Handheld vacuums, are they any use yet?

Tried a few over the years and they were universally rubbish.

Got a 15 year old Dyson Cylinder that’s still working but I like the idea of being able to have a small cordless handheld thing that will keep a house clean.

Seen the GTEC stuff on the ads but they’re really off puttingly cheap ads, worse than Mike’s Carpets (one for the Leeds people of a certain age)

Dyson don’t have the same rep anymore, overpriced tat seems to be a common opinion.

Every VAX I’ve ever owned is like SRAM for the warranty being necesary as it will break at some point.

Anyone use on with success?

Very happy with our Dyson handheld. Battery life isn’t massive but its so quick and easy to use and it pops straight back on the charger. Plenty powerful enough to replace an upright. We got it from the Dyson outlet shop on ebay. Came good as new but much cheaper.

Wow, deja vu…

We’ve got a DC 59, had it for a couple of years now, and it’s done a great job. I much prefer it to the more cumbersome Dyson upright we have. People swear by Henrys, but ours is confined to workshop duties as it’s a pig to move around furniture etc. The cordless is great for a quick go around, battery life seems consistent from new, and it’s nice and light. We don’t have a massive house so it’s fine.

The upright Dyson only gets used occasionally now.

Dyson V6 is great. Won’t do the whole house in one go but fine for getting a floor at a time done.

don’t know if it’s what you mean by “handheld” but the Dyson v6 &v8 are both genuinely excellent. I use the v6 at home and the v8 for the print room at work. Both are uprights but convert very quickly to a handheld.

Don’t know whether I’d call them good value for money but if you can afford I’d 100% recommend, really does make the job quicker/easier which obviously means more time spent riding bikes!!

I got an upright dyson as 2 mates who work for the company and now they get a mouthful when I see them about how crap it is to actually use. However against my better judgement I did buy a V6 as the alternatives looked even worse, and its ace, so easy to use just grab and go, fitting swap very easily and are stored on the wall bracket. Disappointingly pleased with it.

Many Dyson products are a triumph or PR / marketing over greatness but the handhelds / sticks are genuinely very good

yeah, I’d never had a Dyson before so can’t comment but liked the idea of cordless & Which magazine rated the Dysons as the best so took a punt. I loathe to use the phrase “game changer” with respect to a vacuum cleaner but it really is 😀 The V8 is even better but obviously insanely expensive for a hoover, fortunately mine was tax deductible!

We have a hand held and a cylinder Dyson, can’t fault either…

How do the handheld Dyson’s cope with cat hair? ( we have 2 cats – one is a very fluffy Norwegian forest cat )
Currently we use a Dyson upright but had a look at the handheld ones over the weekend.

Dysons cope with the hair ok but get a bit bunged up with sudocrem 😀

Mine has a motorized brush in the floor extension, should be ok with cat hair if you use it regularly, which you can as its quick and easy to use. Just on suction power alone I think it would struggle like most would.

I’ve got a Dyson DC30 i think it is – gets used every day and if it broke I’d buy another.

How do the handheld Dyson’s cope with cat hair?

You need one with the motorised/suction powered brush head…

We bought a black and decker one, lithium battery, motorised head, head/extension comes off so it goes from being a normal hoover with a 15 minute battery to a handheld

It’s used at least once a day. Dyson is used for the whole house, but for a quick whip round then the cordless one is ace

Prefer it to the Dyson cordless ones, and the charging unit/base is excellent. Just click in and leave it

“How do the handheld Dyson’s cope with cat hair? “

Frightens the **** out of the neighbour’s cat which used to occasionally sneak into our place. 😆 I discovered this once, when doing a quick bit of vacuuming; the cat had sneaked in and gone for a nap under out bed. Cheeky little ****. It shot out as soon as it heard the Dyson, and hasn’t been back since. Solved any cat hair problem we might have had!

We use a cheap handheld for the sort of stuff where a dustpan and brush would do. From time to time we’ve looked at the more powerful ones but imo they are still very far from a normal hoover replacement.

The normal ‘handheld’ vacuums are pretty weak and rubbish but the Dyson V6 we have is equally as good as the upright we also have. You can fly round with them in no time then back in the cradle and it’ll be ready for the next use. No messing with cables and faffing with the hose.
Funnily enough though I find it a pain for things like cleaning the car as it can get in the way a bit and isn’t as good at getting in tight spaces as the hose from the upright.

Just got the V6 motorhead, because… Motorhead!
Seriously, it sucks up more shit than the big vacuum.

We’ve been looking at the dyson handheld for the caravan. Do you need to use the ‘base station’ to charge it? I won’t be attaching that to a wall so would rather just plug the vac in.

You can just use the cable.

We’ve got the same black and decker as benp1 above; it’s not as powerful as the upright but does the trick for edges and whip rounds, but the best bit is that the hose unclips so it’s ace for doing the car or something where a wire would be a faff but you can still poke it into tiny gaps.

It was cheap, so we figured why not, but it does the trick.

Dyson v6 animal here. Threw the old upright away so easy no wires just as powerful

Dirt Devil 103.

It’s not cordless but is all the better for it. Light and powerful with a proper belt driven brush and washable bag/filter. You can get hose attachments as well.

You won’t get a new one but at 20 odd years old mine still has more life left in it than most brand new vacuums. You can buy most spares for them even now. Oh yeah and it’s made in the USA, not china.

I work on Dyson machines regularly and think they’re overrated, overpriced tat.

@phiiiil – think yours is different, mine doesn’t have a hose

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Decker-Extension-Dustbuster-Technology/dp/B00PSKF8B8/ref=sr_1_8?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1473857360&sr=1-8&keywords=black+decker+vacuum

It’s very impressive (and fairly good value I think)

Dyeing V6 Fluffy. Picks up cat hair well but often need to use fingers to get it out into the bin. Very convenient to pick up and use quickly, pretty powerful. Strangely our cat isn’t freaked by it whereas every other vacuum sends it running.

Actually still find cleaning the whole house is quicker (and better cleaned) with our Miele cylinder. Emptying the Dyson is still a dirty faff

Oh yeah and it’s made in the USA, not china

If that’s a dig at Dyson, then they aren’t made in China either!

The GTEC adverts are crap as the inventor is just trying to copy James Dyson by appearing in the advert himself.

Have often wondered how good their kit is but both my 10yr Dyson cylinder and 4yr handheld Dyson don’t appear to be dying any time soon.

My parents have a fairly new Dyson one – its ace.
Would have one myself, but keep spending all my spare cash on bikes/kit

If that’s a dig at Dyson, then they aren’t made in China either!

That’s right – it’s Malaysia

If that’s a dig at Dyson, then they aren’t made in China either!

It wasn’t, if I want to dig at Dyson I’ll be blatant about it. As it is all I know they’re not made in the UK anymore.

Dysons work pretty well but there are better, cheaper and more reliable machines out there.

Ryobi 18v system. Can do 3 flights of tenement stairs or keep going as long as you have batteries to swap. Inlet is bigger than the dyson.

We have a Dyson DC30. It is a malfunctioning piece of junk.

I’ve got wooden floors and two boys under six. I’d sell all my bikes before I sold my Dyson handheld…

Cheers all, it was the V6 kind of thing I was looking at or wondering if they’re up to being a big vac replacement.

Current Dyson works but wouldn’t mind swapping it for something lighter and smaller.

As per fifeandy’s comment above need to stop spending on bike bits and techy toys first.