Dyson's latest: DC15, The Ball
By Ryan Block 
posted March 15th 2005 1:36PM
posted March 15th 2005 1:36PM
We all know and love the vacuum's own resident mad scientist, James Dyson, and we're no strangers to his sucky
products. But Dyson's latest, the DC15 is certainly a bit
unusual, even for them—The Ball refers to the rotating motor casing at the vacuum's base, which lowers the center of
gravity and supposedly drastically increases maneuverability. So instead of back-and-forth vacuuming, the DC15 is all
about tight cornering. Will it be worth the £25m in development costs? Well, at between £319 and £349 (about $610 and
$667), they certainly won't have to sell as many units as Dirt Devil would.
[Thanks, Ashley]
But then as i read in a newspaper today, it means that men are then 43% more likly to do the house work/ hovering if you get a dyson. Maybe a reason not to get one!
So, Dyson has now surpassed the mighty hoover in domestic sales, USA. 22% of vacuum cleaners are Dyson, while only 16% are Hoover.
Ah, in my house no Dyson does the vacuuming and that's the way we like it! Roomba is on the job.
ThomD (guess what the D stands for)
You know that way back when, James Dyson made a wheelbarrow that wouldn't sink into soft ground - it had a ball instead of a wheel. That ball had ridges around it just link the one in the new vacuum. I seem to remember that he lost the rights to the Ballbarrow (he'd designed it for another company) and the company stopped making it. Maybe the 20 patent has run out and now he can use his ideas again, this time for his own company.
I really want to try one of these things...
This thing is really flimsy, for just one example:the pedal that makes the main body come down in use feels like it will break with a couple of months. good job they give a 2 yr warranty.
this thing rules.
first off it's whisper quiet... compared to the rest of the vacuums we purchased in the past. not sure about the 'flimsy' comment from #6 - unless you really have to manhandle your vacuum there's no reason why this thing won't last 3-5 years.
About the only things that were of concern/annoyance were a lack of headlamp, the rubber seals between the joints that connect the tubing parts on the machine may fault over time and the rollerbar tends to make a lot of racket when you trigger its safety mechanism by rolling over something that shouldn't be sucked by the vacuum.
they should target/promote these like the john deere of vacuum cleaners and upselling it to men. there's nothing like clean carpet vacuum lines... like a crisply mowed baseball diamond.
The ball wheelbarrow that Dyson originally invented is back and seems to have been modernized/ruggedized for modern applications:
www.nubarro.com
Built in Germany and finally available stateside. It looks to be quite the machine, as far as wheelbarrows go.
I have a Dyson Animal vacum and it's phenomenal. I hate the styling and colors but it's a superb performer. I wish the plastics quality was a bit better. My Dyson creaks and rattles like there's no tomorrow.
It should be launched here in the next 6 months.
Fantastic Product!
i recommend the non flash site for more information. (better for Dial-Up Users).
Dyson will have to come up with something pretty Inovative to beat "the ball".
http://www.theball.co.uk/howitworks/non_flash/default.asp
The ball is now available in the US.
I've had the opportunity to use the DC15, and it's an amazing machine. Just a few tidbits of info for all of you:
1) This vaccuum is currently available at most retailers
2) The Ball has a motherboard built into it! The motherboard actually controls the two seperate motors w/i the machine (a 10amp motor powers the actual suction while a 2amp motor powers the front wheels)! This is great, but also means NO LIQUIDS whatsoever may be vaccuumed up or you'll ruin your $599 vac!
3) Dyson will soon (w/i the next year) be releasing something to the effect of a modem/ECU that can attatch to the vaccuum (see those three long skinny parrallel holes right below the handle release button? That's the port you'll be using) for the purpose of self-diagnostics and future software updates for the DC15. What Dyson Co wants is to see the vaccuum remain an updated shell for years w/ new updates arriving about once a year.
4) This vac is amazingly maneuverable! It also feels self-propelled due to the way the rollers pull the unit. This is a drastic improvement from the DC14 and even more-so over the DC07.
5) No additional attatchments are currently available (just the three tools it comes w/), but they're on their way (no the previous attatchments don't fit this model as the hose is slightly smaller). Expect a DC15 Animal to also arrive in a few months ($699).
6) No matter where you buy the DC15 don't skip on the extended warranty from the retailer. Dyson offers a 2 year warranty out of the box, but in my experience Best Buy (depending on your location) has the best cost/coverage warranty. They cover the vaccuum for 4 years for $50, and that's extendable at a later date. They claim to cover anything that's not intentional damage (which means they'll include typical wear and tear that might cause it to fall apart if you're really worried about the plastic... which happens to be motorcycle helmet plastic and more durable than most other vaccuums I've tested), and have been good to me when it came time for them to honor their service agreements.
Hope that helps and enjoy your new Dyson as much as I am!
The best thing about a Dyson, whether or not you think the plastic parts are flimsy or not, is that replacement parts are available for any part of the vacuum. So rather than spending $300+, then have the thing useless because of a broken dust container, you can simply buy a new one for $20, rather than have to buy a whole new cleaner.