ladyhawk2_99's Full Review: iRobot Roomba Red 4100 Bagless Robotic Vacuum
Setting the testing grounds
My house is besieged by sprites. Sometimes, the sprites will rampage at their private whims constantly through the year. This year, however, the sprites had themes. Summer was Car Season, when both our cars died dramatic and final deaths. November was Appliance Month, when the sprites took out both our garbage disposal and our vacuum.
Now I don't know about you, but November is not a month when we do new appliance purchases. First, you can always hope that a relative will buy you the appliance, and second, you need the cash to put Thomas the Tank Engine and Nintendo DS's under the tree. We left both appliances until the after Christmas specials.
Sure enough, my Mom-in-Law sent us a gift card for the Home Depot, and off we went to pick up a new garbage disposal. I'd been crawling around on my knees with the spot vac keeping the carpets from attracting vermin, and had figured I'd keep that up for another month until bonuses came in, because lets face it, my husband was not going to use the gift card to buy a vacuum.
We picked up our disposal and were headed towards the checkout when we passed by a vast display of Roombas. Randomly, entirely in jest, I said "Honey, lets buy a Roomba." "Sure, lets." Glancing at my husband, I realized that instead of triggering the cleaning device reaction, Roomba had hit the gadget button. My husband was entirely serious. Well, the gift card wasn't for $150, let alone $250 to cover both, but when was the next time I wasn't going to have to beg for a vacuum? Roomba went into the cart.
Startup
Roomba comes almost fully assembled out of the box, but with a completely dead battery. The battery is stored separately in the box, but is simple to install in Roomba. According to the directions, 7 hours are required to recharge the battery with the included power cord. The instruction manual suggests that "while you're waiting, load batteries into your Virtual wall." If you can manage to spend 7 hours loading 2 D-cell batteries into a 4 inch square(ish) box, I think you should stick with a broom. Set your virtual wall (which projects an infrared beam to keep Roomba contained in whatever area you've chosen to clean) and you're ready to go. Simply push the power button, select "clean" or "spot," and away Roomba goes.
I should note that the virtual wall has 3 width settings, allowing you to block a doorless archway or to cut a room in half keeping Roomba in one side or another. I'm sure there are engineering reasons for this. Shrug.
Roomba Personified
At our house, we pride ourselves on being rational creatures. We don't believe in sun gods, we don't do rain dances, and we don't talk to our computers. We have a weakness when it comes to Roomba. Once you set Roomba loose, he's inexplicably drawn to all those forbidden fruits. He consistently looks for cords. He downright searches for twine and rope, and I swear he races you to the Barbie accessories. Somehow or another he ends up in the corner near my computers (read cord haven) at least 7 times during a cleaning session in our family room.
Does he WORK??
This seems like such a simple question, doesn't it? It's not. First of all, you have to have a clear idea of what you want from Roomba. I didn't realize what a complex question it was until I was sitting down to write this review. I mean, it's a vacuum, right? WRONG. Or at least possibly wrong. To my husband, this is the latest in robotic engineering. The way he senses stairs, his round shape being the most elegant engineering configuration, all these things to him are proof of man's ability to conquer any problem, to surmount all obstacles. So what if he can't clean corners.
You see, I was confused. I thought Roomba was a vacuum, and I was all set to rip apart his vacuuming abilities. It wasn't until I started giving my husband a preview of all the problems Roomba had that I realized that Roomba wasn't just adequate, he was an answer to all my husband's dreams.
However, if, like me, you want Roomba to vacuum floors, then he's not the divine sending we would like him to be. Roomba does a great job on both our wood floors and the plush carpet in the living room. He whirs and spins for approximately forever, stopping reliably at the spots that have deposits of dirt to spend just a bit of extra time there before moving on. He snatches up hair dropped by our two cats and our dog. He gets the loose threads, the dirt, and the random other stuff that I don't even want to know about.
Roomba does not do stairs. Or corners. Oh, sure, he has a little brush that he uses to scoop things out of corners, and that's all fine and well if he's working on a hardwood floor. If he's in a carpeted room, there is a swatch of space from 2 to 5 inches wide between the walls and where Roomba actually cleans. He has no attachments, nor are any available, so if a path of debris along your walls, around your entertainment center, or at the base of your stairs bothers you, you'll need to make other arrangements for them.
