Great for hard floors

Author's Rating:

Pros: maneuverability, suction, hard floor cleaning, small size

Cons: short power cord

The Bottom Line: 
The ability to EASILY turn the beater brush off and on makes transitioning between hard floors, rugs, and carpets simple, and the suction is superb.

Author's Review
I purchased this vacuum a week ago and have used it three times, so I can't comment on its longevity. But, for the period of time I have used it, I've been thrilled. I had a Dyson about 3 years ago, but when we moved to our new house, which has all wood and tile floors, I decided I didn't need such a powerful vacuum and gave it to my mother-in-law. Big mistake; since then, I have gone through 3 other vacuums. The biggest problem I've had with all of the others is that you can't turn the beater brush off, so it spits dirt and sand (we live in Florida) all over the place instead of sucking it up.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and decided I had to get a new vacuum where I could turn the beater brush on for rugs and off for the rest of the hard floor surfaces. After lots of research, it seemed that I needed to go back to the Dyson line. I chose the Slim because our house is 2-story and I wanted something lighter than the usual 20+ pound vacuum. I'm thrilled with not only the lightness, but also the smaller overall size of the vacuum. It takes up considerably less space in my closet! It's also heads and tails above my previous Dyson in terms of maneuverability thanks to the "ball" pivoting head system. This one goes under furniture much better than my last Dyson and all the other uprights I've bought since, and the telescopic handle is fantastic for quick changes to using the tools and then back to using the main cleaning head.

Dyson still has the best bagless dust-bin emptying on the market, so no more getting dust all over the house when emptying. (I had to take my Hoover Empower into the garage to empty the dustbin because it made such a mess.) One surprising perk is that it is much quieter than the Empower (and my first Dyson, if memory serves). Noise isn't really that big of a deal to me (no sleeping babies in this house), but it's still nice to not feel like I need to wear protective earplugs while vacuuming!

The suction is great (I had recently vacuumed and was disgusted with how much dirt and pet hair came up the first time I used it -- everyone always says that about Dysons, and it's true). The onboard tools seem a little flimsy, and the power cord is short, but those are my only issues with this otherwise great vacuum.

Best price I found was using a 20% off coupon at either Bed Bath and Beyond or Linens and Things. Considering I've spent around $400 on three different vacuums since my first Dyson, I don't feel too bad spending around $400 for this one, since I know it will work better than the other three combined!

I'm very, very pleased with the Dyson Slim and hope that it continues to work as well as it is now. Dyson now has a 5 year warranty, so I guess that I'm covered in case it has any issues. That also makes the price tag a little easier to stomach.