I bought this cordless Dyson approx 1 month ago. I use this DAILY!
Our house is a mixed floor house with hardwood (real) on the main and carpeted stairs and bedrooms on the upper floors. I detested using our central vacuum because of the hose that I have to drag around that ends up marking up the bannister.

Cost: Was it worth it? I'll have to tell you in a few years to say for sure, but I can say that I've put it to the test and have enjoyed using it quite a bit so for me, the huge cost has had some great benefits.

Did I get what it said I would get for power? Claims are 20 minutes of cleaning or 6 minutes if you are using the high-power setting (using the direct drive head cleaner that has a moving head). I did get what was claimed. It is unfortunate that it takes 3 hours to charge, but I often clean several times daily for the main floor (just sucking up hair and dirt from the floor and cereal from the kids). The main carpeted area I have quite a few stairs and a lot of carpet. I can get through my stairs and part of the carpet before having to charge. **It is NOT meant to be the main vacuum of the house so I was NOT disappointed by this. Just know you can't go on a 1 hour vacuuming spree. My stairs are cleaner because I don't have to drag out this huge central vac anymore. I can just quickly vacuum the stairs and enjoy that part of it.

I used the attachments to thoroughly clean our SUV. It worked wonders and the attachments I felt were very well designed and worked well for the application. I liked that you can take that same smaller attachment then add it to the long bar in a second and then use it right away for doing something else. Every attachment is meant to switch out quickly in this way. I found that feature very very nice.

There is a separate head just for cleaning hardwood (the "bristles" are like a superfine microfibre). I was worried that the moving parts would damage my floor but it didn't. I still prefer to "spot clean" and wouldn't use this very much, but it is nice in the event I spilled a whole lot of flour on the floor I can just use that separate head.

I also like that I can hold it easily in my hand. It is a bit silly to mention this, but I don't have great hand strength (I never have, even as a kid and as a teen). I find this easy to hold, easy to empty the garbage bin from it. I like that I am not dragging around a separate piece or canister or anything else. I can just vacuum away!

Like all things Dyson, the con is the price, but I was able to save up points at a retail store which help to subsidize it greatly.

Why did I buy the Absolute vs other Dyson products?
The absolute came with the extra motorized head for cleaning hardwood plus the HEPA filter. I felt that if I was going to buy a Dyson, I wanted all the pieces so I could use it for a long time.

What was it about the other brands I didn't like? Most of the other styles (non-Dyson) had features that were either already trying to copy Dyson or were not as well made (and designed well - because like I said, I need everything to fit well in my hand). The allergy to dust I have was a factor in making sure I can get something with a good filter in it. Dyson's seemed to be able to clean just that much better than anything else I was able to look at (as I didn't look at EVERY vacuum out there in existence, I can only give you an opinion on the experience I encountered).