Fantastic design's fall from grace...
I agree here. Dyson cleaners aren't as good as they used to be, and this a great shame in the vacuum cleaner world.
The biggest problem I have with the newer Dyson cleaners is the build quality - They just don't make them like they used to. I remember going hands on with a DC50 and I couldn't believe how much the handle flexed in my hand. Ok, flex isn't always a bad thing. Coming from an engineering perspective you can't have a handle that has no flex otherwise it would be brittle and eventually snap off. However, in the DC50 there's too much flex which makes me feel as if I'm going to un-intentionally bend the handle during normal use.
I found that the cut-off point for quality Dyson cleaners was in the late 2000s with the DC26 City. It felt really well made and could take a beating. Everything before the DC26 was great. I currently own three Dyson cleaners (a very early DC04 Absolute + from December 1998, a DC14 Animal from 2006, and a DC25 Animal from 2009) and I think they're great products. Most importantly however is the fact that they're well made. Though I must confess that the DC14 I have feels like a much better build than all of the Dyson cleaners I've ever owned.
It's such a shame that Dyson products have gone down in quality. I used to consider the Dyson brand as the best in vacuum cleaners, but since the downgrade in quality that's no longer the case (give me a Numatic any day). Whilst they may be simple machines they are actually built extremely well, and I value that.
A solid piece of design is considered, tested, and built really well...