Well, my good old Dyson DC04 finally gave up the ghost a week ago and died on me in spectacular fashion. I was a bit upset as it was a good hoover but at the same time mildly excited at the prospect of buying a new one. Pretty boring purchase I know, but for a shopoholic like me it's not so much the purchase but the spending of money that attracts. LOL
Anyway, we browsed the Internet doing price comparisons on the new Dyson hoovers and finally made our minds up on the Dyson DC14 Animal!
We brought it through Co-op electrical and it cost £204.99 with a delivery charge of £9.99. This was a bargain as far as I am concerned as Argos is selling this online for £284.95. A massive saving as far as I can see! It really pays to shop around and try and buy online.
We ordered it on 17th February and it arrived today - 21st February. Quite a quick delivery really considering there was a weekend involved. The only downside to it was that the delivery slot was between 7am and 9pm with no indication of what time, but it turned up a 2pm this afternoon so I have had plenty of time to play.
This comes in the standard large oblong cardboard box. They are very sturdy and the hoover will not be knocked around inside as there is lots of thick cardboard packaging.
Once inside the hoover is pretty much already assembled. You get the main motor part of the hoover, the hose and the wand to assemble. This is really easy. It all clicks together with no problem and the instructions are very easy to follow. There is a large wedge of polystyrene in the brush compartment, which you have to remove before it will click into
place in order to hoover. Also there is a piece of yellow tape on the brush selection, which has to be pulled off.
Once it is all assembled you are faced with a handsome purple and grey animal!
As my carpets hadn't been hoovered for five days or so, I was desperate to put this beauty to use and plugged in straight away. The first thing I noticed was that although the cord was very long (9.3m) it arrives coiled in small circles so when you first unwind it the shape tries to stay that way and it takes a bit of tugging to get all unravelled.
I switched on with anticipation. Wow - it's pretty loud. Louder than the DC04 anyway. Or maybe that was just cos the old one was so clogged up with hair and fur it muffled the sound! Anyway, I almost felt the hoover cling to the floor it was so powerful. I did the hardest test first and went to the rug in the lounge. This rug seems to collect dog hair and will not give it up so I knew if this hoover was to live up to it's reputation it had to sort out my hairy rug. I was not let down. It sucked up every bit of hair, fur, fluff, small toys, biscuit crumbs and anything else it could get it's greedy little sucker on. I was really impressed. Following on from the rug I whisked it round the rest of the carpet in the lounge and I swear to you the carpet actually looked a darker green than when I started. Embarrassing if there was that much dust in it but absolutely true. The carpet looked new again when I had finished.
I whizzed round the rest of downstairs, carpet in the hallway and stairs and wooden floors in the kitchen and dining room. The results were brilliant. The hallway carpet is a very old but very thick carpet and you could literally feel the thickness picking up in it as the hoover lifted the fibres and sucked out the dust. It was just as easy and effective on the wooden floors. You do not need to adjust the hoover as it has a self-adjusting head so you can move from carpet to hard floor without doing anything. It pulled all the dust bunnies out from under the table and the shelving with ease.
I was in such a good mood after the excellent results so far I thought I would tackle the stairs so after removing the endless toys and clothes to be put away which adorn the edges of nearly every step, I checked out the extendable hose. All you need to do is push in a little clip and the wand comes away from the main machine. By attaching a tool of choice to the end of the wand (this pulls out of the hose by the way) you can "park" the main hoover at the bottom of the stairs and the hose extended all the way to the top. This enables you to vacuum every step without the need to drag the hoover up with you and balance precariously at odd angles to clean.
After completing all these tasks I looked at the main cylinder of the hoover. This is where all the muck goes and as it is clear plastic you can see exactly what's in there, Pretty gross but whilst examining the contents I noticed already that the container had reached the maximum limit line and needed emptying. This is shameful in a way as I had only cleaned 3 rooms and the stairs but it shows you how much power my old cleaner had lost and how wonderfully powerful this new beast was. Anyway, I read the instructions on emptying it and it was soooo easy I was amazed. All you have to do is unclip the cylinder from the main cleaner part and take it to the bin. Holding it over the bin you push a big red release catch on the top of the cylinder and the lid opens at the bottom, depositing all it's contents straight into the bin! Fabulous, except out kitchen bin is a bit on the small side and not being an expert at this yet I ended up having to clean dust from all round the rim and lid of the bin. Oh well, practice makes perfect!
