Dyson DC65 “Animal” Product Review

Today we bought a new vacuum cleaner! It’s a Dyson DC65 “Animal”. I’m so excited! I flipping love it. It’s amazing. I know, it’s just a vacuum cleaner, but I keep walking around the house exclaiming “The carpet is so CLEAN!” And it was such a pleasure to use that after my partner had vacuumed the entire house, I went over it myself, purely for the sake of using our brand new toy.

We were very confident we’d love it when we bought it, because it’s not our first Dyson. Our previous Dyson was a DC25, purchased about 6 years ago.

Part 1 – Our First Dyson

When we bought our first Dyson DC25 it was after a run of buying inexpensive vacuum cleaners that never worked particularly well and that then ceased working shortly after their warranty expired. After going through 3 vacuum cleaners in as many years we started to investigate the more spendy vacuum cleaners, because we were finding “cheaper” didn’t necessarily mean “better value”.

After a lot of research, reading and recommendations, we were won over by the glowing reviews on practically everything Dyson produce.

We were warned by a couple of Dyson owners we knew that the first time we used it in our home we’d be horrified by what would come out of the carpet we believed was clean – and this absolute came true. It was equal parts impressive and disgusting. We were emptying the canister practically every room, because it didn’t just take the dirt off the surface but it sucked out all the fine dust as well.

We’d also previously had barrel vacuum cleaners, but went for the upright with the “ball technology”, because of how easy to maneuver it was, and also it could be stored, parked upright, in a cupboard, so it was really easy to grab and go multiple times a day cleaning up after a toddler.

Also it’s so light and easy to use both of the kids have been able to vacuum since they were toddlers – which is handy.

Part 2 – It’s time to say goodbye

So we’ve had our Dyson DC25 for 6 years, it’s survived two children, three moves (two interstate), it’s been made to suck up everything from dropped food, to small toys, pieces of thread and wool from my crafting, as well as my ridiculously long hair and post-pregnancy-moulting it’s basically like cleaning up after an unimaginably long haired cat – it really has taken a beating over the last few years and it’s stood up to it very well!

The Dyson customer service has been great, even though it’s well out of warranty we called their help line and had their staff spend half an hour on the phone troubleshooting with us to work out why it’s just not functioning properly. We also had the option of sending it in to them to be assessed – completely for free, including the courier – and then we’d pay for whatever repairs or they can send it back to us. And we did consider this option, but 6 years it a good run with an appliance, so we decided we’d rather replace it.

It’s sad to see it go though, it’s practically a member of the family. It even has a name. It’s name is “James” – after James Dyson the founder of the Dyson company.

Part 3 – Shopping Around

So we quite often pop into Masters just to browse and have a wander around on the weekend, and we found ourselves looking at the Dyson vacuum cleaners they have in stock. Though they were priced at the standard retail price, which was a little out of our price range but then we noticed Masters have a price match guarantee*, so I found it online at a price that we were happy with, the friendly staff at Masters helped us out, sold it to us at that dramatically reduced price and off we went with our beautiful, new Dyson DC65. Too easy!

*Even if a store doesn’t advertise that they price match – it’s always worth asking anyway.

Part 4 – Side by Side comparison.

• They both are upright, they both have the Dyson “ball technology” though the Dyson DC65 is slightly updated version but are both great to manoeuvre.
• They both have a HEPA filter which is appealing for me as an asthmatic allergic to dust mite.
• They are both bagless, with a washable filter that will last the lifetime of the vacuum cleaner, so there’s nothing else to buy.
• The Dyson DC65 barrel holds 2 liters and the DC25 is only 1.3 liters.
• The Dyson DC65 has 270AW of suction and the DC25 has 220AW suction power. (Not actually sure exactly what “AW” means, but there’s a noticeable difference in suction when you’re using them.)
• The Dyson DC65 has a maximum reach of 15 meters (cord length 10.7 meters) which will pretty much do my entire home from the one centrally located powerpoint – so I’m won over by that feature. The DC25 has a reach of 12 meters (cord length 7.6 meters).
• The Dyson DC65 weighs 7.8kgs and the DC25 weighs 7.3kgs – though with the changes to the ball it doesn’t actually feel heavier, if anything it glides more smoothly and so feels lighter – provided you don’t actually need to pick the whole unit up.

Overall I’d recommend either the Dyson DC65 or the DC25 to anyone, they’re both truly excellent vacuum cleaners. The decision between one and the other is the Dyson DC65 is more powerful, larger capacity, longer reach and a newer model, the Dyson DC25 is a bit smaller and lighter, also a discontinued model, which is reflected in the price.

Now the only thing left to decide is…. what should we name this Dyson vacuum cleaner?