If you have cat hair on carpets to deal with then make sure you get a Dyson with a "turbobrush". I thought the turbobrush was going to be just a noisy gimick. I was wrong. It is very noisy, but it picks up cat hair so easily.

Having the handheld turbobrush is also useful, very good for cushions, curtains and stairs. I got the DC08 Animal that comes with both, though I'm not sure that model is available in the US yet. I'm guessing the "turbine" head on the DC11 is the same or similar to the "turbobrush" on the DC08 (it basically has a fast spinning brush built into the head, powered from the airflow).