In addition, Roomba is idiosyncratic about Berber carpets. We have Berber in our entire basement, and it's impossible to guess when Roomba is going to notice a patch of dirt and when he's going to whiz right over it leaving it all behind.
Roomba creates his own messes. As I mentioned, we were vacuumless for over a month, and when Roomba was first loosed in the family room, the accumulation overwhelmed the poor boy's dirt collection area. He started making a certain whine, and when we paused him to empty him (which you do by pushing any button on his top) he expressed his dismay by belching out about 2 tablespoons of dirt where his suction unit is. When we turned him back on, centering him carefully in front of his little messes, twice he was able to identify the "dirt" and act accordingly, but once he obliviously scooted on over it and went about his merry little way, apparently preferring the company of the cords in the corner by the computer.
Did I mention Roomba loves cords? My husband also loves cords. Mostly we keep our cords concealed, but there are a couple of spots where cords are out in the open in our house, and Roomba can be guaranteed to spend more time there than anywhere else in a room. More than once, the entire household has taken after Roomba like masters of an errant puppy screaming "NO ROOMBA!!!" as he made his 6th pass at the cords of a lamp or computer tower.
Roomba doesn't do cat food. Well, he does, but if it's on a hard floor (linoleum in our case) he scatters more with his little "sweeper" than he picks up. You're left wishing you'd just grabbed the broom when it was in a pile upended by the cat instead of having to chase the little pellets all around the edges of the room. You'll only make that mistake once, though.
Enter Roomba the Vacuum Buddy
You might think, after the list of all the things Roomba doesn't do that I would here be returning him to the store, despite my husband's love of the engineering coup of the century. Not so. Roomba is a great vacuum buddy. If you look at him as your partner in cleaning, he's an immensely satisfying creature. You clear the middle of the floor, set him to work, and then race to pick up the toys, pieces of paper, and socks before Roomba gets to them. Or, if you're room is well picked up, you can go along the edges with a broom sweeping the edges, while Roomba deals with the center. In addition, if you have picked up the room and don't mind having a few missed patches, you can let Roomba go while you write an epinions and sip a cappuccino. He doesn't even ask why he doesn't get paid more than you do when you take twice as many coffee breaks as he does.
In addition, he's a great motivator. I love getting a room ready for roomba. When you clean a room and the end result is you get to push around a noisy box, you can't help but almost dread the last step, and what kind of motivation is that?? With Roomba, when you're done cleaning a room, you turn into the boss, sitting with your feet up (literally, we still haven't figured out how Roomba chooses his paths) and watch as he finishes the room off.
Roomba accessorizes
He doesn't have attachments, but boy does Roomba accessorize. He's like a woman. Sure, he's got the $150 red dress, but he really wants the shoes and the matching purse. And while we're at it, could we pretty please pick up the $20 remote, the $60 wall mount, the $50 rapid charger, the bigger battery for an added $50, an extra virtual wall to protect the horde of cords will run $30 (he comes with one, but trust me, most rooms need 2). Here's chutzpa for you, there are also 2 styles of t-shirt available. Don't worry, there's a booklet you can browse that comes with Roomba listing ALL his possible attachments, or you can go directly to www.irbotstore.com
The amusement factor
Ok, please don't report me to PETA, but I can't help it. I love watching the animals with Roomba. I've never seen a cat that likes vacuums, but somehow it's so much more amusing when the vacuum is self-propelled and mimics their intelligence levels. Sometimes I swear they're all out to get each other.
The Final Word
If you're looking for an outright replacement for your vacuum and expect never to have to touch your carpets again, you'll be disappointed and you should save yourself two trips to the store (the first to purchase and the second to return). If you have all hardwood floors, you're more likely to be satisfied. If you're looking to free yourself from the majority of vacuum duties, but won't be too upset if you have to get out a handvac or an upright with some attachments to touch up around the edges of the entertainment center, this may be the ticket.
If you're a geek in the last round of "who's the geekiest geek around" and you're in the home stretch, neck and neck with that annoying coworker, then whip your Treo out and place your order with www.irobot.com cuz we have a winner!
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