I love my Vacuum cleaner.
It is a Dyson DY 19. It cost us $400 + an extra $70 for a 'turbo head'. We bought it just over a year ago. Did i mention that I love it?
It would not be so good without the turbo head - it gets the dog hair out of the carpet.
Did i mention that I love my Dyson?
It is a barrel one - I think the upright ones mean that you end up pushing the whole thing back and forth with every stroke - which seems like extra work.
It's nice and easy to empty. (I do empty it after every vacuum i.e. when I have done the whole house). And I love it.
The cord could be longer - but I am lazy and want to vacuum the whole house without moving the plug
I haven't recently vacuumed the ceiling or the vacuum cleaner either!!
I love my dyson. When we first bought it we were a bit disgusted at the amount of dust that it sucked up - but after we used it a couple of times, that has stopped. It proved our old one was not so good.

Have you checked out what they say on Choice, or Product Review?