Customer Reviews

iRobot Roomba Intelligent Floorvac Robotic Vacuum

5 star:		(134)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

Update: after about 2 years of varying use (sometimes 5 times in a month, sometimes once in 5 months) the battery is pretty much dead. The unit will run for about 10 minutes and then die, even if it's freshly charged.

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I've had my Roomba for a few weeks now and I generally like it a lot. I hate vacuuming, or cleaning in general. I tend to avoid being messy, but dust and lint tend to collect no matter how diligent I am. I got a Roomba because I've got 6 rooms with wood floors and it has made my house a cleaner place. Here's some observations:

- When you first open the box, the corner sweeper is covered by a piece of cardboard. This is tricky to get off without breaking the corner sweeper, so don't just rip it out.

- It's about as loud as a blowdryer on the "low" setting, or an empty blender on slow speed (remember that it's on the floor, not next to your head, so it seems quieter.) You can talk normally over it, but it's loud enough that you'll probably want to be in another room. It's certainly not as loud as a regular vacuum cleaner.

- The dustbin is somewhat messy to empty. That is, you're hands _will_ get dust on them and you have to be very careful to avoid spilling any when you pull it out. Also, if you don't push it in all the way it will fall out partway through the next cleaning--you've got to push it in so the curvature of the Roomba is uniform ... it also won't pull out unless you push the button.

- The dustbin also has two compartments: one for the "swept" dust and one for the vacuumed dust. You've got to unclip the filter to get to the vacuumed dust bin.

- Since the sensors work on infrared, it works better in the dark or in shadows rather than bright sunlight. I had mine stop after going too far over some steps because the sun was shining on the floor and it couldn't tell the steps were there. It didn't actually go over, it just automatically stopped and played it's "help me" tune. In general, sunlight will make it less effective.

- It comes with one "virtual wall" which is just a battery powered infrared emitter. It seems to spread the beam out further than I'd like, so I'm finding myself placing it several inches outside a door to make the Roomba go all the way to the thresshold of the entryway. It's also sensitive to height--the virtual wall emits right at the level of the sensor on the Roomba, so the virtual door can't be placed more than a carpets-height (0.25" or 0.5cm) higher or lower than the Roomba.

- iRobot suggests that you can tuck fringe under a carpet and the Roomba will go over it. I found it managed to suck the fringe back out and get it wound around the brushes underneath. I had to remove the area rug. It also has trouble with corners of an area rug even if it doesn't have fringe if the corners stick up more than about a quarter inch (0.5cm.)

- It's really quite small. It was able to go under the refrigerator door (I could even open it and it barely cleared the top of the Roomba.) It can also go around chairs and furniture pretty easily. Although it's just a little narrower than the head on a regular vacuum, it can turn in ways that would be impossible with a rigid hose attached, so the Roomba gets in places you wouldn't already think of.

- I have a couch whose bottom was ravaged by cats in the past, and the Roomba will get caught on the hanging fabric. I use the virtual wall to keep it out from under the couch.

- It tends to miss corners, leaving a crescent of dust that is about half an inch (1cm) wide. It does run right up against walls, though, but it will miss going under low doorstops.

- In general it seems to cover the whole floor ... you can tell it it's in the next size bigger room and it will run for longer, picking up more areas (I think that's all the room size buttons do--change the amount of time it runs.)

- It's "artificial intelligence" is pretty good. It seems to run in 4 modes: spiral out, go in a random direction straight, follow walls, and zig-zag to cover a floor. At first it looks like it's just a bump-and-go kind of thing, but it doesn't get stuck in corners like a bump-and-go car would. If you watch it, you'll want to tell it to go to a particular area, but somehow it seems to always make it to that area at some point. Its pattern seems random and ineffective, but it does seem to get most of the stuff off the floor.

- The bumping action is very gentle. You can get it to turn around by letting it bump into one finger. If you put an empty pint glass on the floor, odds are it won't knock it over, but it probably eventually will.

- It's very good about not going down stairs. Mine hasn't fallen yet. The one time it almost did was when the sun was lighting the stair below and it couldn't "see" the edge so it got one wheel partly over and shut down.

- You can use it in very small areas if you want. I put mine on a 4-foot by 4-foot landing (130cm square) and it worked fine.

