Customer Reviews

iRobot 44001 Roomba Vacuum-Cleaning Robot

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I just sent my roomba 440 off on its first assignment, clean my 750 sq ft apt! I am surprised at well this little robot is cleaning the floor, its no deep clean mind you but its picking up a ton of stuff! I have already emptied the bin twice. On the down side the roomba has gotten stuck about 6 times now, so i would recommend that you watch it carefully the first time you use it, plus it will let you know with a chime when its stuck and gives up on freeing itself. The run time is about 1 hr, which is enough time for this roomba to go over my entire apartment twice, at the moment its headed back into my bedroom for the 4th time. Just died! Ran from 8:10am to 9:21am. I can't wait to give it another charge and set it free before i head out for work in the morning, after i fix its little favorite places to get stuck.

Pros:
-Obviously cleans so you don't have to.
-Highly entertaining!
-Picks up lots of stuff from the carpet/tile/vinyl
-**Cleans under places i haven't seen since i moved in.
-Cheap at $200 considering what this thing actually does.

Cons
-Doesn't self dock for recharging like other robots.
-Doesn't perform well in high traffic areas.
-NiCd battery may provide the power this thing needs but come on! its 2010, this thing should have lithium batteries. NiCd wears out fast, its heavy, they are a battery that has a great memory(BAD thing!, remember to always store roomba with no charge and never half charge the battery).

All in all im happy with its performance, but you should never expect miracles.

*******EDIT*******

I was so happy with the performance of my Roomba i cleaned it and took it back to target where i was given a full refund (love target!). I went to frys electronics to get the newer nicer model (Roomba 560, $350) and was ecstatic to find that they had it on sale for $269, that made my night. On sale through 7/15/10. I only upgraded because the battery lasts longer (4 rooms), it docks itself for recharging, and of course scheduling. I was filled with geek pride when i was at work today, looked at the clock and realized that at that exact moment there was a robot at my apartment vacuuming the floors for me, i expected to come home and it would be stuck somewhere but, well, not exactly... it had gone into the bathroom and accidentally closed the door on itself, on the upside the floors in my bathroom are spotless.

I got my Roomba for Christmas the year before last and once I got over my initial hurt feelings about getting a vacuum as my big suprise, I really loved it. It did an awesome job of keeping our floors clean and was able to get under pieces of furniture which were really hard work before. I have two dogs, a cat and two small children and it was able to handle that. I had just had my second child and so the roomba was such a help, when nothing else was getting done, the floors still always looked clean. I think it's a great appliance for anyone who has just had a baby. I also really appreciate it when we have guests over as I could be cooking or whatever else while the floors were getting vacuumed, it feels like an extra pair of hands. I do need to use our old vacuum to go around the edges of the carpet every month or so.

Unfortunately after 5 months it stopped working. I contacted customer service who were really slow and would email every couple of days to get me to try different ways of getting it to work. I would email them right back to let them know that hadn't worked and then wait a couple more days to get another suggestion. After a couple of weeks of that they sent me a new one. It worked for a couple of months then the battery failed. We replaced the battery and since then it's been very hit and miss. We've replaced the battery again but it goes through spells when it doesn't work, then inexplicably works again for a while. You get so used to not sweeping or vacuuming manually that when you have to do it it feels like a huge imposition!

While it's worked I have absolutely loved it and can't believe that everyone doesn't have one. I would honestly say it saves me about 3 or 4 hours a week. I just really wish it had worked better for longer. That said I am absolutely going to get a new one soon!

I love the concept. They just aren't reliable enough for me. I went through 3 in 3 months. The first one had a bad battery. The second one started going in circles after 2 weeks. The third one stopped picking up dirt. The gears that turn the brushes stopped working. Never figured out why. I generally have a very clean home. So, it wasn't operator error. I still want one... but I want one that is going to last. I was happy with the cleaning it did. They are kind of noisy. They bang into everything in order to change direction (at least until they learn the floor plan). I loved the remote, the docking station that it parks itself in when it needs a charge. Irobot, I still have all the accessories. It's time you pony up and make them so they last!

We purchased this Roomba (our second) at Target a few months ago. The old Roomba was a scheduling one, we used it more when we were home and it was over 4 years old. It was time to get something that worked the way we needed it to work.

We have three level home and it's nice to have the entire house vacuumed on one level and not really have to do anything. You need to remove any area rugs, I just roll them up and put them all in one area of the house. I also make sure that cords are picked up out of the way and that low areas are blocked. This one runs a little nosier than the old one, but, it still does the job. I do use the two blockers that came with the Roomba when needed, but, usually I let it run free rein on our main living level.

