Dyson DC7 or 14, animal or no...is there a real difference?

[Rock'n Robin]

OK, I AM getting a Dyson. Soon. I test drove my neighbor's DC 14 Animal and it was great. I do have a dog and a cat--both black haired too. But the price differences are pretty big. Do I have to have an animal--and if I should get an animal, is the difference between the DC 7 and DC 14 worth the extra money? According to the product descriptions I've seen they are pretty similar.
Robin M.

 

[lindalinda]

I got my dyson animal 2 years ago, so there may be some model changes, but the main differences at the time were attachments. There are exra deep cleaning carpet attachments for the animal version that work really well. If you dont have animals that shed I dont think you would need them.

 

[corie161]

I bought mine a year ago, and the difference was the attachments that came with the Animal. I opted to go with the regular model, since I didn't think I would use the attachments enough to justify the extra cost. So far I have been very pleased.

 

[NAB]

We just talked to a Dyson rep. at Costco yesterday. Here in Canada they have one just made for them. It is white. He said that this one and the others are exactly the same machine. Only differnce is the the two brushes that comes with the animal one. That little power head thing that you use with the hose. The Costco one comes with both pieces and it priced in at $569. or something like that.

Hubby asked why wouldn't we just buy the yellow when it is on sale at another store. We don't have animals and really don't need those two pieces. He couldn't answer us, then he back tracked and said we should buy this one. Because it is the same only white . Of course he would because he is selling for Costco.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

So is the big difference between the 7 and 14 also attachments? Unfortunately we don't have costco here.
Robin M.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Just get the regular Dyson. You want the 14 model. The hose detached differently on the 14 compared to the 7. It's better on the 14. Easier, less awkward.

I have the 14 Animal and never use the "animal" attachments. Waste of $.

 

[mckryan]

I agree with Melrosgirl...go with the DC14. The handle telescopes differently, and more effectively, than the DC7. That's the one thing that I hate about my DC7. I don't think the attachments are any different on the base DC7 and base DC14. You can go to Dyson.com and compare the different DC7 models to the different DC14 models to be sure. My quick check of the base models on each were that they had the same attachments.