Customer Reviews

iRobot Roomba Pet Series 532 Vacuum Cleaning Robot

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I received my Pet Roomba before Christmas and have been using it since. My house is a real test with 3 very long haired dogs inside most of the day. I run the Roomba every day to keep the hair down to a minimum and we've noticed the floors are much cleaner (even though I used to vacuum alot). However, if you buy this you should know that it requires frequent cleaning of the brushes, particularly the axle area where hair gets easily wrapped (pull off the end cap over the axle). By frequent I mean once or twice during the cleaning cycle. Otherwise, the brushes just stop moving leaving you with a cute robot that just drives around chasing the dogs! So this means you really should only run it when you are at home to keep it clean. I also have already cleaned the front wheel (just pops off - was really full of hair) and the side brush (unscrew the screw). Bottom line, the unit works great so long as it is kept really clean. I've got the cleaning down to a minute so it isn't too big of a deal. But if you think you are just going to run the Roomba and empty the dirt bin once in awhile, you should probably not buy it.

I received my Robot on December 15,2008, an early Christmas Present. Rather than wrapping it, I gave it to the Missus so we could use it so the house would be nice and clean for Christmas day entertaining.

It cleaned beautifully, the carpets looked great! This thing would fill up with crud even after running the old vacuum. How wonderful, one less chore to do.

Until Christmas Day! So much for showing off the new gizmo! The brushes stopped turning that morning, and repeatedly gave a "clean Brushes" error message. After many attempts, and hours on the IRobot tech site, we established that the rollers indeed were not turning.

After the Holiday rush, I found time to do a little more research. After consulting several robot discussion forums, it appears the cleaning head modules have a high failure rate. Apparently IRobot has made a new design of the module about 2 months ago. After getting frustrated with email support, I called IRobot and they say they will ship me a new module within 10 days.

Okay, considering the above mentioned ordeal, 2 stars is being very generous, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. However, IRobot and Amazon should not ship items known to be defective.

So, I'll wait 10 days for the new brush module. I should have returned the whole unit to Amazon, but figured I would get the same faulty design.
I'll update this review Once I receive the new part and let you know if it fixes the problem, and hopefully give it the 5 star review I want to give!

UPDATE - I got the new module after about 10 days! It was fairly easy to install if you are handy at all, just a few screws and your done. The new module came ready to install, with a new brush style and new rubber beater thingy. I now love my robot! We have an australian shepherd who sheds constantly, and now a one year old boy who is all over the place. I can now play in the floor with him and he/I'm not covered in white dog hair! It's amazing that this little robot cleans so much better than my regular vacuum. Maybe it's a time thing. I mean, I would never vacuum a room for an hour, which is about the run time on a charge for this thing. We start it when we leave for work, and most days it's sitting right on it's charger like a good little robot should. Occassionally it gets stuck somewhere, or gets full and shuts down before making it back home to the dock, but most times it does exactly what it claims to do. Longevity is still a concern, but I no doubt will buy another if/when this one dies. Hopefully it'll last, I'm trying to be preemptive, by opening it up and blowing it out with some canned air, keeping the brushes and filters clean, just ordered some filters, they seem to really clog at our house.
But so far, IRobot rocks! I'll never vacuum again! (Now, where's the IMower?!)

NEW UPDATE - 3/15/11 - STILL LOVING MY ROOMBA! This thing just works. I haven't vacuumed a floor in almost 3 years! The Roomba just cruises along. We have the ever-shedding dog, and now a three year to clean up after. And for those who say it doesn't clean, I sure dump a lot of crap/dust/hair and who knows what out of the dust box everyday!

The iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner is my Christmas present. I wanted it as I've always been fascinated with robots. We've owned several Roombas including the very first one. The first Roomba was an admirable effort but it didn't clean much. It was fun to watch run around the floor though.

The second Roomba was the Discovery model. This one worked a bit better but had a ways to go before successfully cleaning my house.

Finally, we received Gort. Gort is the iRoomba 532 model specifically designed to help clean homes with pets. We have three cats so this seemed like the perfect vac robot for us.

It was. The vacuum really does clean. Gort happily cleaned my low pile carpet. He then moved onto happily cleaning my laminate flooring. While cleaning Gort managed to not eat up the curtains (a problem with the previous models) and he managed to not chew up the power cords (another problem with previous older models).

It looks like Gort is going to perform as advertised. Sadly, Gort is going back in his box and getting wrapped for Christmas Day.

