Larry Niven’s Ringworld.
Just out of curiosity, what did they test for? I appreciate the list, but for all I know they were rated on looks and power consumption. 
Due to allergies and my daughter’s love of animals, I vaccum daily, sometimes more than once a day in shedding season. I bought the thing out of frustration at being unable to find a machine that would still work well after a year. So far (eighteen months), it has held up to the ‘never loses suction’ claim and I am quite pleased with it.
YM(will)V
I’m consistently amazed by people who hate their Dysons. I think mine is the best thing since cheese in a can. My mother and grandmother both bought one about the same time I got mine and none of us has had any problems with them at all.
I’ve had mine for about three years now without a bit of trouble. And I have three dogs (lots of “hair bunnies.”)
I had a Fantom before I got my Dyson and if you’d asked me, I would have insisted that I had a really good vaccuum. That is, until the day my mom brought over her Dyson. She was going to shampoo my rugs for me. Before she came over, I swept each room very carefully, going over each, slowly, about three times. She used her Dyson before she ran the rug shampooer and I was absolutely grossed-out by what it picked up that my Fantom had left behind.
I have no trouble with the attatchments. In fact, I find them pretty convenient, and easy to use. (And the nozzles give such a satisfying “click” when they pop back into place!)
dunno, they’re squat little machines, usually red and black, with a face on them, so it looks like a little fella wearing a bowler hat
I actually checked out my vaccuum. It’s not a Bissell (that’s our hand-held thing). It’s a Dirt Devil 12 amp upright with the cyclone action.
I can recommend it without reservation.
Lissa, do you receommend it for bare floors, as well? I’m asking for a vacuum cleaner for Christmas (my parents give me absurdedly generous Christmas presents), and there’s a Dyson at Costco that I’ve been eyeing, but I don’t have carpets.
Given that cheese in a can is… well… shit, I’m inclined to agree.
One of the offices I used to support bought (against my strenuous advice) an upright Dyson; there were many horrible aspects of the design, but my favourite of all was that the exhaust vent was at the front - try to use the machine to clear up a hole-punch spill (or any other lightweight debris) and it gets blown all over the place as you approach. How can such a useless, fundamentally flawed product make it to market?
Our Dyson works great! It picks up infinitely better than our old bag-using vacuum, and there’s no problem with exhaust blowing stuff away. It empties easily into a garbe receptacle. We’ve got no complaints.
And I hate cheese in a can, too.
I use it on mine with no trouble. (I have hardwood floors with area rugs over them.) Just reach down and flip over to “bare floor” and away you go.
It really seems to get under baseboards well. You can just push it slowly along the wall and watch all of the dirt be sucked out from under them. Wheee!
They tested for how well they worked on carpet and bare floors. They tested airflow through the tools, and how loud they were. They tested for emissions (that’s the amount of dust it spits out while it runs,) and for ease of use. They also listed the price and weight of the unit. They said the baggers were less messy when emptying than the bagless, but the $2 per bag cost can add up.
There were three models of upright rated unacceptable for spitting out too much dust. One canister model was unacceptable for repeatedly breaking.
Lissa, there’s an old vac salesman’s trick that seems to show the superior cleaning of what he’s selling. You clean an area with your vac, then he puts a filter paper or facial tissue across a part of the air passage on his machine. Then he sweeps the same area. You’re supposed to be appalled by the amount of stuff on his filter.
In fact, you can do the same thing with your own vac. Sweep an area, then change bags and sweep the same area with the same vac, more slowly. You’ll pull up more dirt the second time, the third time, and the fourth time. All it means is that you can never get all the dirt out with any vac.
I don’t have an axe to grind. I have a 10-year old Eureka World Boss. It’s a pretty good machine, but:
I had to replace the main fan impeller once.
Turning on the tool hose does not turn off the beater bar.
It’s not so hot on bare floors, and
It’s loud.
I love my Dyson vacuum. It works wonderfully, and it was worth every penny. I don’t care what Consumer Reports says. It’s easy to use, terribly simple to empty, and lightweight. I have three cats that shed like crazy and scatter litter and food from one end of the house to the other. The first time I used the Dyson I emptied the cannister twice and my carpets looked like new. If it ever breaks down, I’ll get it fixed, and if I can’t get it fixed, I’ll buy another. No bags to mess with, no damn filters to wash all the time (only one that you wash every six months).
Thank you! 
I had a Dyson. I thought it was crap. I next bought a Miele - it isn’t bagless (which I’ve never regarded as a huge attraction - vacuuming power is king in my world). It works like a dream and I’ll never buy another make.