Dyson Digital Slim DC44 Tester feedback review thread – Non testers – you could win a Dyson

First impressions: easy to assemble; with it being cordless I find I'm tending to grab it and use it far more often than I would normally use my vacuum cleaner; I have been able to reach two places in my house that were previously almost inaccessible (one is a shelf above the staircase and the other is a glass panel which is a feature of a staircase above a flight of stairs). I have carpet, oak, tiles, lino and cork floors - the motorised cleaning head doesn't need any adjustment for the different floor types (unlike my vacuum cleaner).
My son (21) has already used it TWICE! Yay - result!

Easy to assemble, pleasing design and colour.

So far have not tried out other attachments but have a feeling vacuuming the stairs will be a doddle with the Dyson compared with my present heavy cylinder vacuum cleaner.

Excellent for family mess. Biscuit crumbs (grandchildren) copious amounts of white hair (cat) and bits of straw and wood shavings (rabbit when he is allowed indoors for his nightly interaction with other creatures), all are handled adequately by the Dyson. Wonderful to be able to clean up quickly and with no lugging of big vacuum cleaner out from under the stairs.

The 20 minute dash will happen on New Year's Eve when my brother and his wife (immaculate house, no grandchildren or pets) comes for his annual visit.

Did the 20 minute dash today and was surprised by how much I was able to do. My house is quite big and I thought that 20 minutes wouldn't be long enough to make an appreciable difference, but because there's no dragging a heavy appliance or changing of plug sockets or fiddling with the carpet/hard floor adjuster I seemed to whiz through the downstairs. In the allotted time I managed to do porch, hall, stairs, landing, sitting room (including messy hearth), dining room and kitchen. I reached ceiling light fittings and cobwebs with ease, although needed to steady the 'wand' with my free hand. The top engine bit is quite weighty, but manageable. The battery cut out just as I'd finished.

First reaction from partner and grown up daughters was along the lines of "Ha ha you never use a vacuum cleaner, surely you should film other people using it!" I do vacuum, but mine tends to be the 'under sofa cushions and into dusty corners' type of vacuuming for which this little Dyson is brilliant. I do confess that (finally) partner usually does noticeable crumbs in kitchen more often that I do. He is itching to try the little Dyson out on the car so he doesn't have to run a cord along the street and through the kitchen window.
We tend to make the kids do the stairs and landing carpet even though we have a dyson stair hugger ~ which is still working well after 15 years and with only a little bit of gaffer tape on it.

First impression, once I had managed to get into the box, refusing all offers of help to unpack as it was My New Toy, was Ooh I like that purpley-blue colour. I clicked bits together, stopped pretending it was a light sabre and had a quick go at the xmas tree needles - brilliant. A little bit noisy but we still managed to talk.

I love not having to plug it in! That is one of my pet hates - working out which is the nearest and accessible plug socket. I also tend to run the big vacuum cleaner into or over my foot when I pull it by the hose, so this is great in terms of foot injuries.

It's really easy to use. The pieces click in to each other so don't fall off and land on your toes. You can work out how to use it without even reading the instructions. It holds enough debris to do quite a bit of sweeping up before emptying - its size makes it easy to dump into the bin without getting dust on your hands - I have to get my partner to empty the big cleaner as I am allergic to dustmite, this small one is fine for me to empty.

We had a huge clean up for the weekend before xmas. My grown up children arrived to stay a few nights and cleared out a lot of junk and things to be recycled, so we were on a mega tidying sprint when the dyson arrived - thirty or so relatives arriving on the sunday as well as the ten of us eating a prexmas xmas meal on the saturday, so there were a lot of crumbs to be dealt with in between changes of tablecloth. Didn't always remember to film as we were hurrying. Impressed by how powerful the suction was as it's so small.

Middle daughter filmed me trying to work out how to assemble and what the lights meant, as well as testing it out on one of those irritating pieces of furniture made of slats of wood where the dust sits in all those little corners and I had to try two different heads to see which one worked best.