- You can't have clutter. As others have said, it'll suck up phone cords and papers. So far I've "Roomba-safed" 4 rooms. In the bathroom, for instance, I have to move the climbing plant on the floor and remove the bathmats. I tend to like having things off the floor anyway, and this has helped me have a reason to keep things tidy.

- I was happy to have it go under the bed and get all the dust bunnies. The first time I had to empty the dustbin several times at first until it got it partly clean.

I like the roomba alot. I've had mine quite awhile now and still use it. In fact I used it today and was reminded of how cool it is.

I usually clean the house one room at a time, and let the roomba go at the room I just finished tidying up. As mentioned elsewhere, you have to "roomba-proof" the room before you let it rip- ie get cords up, etc. That can at times be a pain, and take away a bit of the effortlessness, but what can you do- this thing will go where no vaccum has gone. Anyway it usually takes like 10 seconds.

Its fun to finish up the next room and go back to the first room where roomba has finished vacuuming, leaving nice vaccum lines and spirals on the carpet. I find it gets up cat hair (i have 2) on the carpet quite well. I can run a damp hand across the carpet afterwards and not have any hair sticking to it.. thats pretty good.

Roomba is also great for a quick bathroom cleanup. I shake out my bath rugs, hang them over the counter and let roomba go at it with the door shut. When i return, no hair on the floor, no dust bunnies, no weird human sheddings.

All in all, I'm glad I have one. It comes in quite handy, quite often. Of course, those with very bumpy tile floors or lots of thick/fringey area rugs might have some trouble.

If you don't have much time for vacuuming, I'd get one. Especially if you have pets- it will really help keep the hair in check. The sound of my roomba running is the sound of CLEAN to me now :)

I can't wait for Roomba 2.0 whenever that arrives- this has been a pretty successful product- I have no doubt it will evolve into THE vaccuming device before long.

Why 4 stars and not 5? Just because there is some room for improvement- it would be nice to not have to go pick up every cord in its path. It gets stuck in the sliding door track, so i have to block it. It beeps nonstop when it is done- it should just turn off after awhile. A longer lasting battery would be nice. Perhaps more suction power. etc etc

I've had my Roomba since October (and find it funny to see Amazon.com and Linens & Things selling it as a "new release" in May) and I love it to bits. It's truly useful.

Sure, there's room for improvements. This is a first-of-a-kind product. Its battery handling isn't great, in particular. But at the price you can't beat it. It'll save you its cost in time spent within the first few months, easily, and that's not even accounting for the cost of vacuum bags, chiropractic care for your back, or getting areas (like under the bed) clean that you've probably never cleaned before.

Three caveats. 1: read the manual and do the maintenance it suggests. We're all so used to products so simplified and familiar we don't have to read the manual and usually don't read it unless something goes wrong. But this is not just a new product, it's a new kind of product, and you won't get good use out of it unless you take a few simple steps to make it work for you. 2: Don't try to micromanage it or watch it closely. The whole principle of how it works is that it might not get that bit of dirt now, but it will get it eventually. So what that it takes a lot longer than you would have? It has nothing better to do with that extra time anyway, but YOU DO. So go do something else. 3: Be prepared for the first few times (or more) to pick up a lot of gunk and get its bin filled up quickly, because Roomba will be cleaning things you've never cleaned before. Once it's had a chance to do those areas a few times, things will settle down. Roomba works best if you let Roomba run regularly, rather than trying to use Roomba just before company comes over, so that you never get that buildup again. But your first few passes you'll have to deal with that buildup.

The Roomba is cool technology, but it wasn't the solution for us. We have two dogs, and mostly carpet.

As soon as it arrived, we fully charged the battery (12hrs) and set it loose in our living room. From our upstairs bedroom, it sounded like somebody was being mugged. eeeeeeeeee.... BOOM! eeeeee.... BOOM! eeeeeee.... BOOM!.

It did a decent job, but not nearly as thorough as a real vacuum. Noticably poor at cleaning border areas... ie, carpet edge meets hardwood, I watched it repeatedly roll over clumps of dog hair in these borders and not pick them up.

Perhaps, since it's battery powered, it doesn't have enough suction to pull hair all the way into the dust bin, so it just wraps it around the brush.

