Well, after doing considerable research, I decded to by a Miele s518 (yellow star) for ourselves, The one thing we were disappointed with is the machine is assembled in China with German and Chinese made parts. We did get the machine on sale, so we paid $250 less then the Cat and dog model ( made in Germany)
Quality wise, the same powerhead, better filter (hepa, vs charcoal) but no mini turbo brush. The body seems slightly different ( like the older mieles). Miele offered a special promotion upgrade to 5 year warranttee which ease any fear about offshore assembly.
We have mostly hardwood floors, with areas rugs, some of which get dog hair on them. We just got the machine but it does a good job on the carpets. We probably will continue to do quite a bit of dry mopping with the occassional use of the parquet attachment on the hard floors, hoping to stretch the frequency of changing bags ( which are also expensive).
