Options are:
DC40i £200
DC40 animal £228
DC41 animal £280 (assume this is Mk2)
DC55 £299
TBH all would probaby be fine!
They look like grade B (2 yr guarantee) prices, or sale prices somewhere?
You are going to find any of those very flimsy after a DC04.
£249 gets you a Sebo X4 delivered next day with a 5 year guarantee. That would be better on carpets, very solidly built and will last as long if not longer than your DC04 did.
But if fixed on Dyson, many find the DC40 canister a bit small, and sooner or later the power to the cleaner head will fail when the loom breaks (design fault). I'd go with the DC41 MK2 or the DC55, which as noted is ostensibly the same machine with a few other bits.
If spending my own money, personally, I would buy the Sebo (
>My wife just made the brand swap too<).
When you know which Dyson you want (if you haven't swapped over to Sebo by now), shoot me a PM with what you have seen and I'll see if I can beat the price?