What is the best/affordable vacuum for pet hair?

Since a dyson is out of the price range.. perhaps something along the lines of a hoover windtunnel. I had one when I had a husky mix, and it did a pretty good job.

Unfortunately, the best vacuum for picking up pet hair is going to cost you a pretty penny. But the investment is well worth it, particularly if you have multiple pets. We bought our vacuum 9 years ago and it still does a good job...but it was a $400+ vacuum.

You might try asking about open stock items at your local appliance departments/stores. Open stock items are items that have been returned, or were last year's display models. That's how we got our vacuum, for about $350, because someone had purchased it, opened the box, decided that they just didn't like how it looked, and returned it without ever using it even once.

Another thing to keep in mind is that carpet fibers will ALWAYS trap pet hair (and dirt, and allergens) and NO vacuum in the world will get ALL of the pet hair out of it. It doesn't matter how good the vacuum is, if you look closely there will always be pet hair left behind embedded in the carpet. This is why hard flooring surfaces are 100 times better for allergy sufferers.

Hoover Windtunnel will do it. Both on carpet and for furniture with the upholstery attachment.