Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Amazing!, May 14, 2001
The comments in some of these "reviews" are rediculous: "Un-neighborly noise maker" or "...work for the company". Whatever...My observation: It was quite easy to set up the perimeter wire, but do not second guess the ruler setup distance. Watching it mow the entire back yard - under the bushes and around the weird angles of my house was simply amazing. No dust,no allergy issues, no willow branches in the face - it is great! It is not silent, but it is quiet enough to sit on the patio and easily carry on a conversation (probably about the mower). I would say it is quieter than an electric weed wacker. I can talk on the phone while standing next to it during operation. To be any quieter, it would have to cut with a laser or someting. It definately handles larges spaces better than small ones. I overestimated the distance from some obstacles to the property line. My air conditioner was only 5 feet from the propertly line. It needs a minimun of 7 feet clearance to find its way through the obstacle reliably, otherwise it may zig-zag around in the confined area for quite a while before it eventually finds its way out to the remaining area. Big holes will need to be filled (and probably do anyway). I had to raise the water meter box to grade level as well. You need to observe the concrete to grass height. In some places, my grade is 2-3 inches above the concrete level. The mower had some difficulty getting up and would error and stop. I was able to alleviate this by pounding the dirt down with a sledge and/or edging at a 45 degree angle. It is a significant issue if the grass is wet (less traction), but not so bad if it is dry. I may put studs in the wheels to eliminate the concern. After two weeks and a couple of hours of labor, it is 100% reliable in the back yard, and about 90% reliable in the front and side yards (due to confined areas and grade height). Just a few more adjustments to the wire and grade and it should be ok. It mows under the bushes, in the cold, in the heat, in the dark, and does so quietly. It is very high on the coolness factor - cars stop for minutes just to watch. If you have at least 7 feet of clearance where you need it to go, go get one!
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mows Your Lawn While You Giggle, August 13, 2001
My Robomower does indeed do what is is advertised to do. I installed the 16-gauge, single-strand perimeter wire as instructed. It took a lot of pegs (all 200, in fact) to hold down the wire on my uneven bermuda grass lawns. I charged up the mower, and set it loose. I was actually giggling as it ran around the perimeter wire, then proceeded to mow my lawn while I sipped on an ice-cold soda in the shade. At first glance the robomower seems to be a little on the cheap side. But I think Friendly Robotics spent the money where it does the most good--the motors. This thing was able to motor out of some pretty uneven spots on my lawns. Battery life was better than advertised, but this may be due to the relatively small size of my lawns because the mower makes a lot of stops to change direction. The user interface is well thought-out, and the user manual and video provided with the mower make set up straight forward. I think anyone capable of programming a VCR would have no trouble setting up the robomower. My only criticisms so far are: 1) It would be nice if the perimeter switch were weatherproof so you could leave it outside; 2) A "pigtail" of heavier wire or more heavily insulated wire going between the perimeter wire and switch would make it less likely to get eaten by a string trimmer, and 3) a more sophisticated charger, that could switch between fast and trickle charge, would be nice. I think a charger like this is available from the company. These are pretty minor gripes. All in all, it performs as advertised. And hey, when was the last time you giggled while somebody else (or something else) mowed your lawn? ONE YEAR UPDATE I've owned Robe (my cute little name for it) for a year now. Here's the scoop: Problems: Only one. One wire in the pigtail coming from the controller pulled out. I fixed it in 5 minutes with my soldering iron. Oh the joy of being a boy. What have I learned? Battery life has remained the same over the course of the year. Robe does not like mowing wet grass, and is more likely to get stuck on my bumpy Bermuda grass lawn if he tries to mow early in the morning. However, since neither Robe nor I are "morning people," this is seldom a problem. Robe does not like long grass--when I go three weeks between mowing, especially if the grass is wet, Robe is a little more likely to get stuck. However, these are pretty paltry complaints. I have spent much time watching the little mushroom roam my lawn trying to figure out its behavior. I am very impressed with its programming. If it is mowing the edge, for example, and it gets stuck, it will often back up, motor into the main lawn area, and automatically go into regular mowing mode. When it gets stuck in the middle of the lawn, it will try to go back and forth, or turn, to unstick itself. Pretty impressive. I usually plan on watching Robe while it does the edge--this is when it is most likely to encounter an obstacle. Robe's mushroom shape helps it motor under shrubs to get the edge of a lawn where you would have trouble with a normal lawnmower. I try to work in the yard when Robe is at work in case he gets stuck, but if I mow my lawns every week he might get stuck one in three times or less. I will usually check on him after an hour or so, and if he is stuck it is no problem to restart him. He probably wouldn't get stuck at all if I really took care of my yard, but that is another story. Robe is at least as smart as my cat Bigz, and a lot more useful. I am completely satisfied with this product after using it for a year.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Alien Comes to my House, August 20, 2001
I expected some ridicule for purchasing a robot mower. The loss of what little exercise mowing gave me, plus the fact that no one I knew had ever seen, much less bought a robot mower, seemed to indicate I should be focusing on more traditional ways of clipping the grass. Only my penchant for gadgets got me off the hook of being labelled eccentric. My Toro was starting to use some oil, and smoke a little on the slopes of my lawn. My wife had started to mow the lawn regularly this season, and was having trouble starting the gas mower at times. The Robo mower seemed a small risk. I was able to use the ROBO mower right out of the box. It performed as advertised, with a few minor exceptions. The exceptions included an inability to get any kind of a straight line while using the mower in the manual mode. The touchpad used for controlling the direction in manual was extremely insensitive, and the rearward turns were confusing( I wasn't sure which of us was confused, me or the mower). A call to Technical Service confirmed that I was not the only one having problems with the manual steering. A very friendly and informative young man told me that there was a brainstorming session in the works, and I would be upgraded with whatever came from the solution. I found the instructions very well written. I found, to my chagrin, that when they say a 15 degree slope, they mean exactly that. The mower actually will do small slopes, but does not like anything over 15 degrees. The ruler that comes with the installation kit (used in placing the perimeter wire) is very accurate in staying within the capabilities of the mower. I needed to make only two small corrections to the wire placement (both operator-induced), and the machine proceeded to do it's stuff. It took no time at all to gather a small, admiring crowd. I am currently running a contest to name the mower (Col. Mustard, of Clue fame, is one entry, and Old Yeller another). I have also had requests to add eyes, ears, and a tail. The Gulden's mustard color is not terribly attractive, but perhaps designer colors will come soon. The instructions also mandate a minimum width of seven feet for the mower to operate. Anything smaller requires human intervention using the manual controller (see first paragraph). It would be nice if the mower were able to mow in smaller areas. Having said all that, I found have found the limitations easy to live with. The mower does a nice job mowing; if it takes twice as long to mow, at least I can watch from the comfort of my hammock. The mower is extremely quiet. The instructions say a maximum of 85 decibels. I do not believe it is anywhere that loud. The mower passed within one foot of a resting dog, and elicited no reaction other than a yawn. I can't hear anything more than low hum when it is further than thirty feet from me. I ran it after dark one evening, and the lady next door (close by with the windows open) heard a very low hum that she could not identify, and couldn't believe I was mowing my lawn. I paid less for this mower than what I paid for my Toro walk behind several years ago. I get my exercise other ways, and don't pollute as with a standard mower. I like it very much so far (three weeks), and my wife likes it as well (no pulling on starter ropes). I would expect to get one for my father-in-law next spring. I would not hesitate to recommend the Friendly Robotics mower to anyone familiar with the advertised limitations.
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