Customer Reviews

Remanufactured iRobot Roomba Vacuuming Robot, Assorted Colors

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

I've been a Roomba user for more than 3 years, so I know the benefits of a little automated vacuum. However we had three primary complaints that iRobot has addressed in this new version:

1. Inconvenience of coming home to a dead battery
2. Difficult to clean
3. Noisy
4. Could not focus on dirtier areas; only cleaned randomly.

1. We have gotten into the habit of, as we are walking out the door, putting the Roomba to work. However, we always used to have the problem of coming home to Roomba with a dead battery (inevitably it would die in the worst spots, like under our bed just out of reach). Then we would have to plug him in to our charger (which we had to shell out sixty bucks for) and wait for two hours to use him again. That was complaint one for the old version.

iRobot has fixed the battery issue on the Discovery. The fast charger (which we had to pay for before) is now built in. Secondly, and what has proven to be my favorite new feature of the new Roomba, the little vacuum automatically finds his docking station when his battery is about dead. I do have two recommendations on this note, however. The docking station appears to work just like a virtual wall, Roomba doesn't know that it is there unless it crosses its path, so you make sure that it is in a wide open room where Roomba is sure to cross its path in its waning minutes of power. Secondly, now you have to be extra sure to Roomba-proof the room so that he doesn't get stuck. If he's stuck he won't be able to find his way back to the charger.

2. The new version has gotten much easier to clean, especially the main brush. All the pieces now pop in and out of place easier and there are no screws to remove any of the pieces that need cleaning. This has proven to be a huge benefit.

3. The Discovery is noticeably quieter than the older versions, especially on tile surfaces.

4. The new line of Roomba Floorvacs comes with sensors that can detect dirt. That was the first thing we tested when we got our Discovery. I had pieces of Styrofoam broken into small pieces and it detected it and automatically performed a spot clean on that area. Then I put him in the kitchen where I had accidentally dumped a bag of cereal on the floor and then managed to step on it...Roomba focused on that area and cleaned up every little crumb.

I love my Roomba. I 100% recommend that you get one. I bought mine at a local store in the mall and had to return my Pro Elite version 4 times before I finally got one that wasn't buggy. Then, under the warrantee, after my fourth one went on the fritz I was able to upgrade to the Discovery for free. So far after 2 weeks, the Discovery has been bug-free.

Nevertheless, because of the many issues that I have had in the past, and as with any new and emerging technology, buy it where you can purchase an extended warrantee and easily return defective devices.

Notwithstanding, buy a Roomba. Even though my wife and I never have time to clean our floors have been spotless since we got our Roomba.

I hope this helps.

I am not much of a gadget person - I still have a cassette deck in my van. But I just had to say - this is a very cool machine! We have 2 cats and two dogs, so fur is always floating around. The Roomba Discovery does a great job of cleaning it up. I turn it on, and it does the rest - it even plugs itself back in when it gets "tired."

The Roomba runs itself under furniture! How cool is that? I doubt my dust bunnies are happy, but I can live with that!

There is always a downside, and this machine does have a couple. While it is easy to clean and detangle hair etc. from the brushes, it does have to be done a lot. Note that no tools are required though - the brushes snap on and off easily.

While it is an excellent supplement to the dirt fighting arsenal, it will never replace the traditional vaccuum. First and foremost, it doesn't do stairs. Second, there are a couple of places in my house where it simply can't reach. It doesn't clean carpets as deeply as the "real" vaccuum does, so high traffic areas still require a little extra attention. And for localized spills, the traditional vac is just plain ol' faster.

Despite all the cons, I can say my house has probably never been cleaner. This does a great job of picking up dirt and pet hair, and it is so accessible and easy to run that I end up using it every day.

I would buy this again in a heartbeat.

Before we got our Roomba 4210, we researched the item extensively. Our main concerns were:

a) will it get stuck in our somewhat cluttered house?
b) will it have enough suction power to have any impact?
c) (least important though) will it be easy to use?

