I replaced our aging Dyson DC39 Animal with this
Shark cordless
It's been brilliant on our wood floors and carpets - my wife breeds Persian cats, so it's in use every day. Lightweight and switches between hard floor/carpet with a press of a button (the hard surface mode slows the roller brush down, which prevents cat litter/crumbs getting flicked under units/appliances).
The carpet mode is great, you can literally feel the brush head pulling you forward like an excited, dust-sucking puppy.
Three daughters means I have to clean the hair out of the brush head fairly often, but the top pops off to run a pair of scissors along the roller, so it's literally a 10 second job, as is emptying the fairly small hopper.
I recommend paying for the extra battery - I can do the whole house on approx 70% of one full charge, with short periods of vacuuming under the dining table throughout the day. As soon as the first battery runs down, we put it in the dual charger and slap the charged one in - it's about 3½ hours to fully charge from empty, so we're never having to wait to use it.
I have a spinal injury, so having the weight (motor and hopper) at the handle end is much more comfortable than dragging a Henry-type around, or pushing a heavy upright style.
The business bit detaches quickly from the stick, converting into handheld mode and comes with several nozzle attachments - we use it for dusting, cleaning out the kitten run, along the skirting boards and under the sofa cushions. It's not as light as a regular Dustbuster type, but the added power means we're not carrying it for too long.
You don't need to spend the £500 RRP - we bought ours around Black Friday from Very at £279 - they had a £50 off your first order, when opening a credit account, so it cost us £229 delivered (we had 6 months interest free, but paid it off the week after it arrived, once we were sure it was staying).
There's cheaper options than the Orange & White version, such as
this one for £199 (not sure if they're still doing the £50 off first order deal - worth checking), if your mum doesn't need the two batteries (We're pretty heavy users, due to cats & kids).
Or get a refurbished one for
£150 (although you lose out on the 5 year warranty)
I realise I've prattled on - but we'd tried lots of other vacuums (Miele, G-Tech, Vax) before deciding on the Shark - being able to do
some housework when my back lets me just takes the pressure off an already busy wife.