I just bought the purple animal dyson dc-17 and we LOVE it. some of them felt really flimsy to me when we were trying to make up our mind but this one seemed very sturdy. we got home and vacuumed the house and we were AMAZED at how much it picked up. we had our carpets shampoo'd just about 3 weeks before getting it, vacuumed the day before getting it...and it still got SOOOOOO much dirt and dust out of the carpet...and off of our furniture. we absolutely love this thing. The warranty is great too. I am not sure if this is true or not, but I was told that you can take it to any vacuum repair place to have it fixed if need be....that is pretty convenient. It's funny, I went out of town yesterday (just a day trip) and was actually looking forward to coming home and vacuuming (i kinda weirded myself out because I hate to clean) but I got home and DH had vacuumed the entire house!!!!! I was shocked...and a little disappointed that I didn't get to do it LOL
so yes...it's great
I say go for it!!!!