Concerns about walls and carpet, June 30, 2008
First of all, I like the roomba 400. It's much cheaper than the 500 series, and it gets the job done in my house.
One note about batteries. I have two same models. One has NiCD as opposed to NiMH battery, which is presumably standard in the more recently sold Roomba 400 model. However, there is one advantage to the NiCD battery:...read full review
First of all, I like the roomba 400. It's much cheaper than the 500 series, and it gets the job done in my house.
One note about batteries. I have two same models. One has NiCD as opposed to NiMH battery, which is presumably standard in the more recently sold Roomba 400 model. However, there is one advantage to the NiCD battery: it doesn't self-discharge as quickly as the NiMH battery pack. With the NiCD, I can just recharge, take it out of the roomba, and leave it for weeks without losing charge. I just have to make sure to fully discharge it when it runs because of the possible "memory effect" of the NiCD battery type.
Secondly, the bottom of my walls where the roomba bumps into have black streak marks because the roomba runs into it too hard. Also, when I check after it's done vacuuming, I find that it's eaten up a lot of carpeting. I'm not sure whether all vacuums do it, but it seems more noticeable in the roomba because there are two separate compartments for fine dust particles and what the coarser brush picks up.
I've decided to deal with the wall streak by buying foam adhesives and placing it on the bumper. It's working well now. I bought it from a place called roombaexchange.com, and I would just prefer to buy my own if I could find any other place that has similar foam adhesives that I can just cut on my own because the one from roombaexchange.com doesn't cover enough on the top of the bumper guard.
Overall, while I like not having to vacuum manually, I really wish iRobot would have used more standard form for its battery because the battery's proprietary form is much more expensive than it has to be. In fact, there are aftermarket vendors who sell Roomba batteries, even longer lasting and lighter Li-ion batteries, with varying degrees of success.
I also wish that I didn't have to shell out a couple hundred $$ more for the 500 series which apparently bumps into walls without as much force. The bumper guard foam has been working ok, but I had to remove it when my roomba died on me, and I had to send it in for an exchange.
And that is another story. iRobot is slow with their customer service. Once you email them, they may respond quickly at first. Then their responses get very slow to the point where you are not sure whether they are ever going to respond.
Eventually, I got my RMA number after a week, sent it in, and received a new one under warranty after another week.
So beware. If you ever need customer service, you'll probably get frustrated.
For $100 though, the 400 model is much more cost effective than the 500 series, and I have two of them which I can use simultaneously.
When it works without problems, it's worth it. But once it breaks down, you're in for some headaches from their customer service.
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Update: After about 6 months or so, I have some new perspectives on this. There are areas under the wheels and the brushes that collect dust. In fact, the area under the wheels collected so much dust that roomba started to skip and then stop on its own a few seconds after I started it.
Roomba tech support did not give me the correct advice on how to fix this. Instead, after I used my home vacuum to clean the wheels thoroughly, it started working again. Requiring another vacuum to clean this vacuum cleaner is very poor design, but on the bright side, now that I know this, I vacuum the underside of my roomba about once a month and have had no problems. I don't know if the 500 series are susceptible to this problem, but I would still get a 400x series for the price savings.
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It Does the Job, July 31, 2008
If you need to vacuum but do not all ways have the time you'll find that this will do The Job and Do It Well, it is not a toy or a another faddish gadget it works and works well.
i heart roomba, December 30, 2008
I have wanted a Roomba for a while. I have a perfectly good vacuum (so I thought) but it was getting on in years and was cumbersome, plus I hate vacuuming and being a pet owner I really need to do it more than I would prefer (never). So when I found the basic Roomba very on sale I was suspicious and decided to research reviews first. In short, ...read full review
I have wanted a Roomba for a while. I have a perfectly good vacuum (so I thought) but it was getting on in years and was cumbersome, plus I hate vacuuming and being a pet owner I really need to do it more than I would prefer (never). So when I found the basic Roomba very on sale I was suspicious and decided to research reviews first. In short, people seemed really excited about their Roombas. Its maybe the best reviewed product I have ever come across. These people seemed a little over-enthusiastic, but the few negative reviews seemed trivial so feeling confident I went and bought my Roomba (for $90). Now I am one of those crazy fans too. I am in love with my Roomba.
