badbonz0007's Full Review: iRobot Roomba 560 Robotic Vacuum
Years ago, when my wife and I purchased the original Roomba, which was a close copy of this model. The irobot Roomba 560 robotic vacuum can do carpet, hardwood floors, vinyl, ceramic tile, and just about any type that you can think of. They sell this particular model at various stores such as Amozon.com, Macys’, and even Bed Bath and Beyond for right around $400. If you ever get tired of doing that daily cleaning, then try this robot. It is hard to believe that something this small has can do your whole house in one cleaning. That is more than the usual housewife can do. You will not have to bribe this one and it listens to you, unlike the two-legged models. If you would like to chase your dog or your kids, you can do it with this.
Description
This particular model is 3’ tall (from the floor to the top of the robot), 13” in diameter and only weighs 12.5 pounds. This has a voice that will talk you through the whole set up. This comes equipped with side brushes to do the corners and two rotating brushed that will pick up all of the dirt in its path. A quick start manual will help you get started in a hurry. This also had a powerful vacuum and a filter for picking up fine particles. It rides on three wheels and has an inferred sensor plus a bumper bar located in the front to detect any obstacles. You should receive two virtual wall pods, which will allow you to make three levels of invisible walls at 3’, 4’ – 7’, and more than 8’, to adjust this for different lengths there is a sliding bar located on the front of these pods. You will also get two filters, and a brush-cleaning tool. What you will not receive is the four “D” batteries that you will need to be able to operate the virtual walls. You will not have to worry about shutting these off, because they will shut off after 135 minutes of use. If the light that is located on the top of this is blinking then it is time to replace the battery. This will already have a battery located in the main body of the robot, (make sure you pull the plastic tab located underneath the robot to get this to work) which you will need to charge overnight before its first use. With this model, you should also receive a docking station which is just a little taller than the robots body and a battery pack, which allows you to charge when you are not around. A very important note, make sure that the light is on, on the docking station otherwise you will not be charging the robot, when you think that you are.
Experience
When my wife first brought this home, she told me that it was my present for our new house. It acts just like my robotic lawnmower. We even named this Bob Jr. This will follow the wall all the way, until it hits something (chair or table leg) and then it will change direction automatically. On a full charge, this will last over ½ an hour or more, that is more than enough time to vacuum your floor. If you have new carpeting then the brushes will need more frequent cleaning, but if you do your floors every day then this will run sufficiently enough to keep your floor maintained. You will need to charge this overnight before the first use but after that it will only take a few hours to recharge the onboard batteries. The very first time that we used this, we could not believe our eyes, with three dogs in the house, this vacuum picked up all kinds of debris and more. When this robot stopped for cleaning, the filter compartment was full to the brim with dog hair and dirt particles that our other upright vacuum had missed.
This also adjusted automatically to all of our floors, no matter what height that the carpeting was. It will never fall down the stairs, because it will use its four sensors that are located on the bottom in the front, to detect the edge. We have found that the hardest thing to do on this is where to place the docking station, because it will move a little when the robot tries to go back for recharging. We found that the best place to put this is in a corner to prevent any movement. Along with all of the regular features that this has, you will also be able to set this for a daily cleaning and the only thing that you will have to do is empty the debris out of the filter compartment. When we were finished we were wondering, how this would be able to detect where the home base is. Well, we soon found, when the battery gets low or it is at the end of its cleaning cycle, the base will emit an infrared signal, which the robot will locate and keep trying to dock until it gets it right. This is why it is very important to keep the home base plugged in at all times.
There are also a few indicator lights to help you understand what is going on when this unit stops. This has a low battery and troubleshooting light. If the light is red, this means that the battery needs charging right away, and if the light is amber and pulsating, it will need charging. If the light on top is green, this will indicate to you that the battery is fully charged, and if you see a flashing amber light, this will indicate to you that the battery needs a 16-hour charge.
Cleaning
This has a few modes for cleaning and they are the main clean mode, which will detect the size of the room and run for that size room. The next mode is the spot mode which when used, will isolate on an area about three feet in diameter for an intense cleaning. The last mode is the one that we always use and that is the scheduled cleaning mode for doing the whole room. The important thing to remember is to keep this unit cleaned, and the best way to remember all of the spots that need cleaning, is to remember the color yellow. Everything, which is colored yellow, should be cleaned on a regular basis. The scheduled cleaning mode only comes on the models 550 and above. The spots that should be cleaned, are the filter and the filter compartment, the brushes, the yellow brush bearings, the front wheel, and the cliff sensor openings.
Warranty
This will come with a one-year warranty for parts and labor.
Conclusion
This is a lot better than its predecessor was. You get a lot more options and it does an amazing job. This will pick up stuff that your regular vacuum does not. If you have the money, then give this a try, I can give this five stars out of five.
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