The biggest problem with previous Dyson vacuum models was poor battery life. That has been greatly improved in two ways. This model of Dyson Vacuum Cleaners has doubled the battery life and has a better charger. It’s so easy to grip and use, we were able to keep corners clean, crumbs out of grout lines on furniture, computer keyboards clean, drawers clean of all those little things that seem to get in them, particularly the 1m by 1m trouble that the husband makes during football matches. 30 seconds with this vacuum and the mess is gone. We also use it to quickly vacuum the sofa. It’s also great for anywhere our home can’t reach (like stairs).
In short, the house was cleaner in a number of ways that are normally challenging. We loved the on/off action of the trigger which made Dyson’s short battery life tolerable and reliable strong power, plus the easily tippable bowl is really convenient.
The Dyson DC31 is a bit smaller in the lighter and quieter line of Dyson vacuums, plus it has a dual power setup. The normal power setting is fine for most things; in fact, we haven’t needed the strong setting at all, except to get dog hair out of the cracks in the stair treads.
The Dyson vacuum DC31 is designed to give 6-10 minutes of constant suction, which we feel is the right amount of time for picking up small amounts of dust and debris around the home or car.
This 10-minute run time is longer than it sounds because trigger action means the unit is on only when you pull the trigger to vacuum something, not when you move to another location or change position. That’s not only easier on the ears, but also makes working smoother. You can vacuum one area, then put the unit down (because it sits upright it takes up relatively little space) and move things around, clean out the next drawer, sort out the papers you collected, whatever, and then vacuum the next bit without no pressure to do all the vacuuming in one go, or perpetually turning the thing on and off.
We were able to clean and vacuum the entire car, including the ‘drive back’, a process that admittedly took over 10 minutes, but because the vacuum isn’t on continuously we didn’t have any problems, in fact it doesn’t show any indication of that it is working near the end of the charge. We can clean every drawer in the kitchen or the entire linen closet or every nook and cranny in a room without a problem.
On rare occasions when using Dyson Vacuums they constantly turn off, pressing the POWER switch turns them back on. This indicates that the DC31 battery may require charging. This is simply what happens to your DC31 as it is designed so that its power never dies out, instead stopping when the battery is close to requiring a recharge. Your DC31 will cut power and sometimes may come back on for a short burst. This is our “no fade” technology at work. You should get 6-10 minutes on a full charge.
The Dyson DC31 doesn’t have a bulky charger like the old one. It has a connection cord like a laptop and apparently some technology in the wall plug part that somehow knows to shut off after 3.5 hours so it doesn’t “deplete” the fully charged battery. We expect this battery to last much longer than the previous model. This vac also has a faster on/off time and overall seems more practical.
The addresses are minimal and almost entirely are images. They are well done and self explanatory. So far we are delighted with this handheld vacuum. It is better than its predecessor. It comes with a regular-length crevice tool, plus a two-position brush tool. We also bought the longer, more flexible crevice tool, but found it cumbersome and cumbersome, so we hardly ever use that accessory. We love this little Dyson handheld vacuum much more than the other options available (several of which we’ve tested in the past) and we’d highly recommend it even given the high price.