OMG, I've wanted a new vacuum for some time.  While I loved the Oreck because it weighed next to nothing, I hated it because you had to have a funky hand vac to use attachments (which I could never get to work).  And it never seemed to pick up all the stuff on the rugs, forget the hardwood.  
I took the plunge and bought a Dyson Ball DC15 and my apartment will never be the same.  The 5x8 area rug in my bedroom, I pulled enough hair out of it to create a second cat.  OMG!  My mother would be so proud of me, I'm actually happy to be cleaning house.
Well worth the $400 (on installment payments, yay!) 
