we just got a new one a few weeks ago from the place uptown near the beauty school, the guy had some good info and was not pushing the dyson at all, said a lot of people dont like them. Our old one was from sears and just over a yr old it started acting up, it had the dirt sensor thing(junk) beltless beater head(the guy said it's better to have one with a belt....who knows.....but at least he gave out lots of options and info.......we bought a CIRRUS performance pet edition...never heard of them before but seems ok...i mean we are talking vac's ....lol.....
we ended up going to sears and walking out with the newest dyson animal. i ran it when we got home and was amazed at the dog hair and dirt that our former vacum had missed that morning when my wife ran it.
we got a $50 dollar Kenmoore its been going over 2 years now and it still sucks good! no problems . Who needs a expensive vac if you really wants some serious sucking power get a shop vac they are a fraction of what a expensive vac cost.