Dyson all the way
Our (vccc members) club was GIVEN a DC07 Dyson by James Dyson himself, five years ago. It's serial number is 1. yes, 1.
It was the first one in the U.S. other than the home trial models. We (vccc) have used it every year for our cleaning contest. It's picked up MORE dirt at every meeting than ANY other vacuum there. It's NEVER lost power, and still peforms brilliantly. While we (vccc) love the vintage machines, it's only ignorance of the machine that makes people not like Dysons. In 20 years, the young club members are going to be 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over them. No one's mother had a Dyson while they were growing up. That's why we (vccc members) love the old Rainbows, Electrolux, Hoover, and other machines so much. While I love my Royals (the power cast especially), the Hoovers (my vintage ones as well as the new Connie), and my Lux's (especially the new UltraLux Anniversary model), The Dysons solve the ONE problem shared by all vintage machines - loss of suction as the bag fills. Our club Dyson has proven, beyond a SHADOW of a doubt, that they are great machines that perform exactly as advertised.