After buying the little interactive R2D2 robot from Hasbro http://www.hasbro.com/r2droidfactory/ my wife and I were more than suspicious of 'miracle artificial intelligence' robots. R2 was interesting, but pretty helpless in our house. He would constantly get stuck and lost in our house and the kids stopped playing with it almost immediately. So naturally we thought that Roomba would have the same limitations (especially after seeing the manufacturer videos which show a clean and clutter free hardwood floor house (ours is pretty much the opposite).

I'm happy to say that it took me all but 10 minutes of time watching Roomba zip around the house to see that this wouldn't be a problem. Roomba has very 'intelligent' escape sequences. He (yes, our Roomba is a 'he') recognizes when he gets stuck and has some nifty moves to free himself. So far (2 weeks of daily use) Roomba has gotten stuck 1 time (read: ONE). And he didn't get stuck because he drove over something, he got stuck on a piece of furniture which didn't have enough headroom for him). So I'd say : Checkmark on a). Roomba certainly finds his way around your house.

Regarding the suction, I'd say Roomba qualifies around the same amount of suction as our Dyson bagless ~$200 vacuumcleaner. As a matter of fact, Roomba sucks up dirt in a single go that our big vacuum had problems with (btw: since we've had Roomba, we don't need our big vacuum anymore). Checkmark on b).

Roomba is extremely easy to use. Either position him in the middle of the room and press POWER and then CLEAN, or simply hit CLEAN when he's docked. Either will work. That's all. He'll roll out and vacuum your house. Checkmark on c).

In closing I have to say that our house has never been this spotless before. I'd certainly highly recommend Roomba.

The factory reconditioned version we've purchased comes with 90 days warranty and I can tell you that even if it would break after that, I'd buy another one... it has made our life THAT much easier.

I thought it was a good deal to order a "Factory-Reconditioned" Roomba 4210 Discovery to save some money, however...

It arrived! I excitedly opened the box. First impression... The unit was dirty, very heavily scatched and scuffed. Not exactly a good first impression.

I then lifted the Roomba out of the box and I was immediately covered with dirt and dust. The bottom of the box was also filled with dirt and dust and hair. I flipped it over and discovered the brushes covered with dirt, dust and someones (or somethings!) hair.

I was grossed out, but even worse, the other person in the room (who suffers from allergies) started to sneeze violently. I spent the next 20 minutes thoroughly vacuuming the entire room and all other horizontal surfaces I could reach.

I think it is very obvious that NOBODY did anything with this Roomba since the previous owner returned it besides transfer the polystyrene packing box to a new cardboard box that says "Remanufactured" on it!

In summary - BE VERY CAREFUL!!!

If you ordered a "Factory-Reconditioned", be aware that it might be pre-filled with someone elses dust, dirt, hair and who knows what else.

I think I might have to bite the bullet and pay full price. I like the idea of this product, but not the pre-filled one I received!

I purchased this unit about 3 months ago, after researching it for a month or two prior. Most negative reviews about this product deal with the battery, or the fact that the unit did not live up to the expectations of the purchaser.

The battery problems do happen and any company that sells something with a rechargable battery would be lying if they told you there are never problems with their batteries. Fortunately, my unit, despite being refurbished, performs wonderfully (Because I understand my product will never be used under the ideal conditions the rating was given under). Shaggy carpet, max power mode, dirty environment and bad charging habbits can all have a significant effect on this unit. I'm generally quite happy when I get 90 minutes out of my 'bot, which seems about typical.

For the expectations thing, it seems some people are expecting a maid for for the couple hundred dollars they are spending. If you're realistic and consider that the unit will never be "smart", you won't be disappointed.

The list of things I like is long. Any visitor I have always wants to see the capabilities of the robot. Among my demonstrations are it's awesome ability to dock itself. It might miss once or twice before completing it, but it will get there eventually, most of the time. Another showoff is it's ability to detect walls by hitting something, turning a bit counter-clockwise, going forward, hitting something, turning a bit more counter-clockwise and so on, until it doesn't hit something going forward. At this point, the roomba knows a wall is there. The little bristle on its side is amazing. It seems to get 99% of the debris in that little spot right where the wall and floor meet. I swear the only reasons my sisters come to visit me anymore is to help the "roomba" clean by driving it with the remote. They don't play the xbox, they play the roomba. My daughter has named it "spot" and often decides when it's time to clean her room just so she can watch it.

