The Dyson DC37 Turbinehead Animal canister vacuum – I love the way Dyson names their vacuums – is a dream come true for me.

Now that sounds like a weird thing for an old guy like me to say, but I’m telling you, this $599.99 CAD vacuum, and for that matter all the vacuums made using the Dyson ball technology are gold. At nearly six hundred dollars it may seem that it costs as much as gold, but you get what you pay for, and this vacuum is worth what you pay.

I’ve been using Dyson canister vacuums at the cabin and to help out with the cleaning at my elderly in-laws condo for a couple of years and they do the trick. I used one of their canister wheeled models until they sent me this DC37 to review and they’re going to have to pry it from my cold dead fingers to get the thing back.

While I really liked the other version I used, the wheels are a pain in the butt at my cabin and in the condo. The spaces in those two places are too tight, and I kept getting the wheel hooked on one piece of furniture or another, or I tipped the thing over when I turned around. Lest this sound like I didn’t like the vacuum, I’ll say here that I loved it except for the wheels.

Photo from Dyson – The Dyson DC 37 Turbinehead Animal

The new DC37 Turbinehead Animal canister vacuum incorporates the new Dyson ball technology, so the vacuum follows me around the cabin or condo like a dutiful little puppy – sucking up everything in its path. It doesn’t catch on the loveseats the old one always did, and I can turn around and it just follows merrily along – I love the ball.

So, I know Sir James Dyson is a genius, but the simplicity of the design in this ball canister vacuum and the obvious power under the hood proves that, and takes this from being an ordinary canister vacuum into something entirely different.

The DC37 Turbinehead Animal comes with a motorized brush bar, with stiff nylon brushes to lift the dirt out of carpets, and with the push of a button on the handle, the motorized head shuts itself off and you can vacuum hard surface floors – no more changing heads depending on the type of floor. The motorized brush bar is a tad small for larger carpeted areas, but it works great on stairs and in smaller areas. It also has a combination tool that’s like the edging tool and a brush together, a pet tool for combing Fido and sucking all the loose hair, a stair tool and a stiff brush. It also comes with an articulating hard surface tool.

As with all Dysons, this vacuum has plenty of oomph – it does a great job picking dirt up. The patented Radial Root Cyclone technology sucks up the finest particles and regardless of how full (within reason) the canister gets, there’s no discernable drop in suction. The Radial Root Cyclone must work – how many other vacuums do you see on the market, which are designed to try to look like a Dyson? It’s dead easy to empty – you push a button on the side of the ball and the canister pops free, then push the red button on the canister and the bottom falls out – very efficient.

The DC37 is a small canister, weighing 6.67 kg, the power cord stretches out to 6.5 m, and the maximum reach is 10 metres. The vacuum itself is 507 mm H x 281 mm W x 368 mm H and the bin capacity is 2 litres. It’ll hold a pile of stuff and keep right on sucking.

PROS: It’ll almost suck the proverbial golf ball through a garden hose it’s so powerful; quiet; efficient emptying; the ball’s the bomb – everything else is great, but the ball makes it.

CONS: $599.99 is pretty expensive for a small canister vacuum; the motorized head could be a bit bigger.

About Murray Hill

Murray Hill has been a freelance columnist appearing regularly in some of the most prominent Canadian newspapers since 1974. He began writing about technology over twenty-four years ago and he still maintains the belief that there's a gadget or gizmo for every situation and application. His fascination with technology and gadgets has endured for over fifty years, and has led to many familial discussions about the the difference between the words "need" and "want" when referring to tech. Based in Saskatoon, connect with Murray at: murray@communicatto.com

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