Not worth the money -- went through 3 in 2 years
Written: Apr 03 '07 (Updated Apr 03 '07)
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Pros: Great novelty item; good conversation piece
Cons: Doesn't work well, hard to clean, breaks down very easily. NOT good for pet hair!
The Bottom Line: Don't buy this. Take the money and look for something that works well and fits your needs. Novelty alone isn't worth the money.
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| erinhenderson's Full Review: iRobot Roomba Discovery SE Bagless Robotic Vacuum |
I bought my first Roomba in February 2005 and immediately became the ultimate Roomba supporter. I told everyone about how well it worked. I LOVED the novelty, especially because I HATED to vacuum. Indeed, the Roomba was much better than my old nearly-dead vacuum. But it was a far cry from what you should expect for the cost.
Issue #1: Vacuum quality - how well does it do its job?
Although it will run up to 90 minutes on one charge, it won't pick up much once the bin is full. The bin is small. Compared to a Dyson bin, it holds about 1/10th the amount of dirt, hair, etc. For scale, it's normal for me to fill up my Dyson bin in one trip around the bottom level of my house. Which means that when I ran the Roomba, it would fill up the bin quickly, then just run around doing nothing.
Additionally, this product is not good for pets that shed a lot. I have a dog and a cat that both shed like crazy. The Roomba will have some pet hair in the bin when you empty it. However, the majority of the hair becomes wrapped around the brushes. Roomba's product manual and specs say that you only need to clean the brushes after every few uses. However, if you have pets, plan to clean the brushes after every use, and sometimes halfway through the vacuum cycle as well, to get all of that pet hair up. I found that it took a lot longer for me to clean the brushes than to just push a good vacuum across the carpet in the first place.
Another thing to note is that when you run the Roomba, you need to check the carpet beforehand for anything that could cause the Roomba to get stuck or suck something up it shouldn't (such as cords and rug fringes). Unlike a regular vacuum, you can't just avoid the areas where those items are kept.
Lastly, although you can empty the bin and clean the brushes, a lot of dust and hair gets caught in the machinery of the Roomba, which is open and unprotected while it runs. It's nearly impossible to clean out. There is one revolving brush under the unit that you can unscrew with a screwdriver to clean, and I found that I had to do that fairly often.
Issue #2: The Price - is it worth it?
In a word, no.
The Roomba Discover retails for around $250-270 new. This includes the Roomba unit itself, battery, filters, charger, brushes, and the virtual wall units. This price range is about the middle range for consumer vacuums, not including those sold in actual vacuum stores. For an additional $50-200, you can buy a high-end vacuum, depending on make and model.
For the price, I would say spend the extra and get the better vacuum. I ended up putting about $450 into the 2 years I had my Roombas, and could have just bought a high-end Dyson.
Now that I've outlined my thoughts on the Roomba in general, let me tell you about my personal experience with mine.
Issue #3: Problems, service, and customer care
I had several dealings with the iRobot customer service. At first, it was great - they did everything they could to please the customer. However, it went downhill from there.
My first Roomba lasted about 7 months. One day, the motor just started making an awful whining noise and the Roomba stopped working. I called iRobot customer care, who not only shipped me a new one (minus the battery, brushes, and other accessories), but extended my warranty another 12 months with the new unit.
My second Roomba lasted about 13 months. At the end of that period, the battery was running down and not holding a charge, so I bought a new one ($50). Shortly after I received the battery, the Roomba had what I would call a bad incident. I started it running and left for work, leaving it to run in our dining room while I was at work. Shortly after I left, my dog had an accident of the very messy variety. Roomba picked it up and spread it all over the dining room and managed to get the stuff in its wheels, brushes, motor, and just about everywhere else. I understand that this is not the Roomba's problem, since it did its job. When I called iRobot customer service to see if they had a cleaning or maintenance service (they don't), I was told that since my Roomba was past its warranty, the only thing they could do was offer me an "after warranty replacement" for $99 (not including battery, brushes, or other accessories). Since I had a new battery, I went ahead and ordered the replacement Roomba.
The third Roomba lasted about 5 months, and then suddenly one day it stopped charging the battery. After some tests on the phone with customer service, I found that the battery was fine, the charger was fine, but there was a problem with the Roomba itself. Here's what got me steamed: this one only had a THREE MONTH warranty, since it was an after warranty replacement. So, I was pretty much stuck with a $400 paperweight. They offered me another after-warranty replacement, with another 90 day warranty, but after the experiences I'd had with lifespans, I decided not to spend the money. If I had to guess, I would say that those after-warranty replacement units were refurbished.
It wasn't until this point when I figured out how badly the Roomba had done its job. I did some research and bought a Dyson Animal, which is designed to pick up pet hair. The first night I ran it, only about a week after the Roomba died, I vacuumed the entire downstairs in my house and emptied the gallon bin on the Dyson THREE TIMES. There was so much dust and hair in the carpet that the Roomba hadn't picked up over the last 2 years. At this point, I knew I had to come on here and save someone else the money, hassle, and frustration caused by my Roomba experiences.
Bottom line
I don't recommend getting a Roomba. Take the money and look for something that fits your needs better. There are dozens of vacuums to choose from, and you can find one that better fits what you need. Novelty alone isn't worth the money.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 250
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Epinions.com ID:
erinhenderson
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Member: Erin Henderson
Location: Denver, CO
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Professional writer and Colorado native.
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