Three year old grandsons also helped test it by abandoning bread on the doormat and in the hall way so I had a go at vacuuming that up one handed ~ I was trying to film at the same time as change cleaner heads; tricky.

Daughter did film me using the dyson while drinking coffee - does that count as the balance challenge?

13 year old daughter has taken it off to hoover her room two or three times already, but refused to let me film her.

Overall so far it's getting a thumbs up. We will see how we get on with the other 'official' challenges.

Okay I have now tried using the Dyson on my stairs and it is excellent. Attached small brush directly to bulky top part.
Goodbye to all that struggling with my big heavy cylinder vac.

The hardest place to clean must surely be that unreachable spot on the ceiling where it meets the wall above the stairs about mid-stairs in a '2-up-2-down'. I've even been known to balance precariously and aim a fan at the cobwebs on that part of the ceiling, in the hopes of dislodging them so I can then vacuum them up.

Does it have a trigger that has to be held in an on position while you are using it?

Yes, as far as I can see, you have to hold the trigger on and that could be a problem with arthritic hands. I have noticed I get a sore hand after a few minutes and change to other hand.

Thanks petallus when I was reading one review the writer hinted at this. Why could they not design a trigger lock to overcome this? A design fault.

I had a Dyson about 10 years ago. It drove me nuts - I got so fed up with it that I gave it away - hope the new owners had better luck with it! I may be persuaded that things have improved if I was to win one!! I spent an afternoon recently vacuuming out my garden shed - it was easier to do that than use a brush!

Old toothbrushes are invaluable for cleaning smaller spaces, eg. around the base of taps etc. Toothpaste, instead of household cream cleansers, makes an alternative cleaner. It brings up stainless steel spotlessly. When trying to clean small, very delicate ornaments try interdental brushes, they work a treat. Instead of using smelly Brasso for cleaning brass just use a cream cleanser such as Cif. When sprucing up dried/silk flower arrangements, sprinkle with salt, then leave a while and shake thoroughly. This effectively removes dust and dirt.

First Impressions
Saturday 22nd December
The Dyson cordless DC44 arrived yesterday at tea time and I unpacked it with my four year old twin grandsons this morning. I thought I knew what to expect, as I have a handheld cordless Dyson already. However, this is much more powerful. It was charged up, ready to use and simple to assemble. The boys helped me and were pushing it around the carpet themselves within minutes. That demonstrates how light and manoeuvrable it is.

I looked at the Dyson booklet and commented to the children that you can even vacuum the dog, as it has a pet grooming tool that can be obtained. The glint in their eyes was priceless! To distract them from mowing down the poor dog, we did a little video about what it could do, and the dog went back to her basket.

We tried it on the sitting room carpet, slate kitchen floor and the stairs. It's very quiet and within minutes, the cylinder was half full with no effort at all. Crevices are very easy to clean with the crevice tool, and no matter which way you push it into corners and under furniture, the power does not reduce.

This is going to be so useful over Christmas, for a quick whizz round before relatives arrive, and the post-party tidy up. The spare bedroom's ceiling cobwebs will be done away with, without me waiting for my tall son to arrive and do the job. I will no longer have to carry the heavy Dyson vac up the stairs. It's powerful, but I have had it a few years so is one of the heavier ones. I hope this one lasts as well.

So far, I'm very pleased with this DC44. It looks attractive, is not at all cumbersome, and I can recharge it upstairs without having to organise space for it.

*I was picked by GNHQ to review this product, which I received for free. These are my own words and reflects my true opinion.

I have the other hand held Dyson without the extension, it is brilliant but definitely needs a trigger that stays in place as it tenses the hand holding all the time. I am certainly going to get another Dyson for doing the whole house as my old vacuum is so heavy.

