On July 1, 2005 I purchased a Dyson DC14 Animal SL to replace my tired Filter Queen. The vacuum does a poor job of cleaning hard surfaces. The upright comes with only one section of wand making it impossible to clean hard surfaces and wood floors in an upright position. Only one wand section also makes it difficult to clean under beds and low furniture. The power head on the front of the vacuum has only two settings carpet and hard surface. Even the front power head does a poor job on hardwood floors. The power head on the front is too large to go under the front kick plate on kitchen cabinets. The low reach floor tool and upholstery cleaning tool are powered only by the air being sucked through the hose and are not electrically powered. The attachments are small and the crevice tool has an opening in the end making it less effective. The entire unit is plastic. Several of the parts seem delicate. The unit does not have an adjustment for the motor speed or suction level, so you can’t vacuum delicate drapes safely. It is no less messy to empty than a bag vacuum. I would not recommend this unit at any price and especially not for $549. I returned my Dyson DC14 on July 8, 2005 to the store!