After all this it was dinner time so I have yet to practice any more with the hoover but here's some other useful info about it.
##THE TOOLS##
Stair Tool - This is like a mini hoover head and is meant to make it easier to do the stairs but I actually use the crevice tool as I find it easier.
Crevice Tool - This is the long thin attachment. It is brill for doing edges in awkward places and in narrow spaces.
Brush Tool - This is a round tool with brushed all round the circumference. It is meant for upholstery I think and to be honest I have never used this one on any hoover I have had.
Mini Turbine Head - This comes with the "animal" variety and is designed to clip straight onto the hose of the main cleaner. It has incredibly hard and long bristles on it and is meant to be extremely efficient at picking up dog and cat hairs. I had a quick go of this and found it a bit difficult to clip on at first although this is something that will come with use. The head itself was incredibly powerful and I could feel the vibration of it as the bristle head turned round. It was very very fast and picked up long hairs (mine!) as well as the dog and cat hairs.
Telescopic reach Wand - This is the main tube, which fits inside the hose and forms the handle of the machine. It can be pulled out of the hose and clicked into place, with the hose then being detached from the hoover. With this you can hoover down the disgusting cobwebs which seem to appear from nowhere in the corners of your rooms. This was a very easy process and worked a treat. This feature is also handy for going in between tight spaces that are too deep or high to reach with the normal hose and tools. You can also use this for hovering the top of curtain poles, which accumulate a lot of dust.
##OTHER FEATURES##
There are no running costs with a Dyson. As you may be aware they do not have hoover bags as the dust etc accumulates in the cyclone cylinder. Special designs within the machine means that the dust can be collected and stored here without entering the mechanics at all. No more hoover bags - hoorah!
The filter within the machine is washable so will hardly ever need to be replaced. The instruction booklet gives details on how to remove this. There is another filter that traps harmful carbon emissions from the motor and this will never need to be replaced. The HEPA filter has a Bactisafe screen, which traps and kills bacteria and mould on contact so this is good for allergy sufferers too.
This model has Edge Cleaning Whiskers, which flick the dust along the skirting board into the path of the suction, ensuring a thorough, easier clean.
All the tools can be fitted straight onto the hose or the wand, making hovering the car a little less traumatic and flexibility of the body is now no longer required!!!
There is an anti-jam device on the brush bar, which makes a loud noise like a ratchet clicking if something gets locked in there. This noise is to warn you to remove the item before damage occurs to the motor or belt.
Dimension: 1110 x 335 x 340 mm (HxWxD)
Weight: 8.4kg
Suction Power: 280 airwatts (constant) - I have no idea what that means but it sucks VERY hard!
Bin Capacity: 2.7 litres
Maximum reach: 14.5m
##OVERALL OPINION##
I am giving this hoover 5 stars because so far I have found it to be excellent. The few niggling things I pointed out like the emptying of the bin are not complaints but minor annoyances that are more to do with the user than the model. It is easy to push round the floor and turn corners and for an upright hoover the manoeuvrability is really good.
Tomorrow - I'm going upstairs!!!!!
xx
by (3%):
09.08.2006 18:24
With 2 cats to hoover around after I keep thinking I should get one of these. My hoover is rubbish at picking up animal hairs! Good review x
16.03.2006 23:27
I'm still using the original DC01, these really are brilliant vacuum cleaners! Richard.
12.03.2006 18:29
I found your review SO well written, that I want a Dyson now! My parents owned a DC01, which I was never very impressed with. The newer models certainly sound better though. I've given you an "E" rating as your review was clear, concise and extremely helpful. J