"William Wixon" writes:

i thought that was pure marketing hype (i have a dyson). there were
cyclonic vacuum cleaners before dyson. i think the dyson is heavy clunky
and big. difficult to vacuum under stuff, VERY difficult to vacuum stairs,
sometimes (like when vacuuming heavy shag carpet) the vibrator bar
rattles/clatters LOUDLY against the mouth/housing. if it were me i'd buy a
(two or three) MUCH less expensive vacuum cleaner than the dyson. i'd like
to try the oreck.

Try one of those less-expensive vacuum cleaners and, after you have to
replace the belt, report on your findings. Bonus points if the belt
failure breaks the belt guide (which happened on our Eureka).

I haven't tried an Oreck -- but they sure look big and heavy to me...
granted, they seem to be the dominant commercial choice which has got
to be a good thing.