I simply love my Dyson. Its so lightweight and maneuvers around things well. Battery life is plenty for my 3 bed 2 bath home. Probably use only about 1/2 of it. I have a lot of allergy issues, so I keep a bag in the garage for this job and so far that seems to be working. There's only one thing that I haven't gotten comfortable with yet and that's it moving from side to side when I want it to go straight. I'm assuming that it's trying to pick up something just outside it's reach. Very weird feeling though. Get one! It's worth the extra.
Bought the V8 to replace my old Dyson cordless animal vacuum, which lasted for many years. The roller attachment stopped working and I could not get a replacement part. I have a dog that sheds a lot and have been using the V8 daily since I received it. It gets the job done very well. We have wood and tile floors with a couple carpets by the front and back doors. Works great on all surfaces.
After using an older version of the DYSON V8 regularly for 8 years, I decided to buy a newer model and I LOVE IT. It's much quieter, it holds a charge long enough for me to vacuum by 3 bedroom apaertment and the results are solid. I actually enjoy vacuuming because of DYSON products!