I have my Roomba for about a month now, and I'm generally pleased with him. I reduced my vacuuming chores at least in half. I 'm gonna say right away: Roomba is a good robot, and just an okay vacuum. Convenience between doing your own cleaning is THE ONLY factor that you should be looking for when considering Roomba. If you are looking for a superior suction and a super clean job - this vacuum is NOT going to deliver that! Go buy a normal vacuum that you push yourself.
Pros:
- he is VERY easy to operate
- virtual wall works 100%
- he's very smart: knows when to slow down, when to stop (e.g. a step next to the lower area of the house), when to turn around the corner or a table leg. He knows when to circle around an exceptionally dusty area
- He DUSTS pretty well, picking about 85-90% of dust, small leaves and small particles, including metal nuts. I have two dogs, and Roomba sucks up the dog hair fairly good.
- he is exceptionally good on berber-type rugs
- he cleans one huge room on one charge.Sometimes two rooms
- although he seems to be moving in a random pattern, after 45 minutes he covers the whole room. Don't watch him. Leave him alone and just come back later, you will notice the difference
- emptying dust container is easy
- he never got stuck on any room and rug transition areas
Cons
- Roomba needs a room to roam: if you have tight spaces with bunch of furniture, planters, stuff on the floor- Roomba will be less efficient in cleaning your house, because his patterns are affected by the amount of bumping he will be doing.
- Roomba is not that good on the high-pile carpeting: he seems to just brush over debris that he otherwise picks without problems when on a berber rug
- he is less efficient on hard wood floors as well, as he just spreads the dirt around a lot before picking it up
- cleaning brushes is not difficult, BUT time consuming
- He scares the dogs
I had done quite a lot of research and decided on this basic, least expensive, but fairly current model.Now, do I regret that I didn't get the fancy model with scheduling that would add $100? NO!! The same goes for base self-return that would add another $50. I don't mind bending over to pick him and place him for charging myself.
Anyway, I do recommend this unit. If only he had suction of my Eureka - that would eliminate ALL vacuuming on my part!! Hence 4 stars