Gang,

Thanks to all who replied: built-ins and backpacks are interesting. You
are certainly not the only group with members who swear by Dyson. After
some searching, budgeting, and deliberation, I went to Home Depot with
the expectation of leaving with a Dyson pet vac. Looking at the thing,
I suddenly wasn't so certain. Ok, the real reason was that they were
doing a little bait and switch: sales mentioned on line, not in the
store, or so it seemed. Looking at the web page again, I still see no
indication of a different in-store price. Whether or not they would
honor it wasn't the point: it's slimy.

There is an old joke: to the optimist, the glass is half full, to the
pessimist, the glass is half empty; to the engineer, the damn thing is
twice as big as it needs to be. The more I learn, the more it sounds
like sound judgment vs. a joke So the careful shopper gives way to
the engineer: call me nuts, but the Dyson $550 beast is not built all
that well. There are lots of snap-in plastic parts, avoidably weird
mechanisms, seals that look pretty good today, but probably will not
next year, etc. I could see the duct tape and rubber bands accumulating
with time - not good on something so expensive.

There were some cheap pet vacs, but $110 isn't going to go very far
given all they claim to do. In the middle, there was a Bissell that
looks like a Dyson clone, with (I think???) some improvements, and for
$250. Compared to the Dyson, there are fewer cheap looking plastic
parts, the seals are generally larger (more material, bigger support and
mating surfaces), which will hopefully translate into longer life. It
uses a similar (if not identical) centrifugal action with washable
filter and a replaceable post-motor filter. The release and hands-off
empty business is slightly simpler than Dyson's, but it does the same
basic job. Dyson claims that their HEPA filter never needs to be
replaced (for the "life of the vacuum"); Bissell says to replace theirs
at six months or so. I should be able to buy quite a few replacement
filters for the difference in price.

The machine I bought is not labeled as a pet vac, but it has a small
brush attachment for the hose, which appears to be one of the big
features of them. The attachments are not as elaborate as Dysons, but
again, they look to me as reflecting better design for plastics.
Especially Dyson fans, please feel encouraged to set me straight on the
filters.

If the thing turns out to suck (the bad way), I will let you know. For
now, it looks like a pretty good buy. I hate to tell you what it picked
up in just a few minutes in the entry way (tile), carpet near the dog's
main hang-out, and "the other bath" (more tile and some dusty base
boards) =:0 In a tight space, I notice some heat from it; I don't
find it ominous (no hot motor smells), I think it's just the cost of
moving the air. It isn't terribly quiet, but the aforementioned ear
buds and hearing protection will do nicely in that area. It has not had
time to accumulate any old crud, but there is NO smell while running it.
This is my first exposure to HEPA, so I was not sure what to expect;
I'm impressed. The next test will be to see how long the filters survive.

Wish me luck! Thanks again, and Happy New Year!

Bill