Image. That thing is heavy! I'd say this is definitely a man's machine...clever tactic, really. ;-)

Hey, I can find better things to drop 400 buck on.....like HD DLP TV... With the lights off, you can't see the dirty carpet anyway....

Gwynne, I suppose that unless you're climbing stairs with it, the weight isn't a big factor, as it's balanced nicely and rolls on tile and short pile carpet quite easily. However...thick pile carpeting can be a chore to vacuum. The machine is not self-propelled and so it does require some upper body strength to shove around, particularly when going against the nap on some carpet.

Isn't all the vacuuming done by men nowadays anyway? ;-)

Shannon, let me know how you enjoy that 8" screen. (I guess that's still bigger than an iPod with video...)

So you're saying this isn't the vacuum cleaner for the Jungle Room? And also, something from Sharper Image is NOT self-propelled?! As for the men doing all the vacuuming, this past weekend was the first time I thought to ask my husband to vacuum, and he DID IT! Now he has you to thank for vacuum duty and the new ballroom dance shoes...you're really in trouble now! ;-)

He has ballroom dance shoes?! I don't have ballroom dance shoes. 8-(

He calls them cowboy boots...surely you've got some of those. ;-) I guess he owes his thanks to you for the IDEA (as we haven't moved past the idea phase yet) of ballroom dance lessons, notsomuch the shoes.

He calls them cowboy boots...surely you've got some of those.

I devoted part of the webcast this morning to you and this topic.