But you can bet Gort will be happily sweeping my house after Christmas has arrived.

I can't wait for Gort to join his brother Robby the Discovery robot. The two iRoombas will help keep my house clean.

Jan 4: Gort far outshines the others. He thoroughly cleans my laminate flooring. He thoroughly cleans my carpeting. He does not eat up the throw rugs or power cords. iRobot really came through with development on this model.


As with all technology there are usually improvements as research and development lead to better products. A good example was the purchase of our first TI computer. We thought it was really something until we bought our Apple IIe with a whole 128k RAM on board. Today, I look back and wonder about the prehistoric computers I worked on and how we thought they were wonderful. The iRoomba robots can be viewed in the same way. Technology is fluid and will eventually lead to greater improvements much like the iRobot Roomba 532 which is a thing of beauty when it comes to performance.

My boyfriend has allergies and I have a cat so everytime he was coming over he couldn't breathe. So I got this and I just click the clean button everyday when I'm on my way out the door. And now he no longer has allergy symptoms at my house.

My floors look a million times cleaner! I feel confident I will get my apartment deposit back because of this thing.

It picks up SO MUCH CRAP I HAD NO IDEA WAS ON THE FLOOR! I've been running it every day for weeks and it still picks up tons of my hair, cat hair and dust. Really does a nice job of vacuuming. Maybe its less strong than a Kirby but since you don't have to do any work its so easy to just push the button and let it work everyday. In the end I would say that running this everday is equivalent to using a real vacuum once or twice a week. So unless you're SUPER DUPER anal and vacuum yourself everyday and can't stand a spec of dust on the floor - this is for you!

There is a little bit of maintenance - you have to clean out the bin and clean out the brushes, but they give you the tools you need to make that easy. I do it every 3 days or so and it takes me about 5 minutes.

Overall well worth the cost if you don't have time to vacuum daily but want a clean house. Sweeps and vacuums your whole house. Also its actually REALLY quiet. I live in a pretty small apartment and if I put it in one room and close the door I basically forget its there because I can't hear a thing. Quietest vacuum I've ever seen.

EDIT: I came up with a bit of a problem after using it everyday for 2 months, the hair kept going to the edge of the cleaning module and got caught up in the gears. Couldn't clean that part of the brushes and the irobot kept telling me the brushes needed cleaning and wouldn't run. However, the irobot customer service really came though. Sent them an email 3 days ago and after sending them the info about my purchase and the serial number they have already sent out a new head module that is supposed to not have the same problem.

So irobot is getting A+s all around, good product that they stand by and fix when it does have problems.

Today is day 7, and I couldn't love the Roomba 532 Pet Series more. Yes, I've read all of the warnings from others, and I'm prepared for the extra attention that Roomba sometimes requires. In fact, I would NOT recommend that anyone pay the extra money for the model that you can program to run on its own every day of the week. Roomba works best when you're around to watch over him. Here's why.

Day one: I thought I'd picked up things pretty well, but Roomba promptly went under the bed and sucked up a soft cat toy that I didn't know was there. No problem. It stopped, told me to fix it (yes, it speaks to you) and I cleared it. Roomba happily resumed.

Day two: I know that this model has anti-tangle cord technology, and this is true for the average cord (lamps, etc). What I didn't count on was what I found when I breezed thru the family room and saw Roomba struggling to get away from my entertainment center. Upon further inspection, I found that Roomba had found the very thin, long wire from the Wii, which had wrapped around the wheels. Untangle the wire, and off Roomba went.

Day three: Set Roomba to work in the family room again. I didn't know that a dryer sheet had made its way under the couch. Roomba found it, however, and stopped and asked me to clear it. No problem after removal--Roomba was happy.

I think you get the idea. This is NOT meant to scare you away from Roomba. On the contrary--I'm glad that it stops and tells you that there's a problem instead of continuing until something breaks or it burns out its motor. Yes, he wants you to empty his bin every hour or two. Yes, he wants you to clean out his brushes every second room or so. No big deal in my book, because it only takes a minute or two, and the rest of the time, he's vacuuming and I'M NOT!!!!!

I run him every day, and I'm amazed at what he still finds to pick up (I do have 3 cats). With my big vacuum, I only got around to doing it on the weekends. Now, there's not a day that goes by that our floors aren't freshly vacuumed, and my whole family loves it. Great for my guys who have allergies.