I don't use the virtual walls, since my house is fairly obstacle free, but I did test them, and they performmed as advertised. Interfacing with the serial port and linux is my next goal.

irobot has really won me over as a customer. I fully expect to buy any more products they come out with that promise to make my life more convient.

At first, I was very skeptical about roomba, but after seeing it in action, I decided to try it. What a great decision this was.

1) I saved over $130 by buying refurbished, but it is the same as new.
2) I vacuumed my berber rug with my $375 hoover, and after that, the roomba still picked up 2 handfuls more of dirt.
3) Roomba is so quiet, I can read a book or watch TV in the same room with no inturruptions.
4) Every piece of dog (beagle) hair is picked up and put into the easy to use dirt bin.
5) The roomba charges itself after cleaning
6) With the remote, you don't even have to pick up roomba off of the home base
7) Dirt detect finds dirt that I would have never known to have been there

Take this advice...buy one of these. It's the best product I have bought this year. So far, the roomba cheans 10X better than I ever would have, and saves me time!!! The only reason that I rated the roomba 4 of 5 stars is that the battery sometimes might die after an hour of use, and will have to recharge and continue instead of finishing on one charge.

I have had a roomba since they were introduced years ago. They are fantastic. I now own 2 Roombas - upstairs and downstairs. Before I start work I start the roombas and come back to a swept home. You will not believe the dirt/dust and pet hair that your roomba picks up everyday. I have 2 cats and a dog, live on a dirt road, 5 kids and farm. We have real dirt in our home.

iRobot Customer service is superior! You do need to maintain your roombas as stated in the owners manual. Unlike the earlier models you basically just have to keep the sensors and brushes clean.

I now own a scooba - floor washing robot. Another fantastic product from irobot.

This thing is more like a household pet than a vacuum cleaner. My wife is in heaven, my daughter glued google eyes on it ... on "her" I should say. They named it "Rosie" and she gets worked pretty hard around here. She is run for about 4 hours per day. We live in a clean house, a really nice new house, and we don't have any pets, yet every day, Rosie picks up at least two big handfuls of dust, debris, and detritis. Where does it all come from? i don't know, but I'm glad we have a relentless robotic servant to suck it up. My wife's allergies are better too.

Okay, I've only had my Roomba a few days, but it's already proving to be an invaluable help to me. I read all the other reviews before buying, and decided there were enough good reviews to chance it. The factory reconditioned status made the price much better than at my local retailer, and any help would be appreciated. The reviews were pretty much correct-it picks up fine particles & dust, goes under the bed where I can't reach, recharges on the included charger...all very well. It doesn't clean carpet as deeply as a traditional vacuum or floors as well as an old fashioned broom & mop. The main thing that it does for me is this-it allows me to clean the floors while I'm doing something else at the same time. I'm a full-time professional, full-time mom, with a house to keep liveable. I can set the Roomba up to work on the floor in one part of the house while I'm cooking/cleaning/doing laundry in another. The Saturday before buying this I spent two hours cleaning the floors throughout the house-hardwood to carpet, and within 5 minutes of finishing the job my son walks through the house with muddy shoes. Within ten minutes of that my husband comes home and brings extra kids over from the neighbor's house. Lots of traffic, lots of dirt. Okay, I don't want to be an evil mom and never let anyone in the house. I also want the floors to stay clean longer than 5 minutes. This is helping. It's not effortless, you have to set it up, and you have to get the room ready for it, but once you do you can leave it. I let it work in one area for a while, then move it over to the next area. I really like it and hope it continues to work well for a long time.

I have tried this robot out for a month. It does a pretty good job on the hard floors and carpet. However the factory-recoditioned machine suffers from poor battery life. I tried the hard reset (remove battery, push on button for 30 seconds, replace battery, plug charger in) to give the battery a 16 hour charge. It runs for less than 40 minutes before dying. After the three day charge (after reset)it still has terrible battery life. Irobot claims it will run 2 hours. I returned the first one to Amazon, who promptly sent a second reconditioned machine. Same problem. Its going back as well. I will try a brand new one and see how that works.