When I brought it home I ran my regular vacuum first. My house looked clean. Then I ran the Roomba and checked the dust compartment. I was both horrified and fascinated at how much junk was in there. Who knew I was living in such squalor and filth! It was weirdly satisfying to dump it all out. Every time I run it I am shocked at what it picks up. I haven't had the trouble with carpet tassels that others report - but it does try to eat my bath mats. On the occasion that it does get stuck, it is really quite good at getting itself unstuck and negotiating obstacles. Dump the dust compartment every time, clean it every handful of times - this will stay easy if you do it regularly. Don't clean it over the trash; it is so easy to disassemble (and reassemble) that the smaller pieces can fall out into your trash can which means you'll have to dig for them - obviously I learned this the hard way. I talk about my Roomba like it's a new puppy and am convinced that everyone needs to own one.
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Great Product Great Customer Service, November 10, 2009
I bought the 400 series roomba for my wife last christmas (2008) and have been thrilled with the roomba. We have a stained concrete floor with several rugs, steps, junk on the floor and a cat. The roomba has done a great job getting up nearly all the dust, debris, and cat hair, while very rarely getting tripped up on junk and almost never...read full review
I bought the 400 series roomba for my wife last christmas (2008) and have been thrilled with the roomba. We have a stained concrete floor with several rugs, steps, junk on the floor and a cat. The roomba has done a great job getting up nearly all the dust, debris, and cat hair, while very rarely getting tripped up on junk and almost never getting stuck on the rugs. The only thing it doesn't like is loose wires, string or ribbon. These items tend to get wrapped up and caught in the brushes.
We have not had to do a real vacuuming job since we bought roomba and the floors are not nasty nor do they look dirty.
I have had issues with battery life dropping to only 20 minutes per run. IRobot was quick to remedy the situation as the roomba was under warranty. Most manufacturers are not so accommodating with battery replacement and this is one thing that makes IRobot and roomba stand out amongst manufacturers. I also had some problems with roomba beginning to act erratically and customer support was quick with intelligent and reasonable fixes which actually worked. I am an extremely technical person and I surprisingly wasn't pulling my hair out on the phone going through the obvious brain dead list of things that customer support usually makes you go through to get any real help.
Kudos to IRobot for a great product and great service. I would definitely buy roomba again and recommend it to my friends and family! minimize
I think I'm in love!, October 4, 2009
I was skeptical about how well the Roomba would clean but I decided to give it a shot. I am so glad that I did! This was probably the smartest purchase that I have ever made. I also own a Dyson DC17 Animal which cleans like a beast. However my Roomba is so easy to use and cleans so well that I wish I would have saved my money on the Dyson and...read full review
I was skeptical about how well the Roomba would clean but I decided to give it a shot. I am so glad that I did! This was probably the smartest purchase that I have ever made. I also own a Dyson DC17 Animal which cleans like a beast. However my Roomba is so easy to use and cleans so well that I wish I would have saved my money on the Dyson and purchased the Roomba from the start. This model doesn't have all the bells and whistles that some of the more expensive units have but works perfectly for me. It is so simple to operate that a child could use it. Simply charge it and place it in the middle of the room and press the clean button. It starts by covering the large open area of the room by going in a spiral motion until it bumps up against something and then it will go around all the corners. It takes a while to clean a large room but it cleans like a champ. It has a decent sized collection bin so you don't have to empty it too often, maybe once every hour or so. This unit comes with a cleaning brush and three additional extra filters which add to the overall value. Everything will have to be picked up off the floor. Sometimes you will have to move electric wires because it will get caught up and stuck in them. However you don't have to worry about it too much because the unit will shut its self off if it gets stuck or if it sweeps something up that isn't normal. If you have family members in your household that have long hair then it will get wrapped around the brush just like a normal vacuum and you will have to remove it every once in a while. This would make a great gift for one of those people that has everything because I think pretty much anyone would appreciate a Roomba. The only thing that I wish it come with is the invisible walls so I think I am going to purchase some. minimize
Description: The iRobot Roomba is an intelligent and effective vacuuming robot. Roomba's powerful vacuum and counter-rotating brushes reach deep into your carpet to remove dirt, dust and pet hair. Turn Roomba on when you go to work or run errand, and return home to a thoroughly cleaned floor. Charger Included.
(6 total reviews)