When you add the time spent cleaning the brush, moving chairs so it doesn't get trapped and emptying the smallish dust bin two times per room, you could have used a conventional vacuum and done a much better job.

I would recommend Roomba only for non carpet, no-pet situations. I returned mine, but will not rule out the next generation of these devices.

I own 3 dogs and I am an enthusiastic gardener. This means that there is dirt and fur being dropped and dragged into my house on a daily basis. The third thing is that I hate house cleaning. It is a gadget - no denying that...and pretty expensive and sure, a vacuum cleaner does a better job, but, it is easy to keep the roomba plugged in and throw it into the fray while I do other things...whereas a vacuum cleaner requires direct interaction.

It works great on hardwood floors and lino. It is not so great on rugs, but even with vacuuming, my rugs are dirt and fur magnets.

So I highly recommend this little guy for those of us with dirt and fur bearing issues.

Where it loses 1 star:

Lots of things on this gadget to clean out after it finishes...it is all plastic so be gentle as you clear it out. Clean it outside as stuff tends to just pop out (pick it up by the handle to take it outside)

Long dog or people hair tangles the corner sweeper and renders it ineffective...keep an eye on that little thing!

Not a negative - but when you first get your Roomba, you need to watch it in each new room - it cleans in places you'll never suspect and can get hung up (under the bed, etc.)

I bought the latest roomba model in a package that came with one virtual wall unit, the "home base" recharger, and the remote control. The model number / namining convention for roomba is a bit confusing. From what I understand, this combination is virtually identical to the "Rommba Discovery". I think the Roomba Discovery comes with a second wall unit and is a different color. From the product descriptions it appears all the current generation roombas (including Roomba Red) are essentially identical. I believe the Roomba Red may come with a battery that requires 7 hours to charge however.

In any case, if you buy a unit I suggest you consider the following:

1. Make sure it has the advanced battery pack that only requires 3 hours to charge. The roomba can only clean one or two rooms on a typical charge, so to get the house cleaned in a reasonable time you do not want to have to spend 7 hours recharging the battery.

2. The "Home Base" charger is a great idea. Make sure your unit comes with this recharging option. With the Home base, you can start roomba when you leave the house. When it's battery runs low, it will automatically returning the the charging base. If you are out for several hours, roomba will clean as much as it can, then return and be fully charged for its next assignment when you return.

3. Get at least one "vitrual wall"; two is better. With the virtual wall you can prevent roomba from wondering off into other parts of the house. Since it realistically cannot clean a whole floor in a typical home on one charge, the virtual wall is critical to ensure it completes the one or two rooms to which the virtual wall(s) confine it.

Overall, I am happy with roomba. As a minimum it gets a great "wow" factor rating when the neighbors stop by, and that is always worth something!

My main complaint regarding roomba relates to the "home base" recharging. I had hoped that roomba would return to the "home base", recharge, and then resume cleaning the foor at the point it had left off before recharging. Unfortunately, it does not do this. Instead, when it returns to the "home base", it "forgets" where it had been. As a result, if it has not completed a room before it returns to recharge, you are out of luck, and will have to start over on that room.

The only way to minimize this problem seems to be to confine roomba to a relatively small space, in my experience less than 600-700 square feet, with the virtual walls. Place roomba and its home base in the confined space, and let it throughly clean that area. It will then recharge itself, and you can repeat the process in another area of the house.

Once you get past the "cool" factor, Roomba turns out to be a nice little tool for light vacuuming needs. It's also quite easy to use. We have one because I laughingly mentioned it to my wife when it was first announced last Fall. Here's the saga:

We have maid service once a week and 3 cats. By midweek, the pet hair is annoying, so at my wife's request I agreed we could try a Roomba. I figured it would do about as well as a Dust Buster (ie., not very well), but it is oh so much better. Our carpeting is plush and much of it is white, so almost any surface debris shows. The cats particularly like to get under our bed where the maid service never goes. To my great surprise, Roomba cheerfully wanders in and out under the bed, going right under the dust skirt and navigating the plethora of boxes. The amount of stuff it pulls out is enough to convince me that this is a serious product. It rambles up and down our 2nd floor hall cleaning right to the edge of the stairs and never has gone over. My wife is so thrilled she wants to know why they haven't made one just to do the stairs (hear that Roomba people?). I gather one can get a rapid charger for it, but we haven't had the need. I'm more inclined to get a 2nd unit.

