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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As revolutionary as the dishwasher!, October 12, 2009
FIRST, if you haven't already, sign up for the Gold Box Deal email alerts.
I have no carpet whatsoever in my house. For reasons I won't go into other than to say you can never get the nasty stuff completely clean no matter how many times you vacuum and shampoo, I hate it. I have four cats, one very messy African Grey parrot and two elementary aged children so, naturally, I could sweep or vacuum every room in the house three times a day. Being an extremely busy person and wanting to do everything except sweep, a robotic vacuum cleaner sounded like manna from heaven.
I have drooled over the Roomba for a long while and have researched it endlessly. A co-worker has one and just loves it. Because of the price, though, I thought it was out of my reach until one day a couple of weeks ago when I checked my email. There it was---the Roomba was a Gold Box Deal and it was more than half off!!! Oh, yeah! Picturing the Roomba slowly rotating on a pedestal bathed in bright light my fingers flew across the keyboard as I rushed to order mine before they ran out or the deal closed. I'll admit that afterwards I had a little buyer's guilt. I could buy a whole lot of brooms for $179. When it arrived (lickity-split and with free shipping thanks to my Amazon Prime membership) I looked at the box a while and contemplated sending it back. Then I thought that I'd give it a test drive just once since I'd gone to the huge trouble of ordering it. (Just kidding!) I took it and the charging station out of the box. After giving the manuals a cursory glance I plugged in the charging station in an out of the way but Roomba accessable area. Out of curiosity I tried to get the on board demo to start and ended up turning it on to vacuum by accident (apparently it comes at least partially charged). Off it went with me, the children, and the cats sitting on the couch watching in awe (OK, maybe the cats were looking more with suspicion).
The Roomba is unreal. You can see it working out where everything was in the room. It would bump into something and turn a little bit then go again bumping along until it figured out what was in front of it. As it went by something straight it would hug the edge and vacuum away. Table legs were not a problem either. The Roomba would bump them and then vacuum in a circle hugging all the way around the table leg. The final test was whether it would get stuck and force me to constantly come to its rescue which would defeat its purpose. So I watched in anticipation as it approached the birdcage. (Did I mention I have a really messy parrot?) I want to note here that the cage had a case of soft drinks sitting a little off to one side. First it bumped a leg then adjusted its position and under the cage it went. As with the table legs it would move around bumping and adjusting as it vacuumed. Then came the make or break challenge. It scooted out from under the cage through two cage legs that were just wide enough for the Roomba to get through and bumped into the case of soft drinks. I could see that there wasn't enough space for it to just turn and go the other way. Surely it was stuck. Not so! I watched while it turned and bumped several times until it got itself lined up just right and went right back through the same narrow cage legs and then continued about its way. Test passed with flying colors--it was a keeper. The docking function is totally cool as is the cheerful tone it gives when you need to empty the dirt cup. I hate to admit this but because it goes over the floor so many times it does a better job of getting all the dirt up than I do.
Now after a week of using the Roomba its become a member of the family. I'll sheepishly admit that I talk to it as it works. Once, when I walked into its path as it was vacuuming its little heart out, I stopped and said, "Excuse me." which is completely ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as me chasing it down to get the magazine it had sucked onto and was dragging across the floor and saying, "Give me that back!!"
Final analysis: The Roomba is an innovation comparable to the dishwasher and even the washing machine. I can easily see a future where everyone has one or more of them at work in their homes. It is yet another way to multitask in our busy lives. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
You know, the makers of the Roomba also have a robot to mop your floors. Hmmmm
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Useful Novelty, October 15, 2009
The Roomba is as close to the Jetson's house cleaner as we are going to get in 2009/2010. It won't replace Hazel or an undocumented housekeeper, but it will pick up most light debris off the floor. You will be satisfied if you do not demand fastidious housecleaning. No, it won't pick up all the hair off the floor from a shedding dog or an aging husband, but it is excellent at capturing those pesky dust bunnies. The technology inside the crazy critter is more impressive than its cleaning prowess. The thing docks itself for recharging like a shuttle docking with the space station. How cool is that? The two electronic lighthouse/invisible walls included in the package either guide or block the machine's entry into an adjoining room. Possibly the most impressive feature of the Roomba is its low profile that cleans underneath the dining room table without having to move all the chairs. Roomba is simple to use and a lot of fun for those with pets as long as you can keep them from sending Roomba to that big carpet in the sky.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth every penny!, May 8, 2009
I've had the roomba since August and it is the best money I have spent in a while! My dog sheds A LOT and before the roomba, I would have to swiffer every other day if not every day just so that my house did not look nasty. Ask me when the last time I swiffered after getting the roomba and I cannot tell you.
I have it set up just downstairs where it is all hardwoods and it works great! I would not say that it is 100% perfect, but since we run it everyday, it picks up what it might have missed the day before. I cannot say if it works on carpet because we don't use it on that; it does work pretty well on low pile rugs.
It took us a few tried to set up the lighthouses to our configuration of furniture.
I would recommend this to anyone who has pets....absolutely worth every penny!
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