If I Could Just Teach It To Dust.......UPDATE 1/9/05
Written: Jun 21 '03 (Updated Jan 09 '05)
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Pros: Convenient, lightweight, fun to watch
Cons: Misses spots, short battery life, hard to get parts if broken
The Bottom Line: Great for pet owners, parents of crawling children and the elderly or physically challenged. Not for the chronically lazy as it does require some attention!
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| flouswa's Full Review: iRobot Roomba 3000 Robotic Vacuum |
Years ago I came up with the thought of a vacuum cleaner that would do the job all by itself, powered by a robotic motor. The idea was based on a kids toy that I had in my childhood. Little did I know that years later my idea would become someone elses reality!!! Why didn't I contact someone in the patent office years ago???
Fast forward to April of this year--I'm riding on a plane, looking through the SkyMiles catalog when there it is, on the page--the vacuum of my dreams! I had to have it--so a month and a half later, I found one at BestBuy and it came home with me. We've named it Rosario.
At first I was skeptical and that's probably why I put off running out and buying one immediately. Then they had it featured on Oprah's Favorite Things show and let's face it, the gal has discriminating tastes. After reading some online reviews I figured it was time, and when I got it home, I could hardly wait to try it. Unfortunately, I did have to wait--12 hours--because the battery has to be charged. In fact, everytime you fully discharge the battery, you have to wait approximately 12 hours before you can use the Roomba again. To me this is a major downside, particularly if you have a large house to vacuum with it. The extra batteries aren't cheap, nor is the quick charge adapter. Hopefully this is something they will work on over time.
On to performance--I was amazed! We have two large dogs, one a golden retriever (moderate shedding) and the other a chow/retriever mix (MAJOR shedding). It's spring and the doghair tumbleweeds are running rampant on our floors. A great time to really put Roomba to the test. It passed with flying colors! In fact, I was grossed out by not only the amount of dog hair it sucked up, but also the amount of dust it also sucked up. We have a lot of that dirty, doggy dust because our one dog has a skin condition which causes a considerable amount of dandruff. The Roomba also did a great job gathering up toast crumbs, grass clippings and most anything else that was in it's path (including a cord I missed picking up--YIKES!). And it can get under the bed and the bakers rack a whole lot easier than I can. This alone is almost worth the price. Clearing a room of obstacles before running it is a bit of a pain at first, but once you see where the problem areas are, it becomes second nature.
Cleaning the Roomba is not all that difficult, particularly the daily stuff. Pop out the main dirt bin and two other small pieces, dump the trash in the garbage, pop the pieces back in and you are ready to go again. With all this dog hair around I have to take the brush assembly apart about once a week and clean that thoroughly, but I found it much easier than I thought, I would compare it with changing a vacuum cleaner bag, maybe even slightly easier. Still worth the hassle in my opinion. Overall I think that when you are finished, you have a much cleaner piece of equipment than a conventional vacuum too because of the simplicity of the design.
The only other downside I've found is the pattern it uses to vacuum because it periodically misses a spot here and there, but I really don't know how they could improve in this area. I guess just keep your fingers crossed that eventually sometime during the week it's going to go over every place at least once. I've noticed that it works much better on the hard floor surfaces in our house better than the area rugs. The "invisible wall" that comes with it seems to work very well, except when the dog lays in front of the laser beam and Roomba escapes!
Who should have Roomba? I for one think it's great for someone with a pet hair problem. Also, it would be terrific for someone with a child who is crawling because it would make keeping up with all those little pieces of stuff that infants are so good at finding a lot easier. It would also be nice for an elderly person or a physically challenged person who has difficulty using a conventional vacuum on a regular basis.
Would I buy it again? Yes, especially if I still have pets as it has been a great help in keeping ahead of the dog hair. My only other real concern right now is the durability of it, especially considering how many times it runs in to things, but so far so good. I'll definitely be looking forward to future generations of this product.
UPDATE 01/09/05--My Roomba had an accident and sucked up a cord which I didn't realize was in the way. Afterwards it wouldn't work properly, just going around in a circle. I tore it apart to see what the problem was, and I discovered that the part which holds the brush in place was missing a bushing out of it. I've since discovered this is a common problem and I wonder why IRobot doesn't come up with a better piece, I can think of lots of materials they could make this out of which would hold up a lot better.
I purchased an extended warranty from Best Buy when I got my Roomba, but figured that it would be cheaper to just contact IRobot for this tiny piece than to drive an hour to the nearest Best Buy. I was thrilled when I got an e-mail back telling me that they would send the piece to me at no-charge. (This was before I knew this was a common Roomba problem) That was in September of 2004. In the meantime I waited and waited and when I got concerned that it was lost in the mail, I e-mailed again, only to be told that the item was on backorder. I FINALLY received this part just before Christmas--3 months later. Sounds to me like they have a problem.
As a result, I've lowered my rating on this product.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
flouswa
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Member: Flo
Location: Pennsylvania
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 3 members
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