rhiaaryx

I have a 3 story home. One floor and one set of stairs are new carpet (medium pile I think, I didn't install it), the other two floors/other set of stairs are hardwood. My next splurge purchase is going to be an antique rug, likely persian. I already have one silk rug. Two humans and two cats live in the house.

I had been looking at the Dyson animal vacuum before I saw reference to your earlier IaMAs. I've always had bagless uprights, but I've never had a vacuum that cost more than $60 (and they all suck at sucking). So I have three questions (feel free to point me to other answers if I missed that you've answered these already):

1. Would you recommend one vacuum for everything or should we have a different type of vacuum for the "expensive" rugs?
2. How would you go about finding a local vacuum shop? Would you recommend against just buying online? The only local Miele dealers are either poorly reviewed, an hour away, or actually Oreck shops.
3. What would you recommend we buy? Our budget is flexible.

Bonus question: what small handheld vacuum would you recommend for small messes, or is it just "buy something, they're all about the same".

EDIT: I do most of the hardwood cleaning with a broom, so the hardwood isn't as big of a deal. It'd be nice to be able to use the vacuum on hardwood, but not necessary.

Thank you for the detailed response, I was thinking I'd ask the rug dealer how they clean them--looks like you did the same thing :)

And thank you for the input on the brushes. Do you have a recommendation on which Miele canister to buy?

I've been trying to figure out how to pick a vacuum for several months (well, not really actively trying), you just saved me a ton of time!

Makes sense. Thanks!