On a full charge Roomba will vacuum the entire living floor. Living room, powder room, front hall, dining room, kitchen, family room. It's about an hour, so I usually am on another floor while it's working. I've also just sat and read a book while it works. It doesn't get the corners in the kitchen really well, but, hey, if that's all I have to vacuum with the hand-held, then I'll take it. We have a three year old that lives with us, so, crumbs and other great things are always on the floor. I run it on the upper level on a full charge as well. Master bedroom, bathroom and closet as well as guest room and hallway. Other rooms are closed off. I really could do it on a half-charge. I always charge it fully before using it. It's usually about an hour or two before the charge is completed.

When I clean it out, before each use, I use a small air compressor and blow out all the dust as well as clean the filter and dust catcher pocket. I use the tool packed with it for cleaning the brushes. This helps keep the filter in better shape and I haven't changed the filter yet as it's still brand new. This one is definitely easier to clean, improvements over the previous Roomba are time savers for me. Maintenance like this will help keep it working at it's best. It takes me less than 5 minutes to totally clean everything. I've been doing it for a years, so, it may take someone a little longer that's new to the way Roomba is put together.

I would recommend this for everyone. I would give it as a gift to a newlywed couple as well as someone older.

We purchased this vacuum in October 2010 to replace our last Roomba, which lasted for nearly 3 years. This one lasted about 3 months. We tried cleaning it several times, but it would still only run for about a minute at a time before making its little "ruh-roh" dying beeps. And, iRobot only has a 30-day return policy and does not offer any repair services, according to their barely-English-speaking customer service reps, so we basically spent $195 on a vacuum that we used maybe a dozen times. Thanks for nothing, iRobot.

My Roomba has been a savior! I recently had spine surgery and have difficulties doing even the lightest house cleaning task, so I decided to purchase the Roomba, just to get me through the recovery period. But, "she" is so thorough and does such a nice job, I will continue to use "her" even after my recovery is over. I bought the basic model which included 2 virtual walls, but I've decided to now purchase a docking station. Then, my Roomba will be able to go directly to her home on her own when she needs re-charging, instead of "singing" her little song advising me that she is finished a room and needs re-charging. I am very pleased with my iRobot and wish I had purchased one years ago. Don't hesitate!

I'd agree with the reviews that the novelty factor wears off on these, and they're not dependable. I went through a few... I think they exchanged one (thankfully) since it never seemed to work... After a while you get tired of them running out of batteries, beeping or going inactive... and you realize the time you're saving on vacuuming has been offset by the time to care for these things.

My older son has the pet Roomba and loves it. He uses it every day. My younger son "borrowed" mine and uses it everyday also. I just ordered myself another one because I like a clean floor but don't find myself getting the vacuum out like I should. With the touch of a button my kitchen, living room and bedroom are clean in no time. I just empty it after each use and am amazed at the amount of dirt the little thing can find! I love the fact that it goes under the couch and other pieces of furniture that I usually can't get to with a regular vacuum. Because of that feature I don't have to move my furniture as much to vacuum behind and underneath like I used to do. I really need two, one for upstairs and one for the basement. It really takes care of itself. When it is done vacuuming it goes right back and recharges itself. What will they think of next?

I just got this Roomba for my birthday (I've been asking for one for about 3 years now, finally got it!) We've got an open floorplan of hardwood floors and two cats, and this little fella just went at it, undaunted. It lasted about an hour and a half on its first charge; it was still going but the light was turning orange so I took pity and hooked it back up to its charge cord again. I emptied the bin twice during that time; it was satisfyingly full of grit, dust and fur.

The only cons I see here are the fact this particular model doesn't dock itself to recharge, nor does it have any kind of timer. So if we leave it to go while we're at work for the day, I'm assuming it will just end up under a couch somewhere and we'll have to hunt for it when we get home. If this guy ever wears out, we'll definitely be upgrading to a model with a dock instead.
The other thing is it's loud; so having it run while we're at home is just a little annoying. Although it does inspire me to do a bit of cleaning myself while it's doing its job.

I think this Roomba is great as an "introductory" cleaning robot. If you're not sure you want one, this one is inexpensive and can show you just how much a little extra vacuuming really can make a difference. Be prepared to shell out more money for an upgraded model though; you're going to be hooked!

I just got this as an early birthday present and it has been a godsend! I had been cleaning twice a week with my Oreck (which isn't anything amazing) and with two children (ages 4 and 2) and having our condo on the market now, really needed to keep our place clean at all times. So, enter the Roomba! I've run it four times now and it's only gotten stuck on a cord once. I love that it's fairly quiet (much quieter than a standard vacuum cleaner) but grossed out by how much junk I clean out of the bin and filter! The first time I ran it, I let it go all over our place (1700 sq. ft.) and it almost all the rooms before needing to be recharged-only because it was picking up so much junk and spending so much time in each room! Now I set up the virtual walls and do one or two rooms each day, then recharge each night-you can't beat that!