I don't know anyone who has a Roomba, but I just looked at Consumer Reports and they said that many cheap vacume cleaners outperformed it. They also said that you had to Roomba-size your rooms by removing chairs, etc. They didn't actually rate the Roomba though.

The Dyson didn't appear to do so well in their other challenges (score of 67). The DC15 @ $500 was #9 in their tests, while others scored better:

The Kenmore (Sears) Progressive with Direct Drive 35922 (score of 79) has a full-bag alert, a longer hose than most, and a small powered brush for stairs. The Kenmore (Sears) Progressive with Direct Drive 36932 (score of 76)offers many of the same features in a bagless version.

All that being said, I have friends who own Dysons and they love them.

LOVE my Dyson. I also have two cats. I purchased it based on the recommendation of two friends.

Tid, more details, please.

I have the miele (don't remember which model) and I have been happy with it. I have wood floors and a cat with very thick fur - meaning she sheds A LOT. I swear we can make another cat with all of her fur tumbleweeds.

It's quieter than other vaccuums that I have had so it doesn't seem to stress the cat out so much.

I don't how it compares with the Dyson though.

Three big dogs, dog door leading to acres of outdoors, and thick, white carpet. I have a Dyson.

Good points:

1. I bought a Dyson after having my carpets cleaned (and I make the cleaning companies go over the carpets twice). It's the purple and gray model, with the animal hair attachment (which I never use, btw). When I vacuumed what appeared to be a thoroughly shampooed carpet, the carpet turned gray. I thought it was something wrong with the vacuum, but it was dust being sucked out of the carpet pad. After a commercial cleaning! The suction is as good as they say.

2. You don't have to buy bags or Hepa filters (which cost a fortune with the Mieles and other high-end makes). I can fill a bag in one all-house vacuuming. And those Hepa filters clog too quickly when you are dealing with pet dander (and they clog the landfills...those things are big!) You don't have to check the bag constantly, or wait for a bag-filled light (which usually means you've over-filled). You can see when you've reached the fill line, and dump the canister.

3. They give you an extra set of (washable)filters, so when you wash one set, you don't have to wait while the other ones dry.

4. They do not kick out fine dust like many vacuums do (and those Hepa filters are designed to take care of). I have allergies, and do not cough when vacuuming with the Dyson. There is no dust on the top of the vacuum after using it.

The bad points:

1. The company is not helpful if you need a repair. There are few service centers.

2. The bare floor/carpet selector gets stuck sometimes (so the beater bar won't move). This is apparently a common problem, easily fixed. However, it took me a long time on telephone-hold to find out how to fix it. They should just put the info on their Web site (I guess it's bad p.r. to admit a problem with their stuff).

3. It is somewhat difficult to remove hair from the beater bar. If you accidentally pop it out, it's hell to get it back into place.

4. They are overpriced, but then they don't get money for bags and Hepa filters.

5. You need a bit of muscle to push the four-wheeled uprights around. I haven't tried the ball one.

6. The way the attachments connect to the hose is all very poorly designed on my model. I rarely use the attachments because it's too unwieldy.

If you have allergy issues, I'd stay away from bagless, I found that I'd rather pay for bags and filters then deal with emptying out a bagless vacuum into the trash.

I have two cats and all wood floors too, and I'm vacillating between a Kenmore canister or a Miele. I think what you need to have no matter what vacuum you buy is a wood floor attachment, the beaters on the attachments for rugs can damage your wood floors.

regards,
trillium

One dog, one Dyson. Consumer Reports bungled that test. If you search online you'll see a lot of people had quality issues with the CR #1 rated vacuum. My Dyson has been bulletproof after heavy use for a few years. And it really sucks up the crud!

You are so helpful. Thanks. I'm leaning toward the Dyson, although I love the idea of the Roomba just doing it's thing without me.

Just getting back to this. I use one of the attachments a lot - for couch cleaning and getting under tables and things. I have no issues with the attachments, personally. Oh, and I should note that I have wood floors and area rugs - no carpet.

My friend has a Roomba. They have multiple pets (3) and use it for in-between bigger vacuums only. They rave about it, too.

While it's true that the Roomba won't keep you from ever cleaning again, it does really work, and it's great for general dust/cat hair maintenance. I find it especially useful if I'm having a dinner party or something -- I just switch it on while I'm cooking and voila! vacummed living room. Plus, it's really fun to watch it run around. My cats find it endlessly amusing as well:) We also have a dyson and my opinion is that it worked better on our old plush carpeting than it does on current hardwood floors. The upholstery attachments work, but it's kind of bulky and hard to maneuver. It really was fabulous on the plush carpeting, though. If you have a significant amount of carpet, definitely get a dyson animal. Amazon.com sells refurbished models for less money and you are still covered by a warranty.

I have the Dyson "the ball" All Floors. I think it's a great vacuum & I would definitely buy it again, if I had to buy another machine. It navigates tight areas beautifully.

i love the ball (by dyson). it helps a lot w. the cat hair since we have a crawling baby with allergies. also, since its such a cool vacuum, my husband vacuums everyday without me asking, and that alone is worth the $600 price tag.

This is long after the original discussion, but I wanted to chime in about the Roomba. It is not a replacement for a large you-do-it vacuum, but rather a supplement. With that in mind, though, it's GREAT to use rather frequently to keep floors looking good and picking up small, light weight visible things like dust-bunnies and cat and dog fur. It doesn't do big leaves or twigs, etc. I run it while I sit in an adjacent room drinking coffee and reading the paper. It's great, however, where you have hard surface floors. It's kinda OK with low-pile wall-to-wall carpet, but useless with high pile carpet or rugs which aren't attached. Don't believe whoever said you have to move furniture, however. One of the things I love about the Roomba is that it scurries around all those furniture legs and even under the bed--where I used to always have cat fur. The Roomba is the only way I know to adequately clean under a king-sized bed. Hope this help other pet lovers.