just fyi. a techy friend of mine said he wouldn't give dyson a try (he's into consumer reports and stuff). anyway, when i first got my dyson, i really loved it and found myself vacuuming more often. i previously had an oreck, which i also liked, but nothing compared to the dyson. i'm now shopping for a new vac and am looking into the hoover windtunnel which from sources tell me it's rated pretty high, but i'm still not sold. i'm going to wait a few more months to do more research. dyson works well, but i'm sure there's got to be something better. there's a lot of airborne stuff flying around when emptying the canister (with the dyson). just my thoughts.