iRobot vacuum cleaners

[Mike]

I saw AO is now carrying these. I've heard mixed reviews on these (and one series that recommended buying locally as you might need to return it multiple times, but this was awhile back).

I think my wife would love this given that we have hardwood floors/tile and two dogs. Of course the first floor is separated into two sections by two sets of three steps, but I guess moving the thing every few days would not be that hard (or buying another one).

Anyone have experience with them?

 

[68sting]

When it worked it was great. First one was broke right out of the box. Second one quit right before the warranty was ending and the 3rd unit started acting up shortly after I got it. I also noticed my home depot has them heavly discounted.

 

[jeffx]

My wife loves our iRobot Roomba.

I would buy it from http://www.hammacherschlemmer.com as they will give you a lifetime replacement warranty, which you will have to use if you use it every day like we do.

 

[pete]

my wife seems to like hers . . use it just for the carpeted area upstairs . . does a good job . . just fire it up as you head out the door . .

. . it has a habit of getting pinched under the front edge of some of the furniture and you have to rescue it . .

. . the 'home base' unit went thru a melt down (didn't seem dangerous or anything, but you could smell it) . . just have to plug the charger into the side of the vac now . .

Pete C

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Yeah, we're planning on also installing one of those floor scubbing robots for the restroom here as soon as we pull some wires for an outlet.

 

[Rupp]

We have one of the Roomba's that we bought from Sam's. It's a year old this Christmas and is used 3-4 days a week. We love it and haven't had a single problem with it. They are outstanding on hardwood floors and do a decent job on carpet but don't expect deep cleaning on carpet. Every time we use this thing it amazes me how through it cleans and even more so that it always finds it's way back to home base and recharges, ready for an emptying and cleaning again.

 

[huggy59]

I have one of the original Roombas and for a while we used it on tile and one carpeted floors in my former residence. It did a pretty good job on small stuff, dust, pet hair, etc. anything larger than, say 1/4" - like a piece of dropped food - and it didn't pick it up. Also, it fills up fast with lots of pet hair. I used one where I probably should have had three, and it is the older model.

If I didn't have so many wires all over the place here, I'd probably still be using it. It worked well, never had any of the problems many have reported here. Once in a while it would get stuck on a carpeted overhang or under a piece of furniture.

 

[Chakara]

Mine has also been very reliable and does a reasonable job. The issue I have and why we stopped using it was long dog hair. One run would so wrap up the roller bar that it would require cleaning. Became too much work and for some reason the Dyson doesn't need it's bar trimmed nearly as often (maybe 10 runs)

 

[Mike]

Hmm, the main reason I was considering it was dog hair. Seems like that could be a problem though...

 

[Rupp]

Hmm, the main reason I was considering it was dog hair. Seems like that could be a problem though...

They make a new model for pet owners as well as a new larger dirt bin garage/deck roomba. I'm getting a second one this Christmas with the new scheduler so it can run unattended other than emptying the dirt bin.

 

[eufreka]

Roombas are great.

I have purchased 2 so far...both through WOOT.COM. (They offered one again about a week ago, and I was tempted again!?!?!!?)

My wife thought I was nuts. But now she has named each one ("little buddy" and "little blue").

The first was a Discovery; the second was the Scheduler. Half the reason I bought the second one was because I can use its scheduling remote with BOTH units.

Now, they both run automatically in different parts of the house Monday through Friday while we are at work. On Saturday, she manually deploys them to other areas if and as needed.

iRobot has a complete webstore of parts and accessories, so you can replace the wearable elements as needed.

My wife hates my gadget obsession, but she loves BOTH Roombas and is glad I bought each one (the first was $129 reman/the second $199; plus $5 shipping each time--gotta love WOOT! $339 total for the pair)...never had a moments problem in a year of use and (in my house) ABUSE.

Here is the forum thread from Woot for the one they offered a couple of days ago...my advice is hang loose and wait for Woot, then buy as many as you want...

Do research these...

 

[Tymon]

We bought ours from HS to due to the warranty.
We have not needed it. She works great and we run her 3-4 times a week.

We have 2 cats that shed like crazy and Zelda (as the wife calls her) works great!

Zelda gets very full, very quick but that is because she works so darn well.

We have a 2 story and my wife is busting my chops to buy one for upstairs.

My advice, get one.

Ty

 

[Mike]

Thank you all. This has been very helpful.

 

[ChrisWalker]

I'm not a big Roomba fan, but the 2nd-gen Scooba is pretty fantastic I haven't washed/scrubbed a floor in months.

Chris

 

[rrockoff]

I purchased a remanufactured roomba from Amazon for $89 a few weeks ago. They have a special if you buy $125 of products you get a $25 off the purchase price. Appearently it is a bit of a crap shoot when you by the remanufactured version. You can either receive a roomba red (red color) or a roomba sage (green color). From what I have read the sage seems to be the better model but I have never seen the roomba red in action.

We have two dogs and both tile and carpet. I am quite impressed with what a great job it does. Everytime I run it, the dirt bin is full with dirt and dog hair. I am amazed as to where the debris comes from as the floors seem to be fairly clean. I am also amazed at how well the roomba gets the eges of the room. It has a little rotating brush (knida reminds me of a weed whacker ) that does a great job on the moulding. As far as cleaning it. I usually have to cut some of the dog hair out of the brush after every 3 to 4 uses.

I am also excited to see i-robot encourage hacking and even has a serial port. One day when I have more time, I plan to do a little hacking.

I hope, if you get one, that you have as good of an experience as I did.

Rod