I was anti-Dyson because I thought it was a fad and status symbol. We, instead, listened to Consumer Reports and bought a Hoover Windtunnel. It fried itself in 8 months and we bought another one. It fried itself in a year. So we bought a cheapo vaccum at Target for $80. All in all, we spent $500 in 3 years for vaccums that weren't worth the box they were packaged in.
By this time, I met people IRL who had invested in a Dyson and loved it. I found a 20% off coupon and bought the yellow one at LnT. What can I say, I'm kicking myself for not buying it 3 years ago. It's obvious CR never vaccums =)
I use it on my hard surfaces and my carpet. The stuff that came out of the carpet the first time we vaccumed was amazing. I couldn't believe we were living with all that stuff in the carpet! Our cheapo vaccum just couldn't get it out.
I love having no bags to buy. It was $300 well spent.
(ps - the purple animal and the yellow are the SAME vaccum; purple just has a few more attachments. we decided the attachments weren't worth an extra $100 but only you know what attachments are needed in your house)