I run him in the morning while getting ready for work, send him back to his charger, then do it again in different rooms when I get home in the evening. He's always happy to perform (can't say the same for most people...... :) )

If others' predictions are correct, there may come a day when I have to order replacement parts/brushes/whatever from the manufacturer, and I may encounter some frustration dealing with their customer service dept. ,but I factored that in before I purchased. I'm more than willing to do whatever it takes to keep Roomba happy, because he keeps our floors so clean.

I couldn't believe what he picked up the morning after the whole house had been done with the big Dyson Animal. Roomba also goes where the big vac doesn't--under the couch, the bed, between all the chairs in the dining room, etc.

I would recommend him to anyone as long as you're away of what ownership entails. It's really no big deal, but judging from some of the reviews, some people had higher expectations. I think if you bought the programmable one, you might come home every day to find that nothing got vacuumed because he's sitting somewhere asking for your help.

Now that I know how well Roomba works, I've put the floor-washing Scooba robot on my wish list.

Update 5-17-10: It's been 6 weeks now & I've been giving Roomba a workout. He is still great. I'm amazed at how he has breathed new life into some builder-grade 11-year old carpet that was mashed down and sad looking. Now, it looks freshened and newer, and it's become so soft and cushy feeling on bare feet. I suppose it's because the carpet is much happier being vacuumed every day or two, instead of every week or two. It gets fluffed up so much more often.

I love my Roomba so much that I bought one for my daughter. She just tried it for the first time yesterday, and is tickled pink.

Mine is starting to show some wear (scuff marks, etc) which is understandable since I use it just about every day. I still haven't had to replace anything (filters, etc) but I have had to unscrew his little side=arm thing and clean out cat hair from around it. I've also found that a good-sized safety pin is a must for cleaning the small, tight spaces around the spindles of his brushes. The tool that it comes with is too fat to fit in the narrow grooves.

Cleaning frequently is a must to keep him happy and working optimally. I'm still happy to do so, considering what I get in exchange. My floors have never been so clean, and my guys have noticed a decrease in their allergy symptoms.

Still highly recommended.

Bought Roomba 532 pet series:
Roomba sounds good, but it does not work on dark floors, and it sees a dark rug edge (like a mat or large area rug) as a "cliff" and will not cross that edge. The area I purchased it for is either dark wood floors, or lighter floors with oriental rugs covering most of the area. It refuses to cross onto the dark-bordered rugs, and does a poor job on the dark wood floors (circles wildly thinking it's going to fall down stairs). On Roomba's web site, in the Troubleshooting section, they say it will not work on dark floors; had they stated that up front I would not have purchased it.
Roomba customer service refuses to tell me how to disable the "cliff sensors", even though I have no stairs or dropoffs in the cleaning area, and I'm willing to "void" my warantee. I'm left dissatisfied, unable to return the item, and on my own trying to defeat the "cliff" feature.
Might be a fun toy for geeks with very bland floor areas, but it's unusable in my home.

I have two problems...or rather had. A dog I adore that sheds like there's no tomorrow, and a personal aversion and actual hatred of vaccuuming. After reading several reviews and speaking with friends who were Roomba owners, I dove in and got this one for myself. I spent the first few days learning Roomba and its needs. Whin a week, I had the "brush cleaning" chore down to about ten minutes. Clean Roomba in the morning, and he's docked himself by the time I arrive home in the evening. the whole house in one charge. An added bonus: My carpets look fantastic! All of a sudden, my dog's shedding is no bother and I haven't pulled the actual vaccuum from its hidey hole in the closet in over a month.

One thing to remember, you WILL have to clean Rooma's bin and brushes SEVERAL times on its maiden voyage through your home. Try to run Roomba everyday, and this process will only take place once a day, or so, depending on your needs. It's a lot easier to clean and maintain when you run and clean it daily.

Two quick recommendations for anyone that has one or is thinking of purchasing a Roomba: Yeah, the included cleaning tools may not be the best, but get yourself a utility knife to put into the mix. I use that to cut any hair from the spindles, and it makes the process very fast and easy. And number two, iRobot's right, your dog will acclimate to Roomba. My guy HATES the vaccuum...he's still unsure about Roomba, but has given up the home defense barking, and just relaxes on the couch with me when Roomba's out and about.

