We put the new Dyson Car+Boat vacuum to the test - in an actual boat

Dyson has invented a vacuum cleaner for cars and boats. And, as luck would have it, I have both a car and a boat. So obviously, I was happy to accept the invitation to put it to the test.

In the likely event that you don't have a boat, don't worry. It's not as if that's its sole purpose. In fact, it's actually just a handheld vacuum, albeit a very powerful one.

Before we begin, though, a spot of news. The Dyson Car+Boat costs £249.99. That's not a lot of money in Dyson terms, but it's still a lot of money for a handheld vacuum.

And it costs a lot of money because it's one of the most powerful handheld vacuums you can buy. It uses the technology from the rather awesome V8, but it's distilled into something that's sized to be suitable for use in a car, in tight corners in your house, or, well... On a boat.

Its motor, for example, spins up at 110,000rpm, so it sounds like it's about to take off. The battery is said to last for up to 50 minutes (I'll come back to that), and it has 115 air watts of suction and a decent-sized waste tank.

Its the size that's the key selling point though, and its cute frame allows you to easily pop the two attachments on and off. There's a standard beater for carpets, and a dual function nozzle with a slide-down brush for tight crevices. All standard stuff, really, but very effective.

It has Dyson's latest filtration technology, and the clever quick-emptying system, and easy access to the filter.

It is, to be honest, really, really good. Our boat's carpet gets a bit of a bashing because we have two dogs on board and the carpet is often open to the elements. But even after a week of cruising, getting battered by blossom, and the traffic from two dogs and three people, it really did make light work of a quick clean-up.

There are, however, a few flaws I should mention. Firstly, on the max power mode (why would I use it on a lower setting?) the battery doesn't last 50 minutes. I'd be lucky to get half an hour.

It's charged through a supplied plug and cable, but this needs to be powered by a mains supply. And my boat doesn't have one. Neither does my car.

Charging takes a while, so this means you ideally need to take it home to top it up, and that's not incredibly practical when you're on holiday.

It's also activated with a trigger button. Pull it with your finger and the vacuum starts, release it, and it it stops. There's no switch. So while it's nice and easy to press the button, it's also annoyingly easy to let go of it - especially if you're navigating a tight corner.

But that's actually what this vacuum is so good at. There are a lot of nooks and crannies in my boat, and they're even worse in my car. So to have such a compact unit with such an amazing amount of suction power is incredibly useful.

It could be argued that if you already have a stick vacuum, like a V8, for example, this becomes a pointless purchase. But if you don't need one, if all you need is a compact handheld, this is about as good as it gets. And I know it's quite expensive, but as with all Dyson products, it really is worth the money.

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