I have some Dyson ball model that was somewhere ~$300 at Costco. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't buy another.
The suction is great, and the best part of the vacuum.
The build quality is ok, but probably not commensurate with the price, at least from my perspective that it replaced a Sharp vacuum from the 90s, and I don't know whether the overall standards have risen, or more likely, fallen.
The thing that drives me nuts about it, and am often reminded of during use, is that the mechanical engineering is poor. That's something Joe Public may not notice, but for the folks here surely would.
Specifically, the backbone of the vacuum, which has to bear the bending and torsional forces during use, isn't rigid enough, and the design is highly reliant on the wand being locked into place to provide a lot of that rigidity, so it's one mode or the other.
There are two handles on the vacuum. The top handle where it is held during use, and another hoop that is part of the canister, which must be used to pick up and transport it. If it is lifted using the top handle, which to me is not an unreasonable expectation, what happens is that the backbone bends, and the flimsy little latch that secures the top of the canister unlatches on its own from the spine, due to it bending from poor rigidity. Without either the canister or wand locked into place, it does a good impression of a wet noodle.
Additionally, the hose for the wand is very stiff, and hasn't loosened up appreciably even after years of use. That, combined with the relatively small footprint, often results in the whole vacuum being dragged to the location where you're standing when the wand is used. That might be cute with a pet, but is not desirable when you expect the vacuum to remain stationary when the wand is used. The length of the rigid portion of the wand can also present clearance problems in tight spaces.
The swiveling nature of the ball is good on carpet, but not so great on floors, requiring more force to be exerted to get it to turn. And the rigid skirt around the suction portal tends to push debris around on floors, rather than allowing it to be captured.
In short, don't believe the hype.
I guess it's a good thing that Dyson's grand plan to make a car failed, because if that's that type of engineering that went into it, then it would have been a questionable product.