I really can't express how much I love this thing. Living in Chicago, I'd probably place Roomba just a teeny notch below my snowblower. ;-)

I've had mine for about a month and can't imagine how I lived without it. I have fibromyalgia and cannot use a regular vacuum. My husband would run it on the weekend but with two cats it was just not enough and we were suffering with increasing allergies.

The amount of fur and other dirt it picks up is incredible! If I forget to put on the larger capacity bin, I have to empty it a couple of times on it's journey through three to four rooms, three of which are carpeted. It transitions easily from carpet to tile and clambers over cords, area rugs etc. with ease. A couple of times it's got stuck under the ottoman which it insists on squeezing under, but comes right out when I lift a corner with my foot. I'm astonished at the things it will go over and around - or at least try. When I think of how we were breathing in all that fur...yuck! My husband, at first unconvinced about the necessity of buying it or how it would perform, has been totally converted! And loves not having to do a major vacuum every weekend! A quick pass with the long hose where the Roomba can't reach and he's done. The cats are fine with it, too. A little alarmed when it starts up but one will happily jump up on the bed and go to sleep while it's doing it's thing underneath.

I'm still puzzling out the best way to use the "guides" to keep it in one room or another or direct it where you want to go - but that's just me!

I highly recommend this for anyone - but especially for people like me with mobility issues or chronic pain who just can't handle the big heavy vacuum needed to effectively keep up with cat or dog hair. You do have to empty the bins and flip it over to clean the brushes, but this is easily done sitting down. It would be great for the elderly - in fact a friend's grandmother in her ninties has two!

We don't leave the dock plugged in all the time as recommended - it's just one extra thing sucking up electricity and isn't really necessary. After each use I let it charge until the indicator light shows that the cycle is complete and then unplug it. When I want to run it, I plug it in again and if the indicator light is green just push the button and off it goes.

Don't hesitate! Buy it! You'll be thrilled!

Like most of the reviews I was originally very happy with Roomba, and give it a very positive 5 star review, but the robot broke after less than a year. I learned not only is it very cheaply built, but its bad design leaves it vulnerable to the dust it is supposed to be designed to pick up.

It turns out its parts are very vulnerable to dust which is a major issue for a vacuum cleaner. None of the gears, barings, or moving components are sealed so dust gets into them and they start to grind until they fail. Even the gears and bearings that drive the bushes are unsealed leaving them vulnerable to the dust and dirt they are designed to pick up.

Eventually the brushes on the bottom stopped working. The tech support person confirmed that it was still under warranty, and that the problem was a documented know fault with the design. They how ever refused to replace it. The only thing they would offer was to send me new parts that I would have to replace my self. I explained I am not a tech of any kind and did not feel I was qualified to replace small gears that need to be precisely installed. They said sending me the parts was all they would do for me.

It may be useful to realize that many people who LOVE their Roomba -- myself included -- mean we actually have AFFECTION for our Roomba: less than a pet or child, but probably more than a houseplant. We all wanted a robot just like the Jetsons had, and now we have one. When it does something I seldom do; say, vaccuum under the guestroom bed, I practically laugh with delight. Plus it is great fun to introduce to the pets -- in our case, two dogs and two perpetually shedding cats.

So there-- I've admitted my unusual bonding with my Roomba.

Maybe I'll get tired of pushing the button twice a day, but so far my floors are cleaner than ever. Before Roomba, I vacuumed once a week and swept the hardwood every couple of days. Now I run the Roomba twice a day -- once when I get up in the morning, and then before I leave for work about 3 hours later, which is apparently enough time for it to clean, redock, charge, and be ready to go again when I walk out the door.

When this little bundle of joy first arrived, I tried, as an experiment, running it over and over in my (large) master bedroom to see how many runs it would continue to pick up dirt. Five runs later (on the same day), it was still picking up a considerable amount. Perhaps that means the Roomba does not clean as well as I hoped, or perhaps my bedroom is just too large for it to finish in one run, but the carpet, (which, again, I normally vacuumed once per week),looked cleaner than usual after the fifth run. And I have no doubt the Roomba cleaned under the bed better than I ever did.

Twice I've come home and had to go looking for it. This was its own adventure. Either it could not find the docking station, or perhaps my little Boston Terrier, who was under the dining room table with her ears back looking very guilty, knows what happened. In fact, one time the compartment that you empty the dirt from was in a separate place, and since I don't see any other reviewers who have had that problem, I'm guessing Nina might know something about that. But it seems none the worse for wear, except for a couple of teeth marks. You will not regret this purchase.