Dyson DC33 - First Impressions

I've just become the owner of the DC33 - Stubborn.

My old vacuum cleaner was a compact bagless machine (Electrolux Cyclonic Lite 1800W), that I was forever having to empty and then clean out the filter with a dustpan and brush, creating a horrible dusty mess and usually resulting in a sneezing fit (and one reason the wife refuses to empty it, because she suffers far worse than I do).

It also lost its sucking power at an early stage, and required frequent filter cleaning to get back to optimum sucking power.  Despite this, our carpets have had this dirty look about them for a while, and I decided it was time to change to a decent vacuum cleaner.

The minute I put the DC33 onto our carpets, they became a shade lighter, and I could see all sorts of dust and dirt being sucked up into the canister (it's quite fascinating really - a bit like inspecting your hankie after blowing your nose, but not quite so repulsive).  Its rotating brush also helped to loosen the dirt from the carpets (something the compacts tend to lack).

To empty the canister, you just press a button, lift it out, and press the same button again to open the door on the bottom and have the dirt fall out, fantastic.  There is only one bit of maintenance they recommend and that's rinsing out the HEPA filters under the tap once every 3 months.  I think I can cope with that.

So, my first impressions are, a great product, and at £179 from Currys, not a bad price (if a tad more than I'm used to paying for vacuum cleaners), and it comes with a 5 year guarantee, so hopefully it'll last a while.  It also only uses 1300W of power, so that's 500W less than my old cleaner, and yet it has more sucking power.  The greener choice as well then.

I have to say I was a little confused when I was looking at the different models of DC33's, but as far as I can make out, they're all the same except the colour of the top of the canister is different (mine is white) and you get different accessories.

If I was going to suggest an improvement, I've love to see more uprights have the retractable cord thingy that most compacts do, because it means less faffing about and more fun pressing the pedal and seeing the cord get sucked up (simple pleasures).

Now... if I can only persuade the Wife to use the thing I'll be sorted.  She claims she gets all sneezy when she vacuums, so she tends not to do it, a valid excuse for the old vacuum cleaner, but hopefully not this one.  Unlike my my younger brother's lame excuse for not peeling potatoes, because he claims he gets itchy legs.   My parents were gullible enough to believe him at the time.