SIL is in a wheelchair and she recently purchased the Dyson DC44 after seeing it advertised on television. I watched her whizzing around with it over Christmas...wow, it was amazing. No leads to get tangled, light to move, reaches high up for ceilings and shelves. So easy for her to use and empty and helps her to retain her independence. She said that it charges really quickly too and is the best vacuum cleaner she has ever had. Reluctantly, she handed it over to me to have a go. Although I couldn't find any dust to vacuum up as she had clearly captured it all, I am converted.

Only just found this, which is a pity as I'd love to give this a try. Am I too late?
I have a Dyson but while it is very efficient I find it far to heavy for me nowadays and lugging it upstairs is beyond me now.
Ah well, story of my life- I miss everything!!

Win a Dyson?

Hardest place to reach are my pelmets- i have very high ceilings in this Victorian house, and I'm only five foot tall!
Cleaning tips? Got to be good old fashioned washing soda. Cheap, cheerful, and it works so well for wet cleaning and adding to the washing. Tried and tested.

Happy New Year!

I keep a bottle of vinegar in my cleaning cupboard, it is so useful for bringing a shine to glass, basins baths, mirrors and so on. Also much moe environmentally friendly than commercial cleaners.

We have certainly had some really good products to test this past year what with this Dyson DC44 and the Hoover Globe that I tested we have been very fortunate,the write ups have even made me look at buying the DC44 for DDs house where something light and easy to use would be ideal for her when the children have finished in her kitchen saving her having to pull out the old heavy Dyson that I passed on to her.

One of the hardest places I have found is the bit between the skirting board and the radiator, especially if the radiator pipes run underneath too, the dust seems to get trapped there (and having a black dog doesn't help with that too!)
My cleaning tip is invest in decent microfibre cloths, they take a lot of effort out of cleaning - and they're Green too

I actually picked the Slim up and ran it round the kitchen to pick up stray icing from the exploding rice crispy house before heading out today. Not my normal habit and a sign that it is easy to pick up and use. And quicker than hunting down the dustpan and brush which never seems to be in its proper place.

I would agree that a lock ON button would be useful - I did find I was swopping hands when using it to clean the stair carpet because my trigger finger was aching. That may be because I also had the biggest head on and the pole.

Oh, and I did do a 20 minute pre-visitor dash round, but was panicking too much to film at the same time! Managed to get rid of a lot of post-xmas debris before the battery went dead.

Hardest cleaning job is underneath the fridge and range cooker. Tiny spaces and lots of spillages and crumbs. Really difficult to get to - hate to think what is down there. Last time we moved the fridge found the skeleton of a frog that the cat had brought in a long time ago!
Best cleaning tip use halves of lemons after you have squeezed out the juice for cooking and put them in a small bowl of water and microwave for a minute. Then wipe down the insides of the microwave with a damp cloth and accumulated grunge will easily come off. Plus leaves a lovely citrusy smell.

Having the Dyson has made me less anxious.

I did a big clean today, it being New Years Day, and the Christmas tree having been put out for a well earned breath of fresh air. I used my ordinary cyclinder vacuum cleaner because I wanted more than twenty minutes' worth.

Then up came GS aged 7 for a sleepover and we soon had a sprinkling of biscuit crumbs over the newly hoovered carpet.

I wasn't bothered though because it is so quick and easy to pick up the Dyson and, hey presto, the carpet is pristine again.

I had also been moving furniture around in the guest bedroom and wanted to hoover bits of the carpet before placing furniture in new positions. Again quick and easy with the Dyson and no need to lug the cylinder vacuum cleaner back out from under the stairs.

Agree the trigger can be a nuisance. I too swap hands because of an aching thumb.

I've used the new Dyson much more then I would have used my other vacuum cleaner. Yesterday I had a houseful of guests and in between visits I found myself quickly vacuuming in the sitting room and hall. I also use the Dyson for cleaning the hearth and it's brilliant at getting the powdery ash residue off the slate.
I don't find the 'finger on trigger' to be a problem, but I do find the weight of the machine between my thumb and index finger results in a bit of a sore spot. Although for a maximum of 20 minutes use it isn't going to cause a real problem.