I had the same experience. Can't remember the exact model number but it was a normal upright model. That thing was amazing. Shame the wife got it in the divorce :( (heh)
The only things that broke were simple to replace (and pretty cheap to be fair) parts like the hose which split because I over stretch it one too many times. Can't really fault it for that though.
I have had wood floors everywhere now so make do with a dirt cheap hoover but if I had carpets I would buy another Dyson without question. It did such a fantastic job and maintenance was as easy could be.
I 2nd his recommendation of Miele for canisters. Very high quality and excellent filtration. And if you read the Whirlpool forum, there also a ton of people who have switched over to Miele after using Dyson vacuums.
Of course the plural of anecdote is not data.