If you decide to buy one of these, note that it isn't a substitute for having a full size vacuum cleaner ... think light surface debris that the dust devil kind of cleaner is supposed to pick up. It's very easy to use, and emptying is the same drill as for the old dust buster (no bag), very easy but a bit messy. You also should pull hair out of the rollers periodically, but in my experience that is a problem with any vacuum that uses rotating brushes. The battery lasts about an hour under full use, which works fine for us, because we turn it loose in a room and leave for work, recharge it overnight, and if we remember, repeat the next day on another room or the upstairs hall, whatever looks like it could use a surface cleaning. Note that it is smart enough to turn itself off if it should get jammed by something we failed pick up.

The design has a lot of clever details and some features that probably should also be on full size machines. We haven't had it long enough to rate its durability. In the rooms in which we use it (those without a lot of miscellany strewn about), it manages to visit everywhere on the floor that is clear, and it can go places that heretofore were only addressed in Spring cleaning.

When I first looked at this product, my reaction was "yeah, right, another high tech gadget that will end up on a shelf". I was wrong. Now I'm ready for their next generation product (maybe one that will park itself for recharging, empty its trash by itself, and ask you if you're ready for it to clean the room). My wife would settle for having one designed for the stairs.

I'd rate this product zero stars if it was an option. After less than 4 months, a wheel on our first original-model Roomba locked, which caused the unit to spin in place. Customer service said this was a defect in the product and sent us another unit of the same model. Less than 5 months after receiving the second unit, the same defect occurred in that Roomba. When we again called iRobot customer service, we were told that we would be charged an additional $95 to replace our second defective unit with an identical model. The reason ... the unit was out of warranty. When I explained that we just wanted to repair the unit, not replace it, the company said it is unwilling to repair its product. A phone call to a customer service supervisor was a waste my time. So, to recap this series of unfortunate events. We paid $170 plus S&H for the original unit. It lasted 4 months. The replacement unit operated for less than 5 months. Now we are being asked to pay an additional $95 to get another (presumably) defective unit, which would inflate this inferior product's cost to $265. Yeah. Right.

Pros:
+ Great for pets/children
+ Entertaining & super cute
+ Vacuums under the sofa
+ Plays a little song (wish I could download mp3's to it :)
+ Great party trick

Cons:
- Vacuuming the old fashioned way will beat this every time
- Not the brightest algorithm
- Gets room partially cleaned
- Get's stuck in angled areas
- Need to unclutter the room before turning on
- A bit noisy

The Roomba is like a little infant child crawling around on your rugs. It's so cute, you gotta watch it. But then again you feel like you have to supervise it. It likes to swallow telephone cords, knock over the kitty water bowl, and scares small animals (the cats are also fascinated).

Uncluttering the room each time, prior to use, is a pain. The nice thing about a vacuum cleaner is that you typcially avoid the cluttered areas. I don't vacuum where all of the cords are behind my speakers, but the Roomba insists on going in there and pulling my phone off the rack.

This gadget is for the lazy, but not the anal. My cat is shedding and there were furballs everywhere. We setup a test to see how many of the furballs it would pick up and let the Roomba off to do its magic. The result: 80%.

I was so excited to get a Roomba, and I don't regret getting it, but I did expect more. The Roomba was invented by MIT kids, but the algorithm that it used to clean is kinda weak. I went to MIT and I coulda designed a better algorithm.

But all in all, this is a fun little gadget for people with money to burn on toys. I love that this is the wave of the future, and it cleans while you're away.

"It's nice to see how much it cleans." -My neatnik girlfriend as she takes pleasure in dumping out the Roomba's dust bin.

I just purchaed my roomba and cannot beleive how much fun it is! Just set it and go and now you have some time back! I let it do a room a day. It picks up all the dog hair and I come home at night and feel much more relaxed. It cannot be run while you are at home, unless you can handle the constant hum and bumping noise. You still have to do the heavy vacumming, but this gives me the sense of tidiness I generally lack during the week. I would recommend it to all my friends