Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little gadget, June 21, 2008
The Roomba is fun. The 530 model doesn't use half of the owner's manual stuff (no special "lighthouses" to get it to do multiple rooms in series, no remote control, no scheduling function so it works while you are away), but it does clean. It can get out of any area it can get into unless it did it by moving shoes and jammed them up. Mine didn't get caught under the dining room table, but it spent a long time there hunting and pecking. It moved some slip on sandals to get under and then as it kept trying to get out they kept sliding in the way, but it eventually kept nudging them until it could get out.
It went under the cabinet where I store my flip flops to clean and ended up pushing them all over the room in different direction.
Don't sweat when it doesn't pick up "big stuff" like sweetener packets, the actual vacuuming area is smaller than the robot, so stuff gets nudged until it rides right over it in its pathing. (Does dropping stuff in front of the robot to make it clean more count as abusive harassment? :lol)
The wall/corner side brush does work well to pick up the junk along baseboards and corners, it also feeds it directly into the pickup area (it is the off side that has a problem with shoving small debris out of the way).
It can end up leaving little piles of debris if you let it range over a large area, the pathing algorithm would end up getting it, but when it moves out of the kitchen into the hall, gets excited about the front door rug, tries out the way to the kid's room, gets excited again about the front door run, then trundles back into the living room area, then finds the hall to the computer room and the computer room itself, it just doesn't make the full sweep.
It follow odd shapes it considers "wall" very well. It looks like it is missing bits, but the side sweeper brush is hitting the tight corner areas.
When you first start cleaning with it, unless you have just done a spring cleaning type of thing, check the debris box often, it isn't that big.
Open the debris box over the trash can and fiddle with the emptying, dirt/dust can hang by the filter tray hinge and dribble. Mainly empty away from the hinge while holding it sideways.
We have a Rainbow and it seriously would kick this little bugger's arse any day of the week for cleaning, but it is a lot bigger pain to set up to hit the high traffic areas only. This looks like it will be great for day to day maintenance of picking up hair. I'd have said pet hair (which was the first thing I noticed from both my long hair dogs), but after it worked the little corners around my computer chair and desk, I noticed that the majority of the hair was mine. I had picked up and stacked some of the various boxes of supplies, equipment and parts out of the way, so it had more access to areas that haven't been vacuumed in a while.
Not enough data, but it seems to have an issue where a wall to wall carpet meets a tile area. The little lip edging isn't enough to stop it, which means it doesn't sit and dig right there where dirt accumulates. It did quite a bit, but it was spending time with one wheel on the carpet and one on the tile and never could bring the side brush into play. That is a coding issue, but it probably would take more expensive discrimination circuits.
Another issue is that it can manage to get stuck under furniture that is just the "right" height if it hits it wrong. Did that under one of the wingback chairs, it turned under it where the bumper sensor wasn't, picked it up enough to jam itself.
If let it roam too widely, then when it loses charge it cannot find its docking station. Easy enough fix, I pick it up and take it where I want it to work and let it go, then check back on it and return it to the dock if it needs a charge.
Looks like it needs regular maintenance to keep it cleaning well. No big deal, everything pops out, cleans easily (need good pointy scissors to clear wrapped up hair) and goes right back together. I'd say at least after every second cleaning cycle when you first start up with it. Tip: the big wheels on the end of the big roller brush pop off so you can slide the brush cleaner thingy right over the roller after you have cut and pulled all the stuff wrapped around it off.
It is light enough to pick up and walk around with, so it looks like it is easy enough to just pick up the obstacles in a room, but it in there, shut the door and let it go when you leave the house. If you put the docking station in with it, you should get back to find it charged and ready for the next room that evening. I'll test that. Then just cycle it around the house doing a room or three every day and you should be good.
Overall a great little widget to keep the general level of dirt/hair/debris down between heavier duty cleanings. Bonus to that should be easier "heavy" cleanings without you having to do anything but move it and hit a button.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
would be 5 star- if it stayed working, October 30, 2008
This thing is way cool- when it works- which is probably 6 months of the last 13.
Like many others here I have had repeated problems with the side brush falling off- I have replaced the module once and have just ordered another one.
I have also replaced the power supply, the virtual wall, the main brush module- which is not working again as I write, the bushingless gear bearing holes having worn themselves too big for their gears to contact each other. I have just ordered another.
Each of these problems has resulted in a 4-12 week wait for new parts. Routine wear parts such as filters and brushes come with the same delay.
My 15 year old Eureka works perfectly. It has needed a new part every 3-4 years and each time I have found the part I needed in stock at the local vauum store for less than $15.
I purchased my Roomba when I constructed a new home instead of installing a central vacuum system. BIG mistake. If it worked as well as it did the first week I would have rated this 5 stars. As it is would rather have the central vacuum.
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