Remanufactured iRobot Roomba Vacuuming Robot, Assorted Colors
by iRobot
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List Price: Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Remanufactured iRobot Roomba Vacuuming Robot, Assorted Colors
Customer Review: Love it, love it, love it!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the Roomba, because I can turn it on while I'm doing bills, and it gets the work done without me sweating over it. No more procrastinating till the last minute to get the stupid carpet vacuumed.
I'm a very busy person and have hired a housekeeper from time to time, just to keep up with the nuisance vacuuming, mopping & dusting. I've never been a stellar housekeeper, but I have students that come to the house, and I need to keep it neat and tidy. The Roomba helps me with that.
My husband is a drywall contractor, and he is always leaving little white balls on the rust colored carpet. My little Roomba picks the heavy little balls up as good, or better, than my big ol' noisy Kirby that sometimes pops them back out.
The Roomba is mesmerizing to watch, though its hap-hazard patterns make one nervous at first. I have a large cluttered living area, and it seems like it spends a little too much time in corner nooks. Of course, those are the areas that usually got dismissed with my own vacuuming, so maybe it's making up for lost time! ;o) It is delightful to watch it dart in and out from under my ottoman!
For a vacuum, it is very quiet, and I can still watch TV comfortably while it is going. It's a little louder on the kitchen floor.
I've been able to leave the rugs down in the kitchen, but the Roomba leaves little deposits of dirt around them as it goes from one level to the other. I just go around with a little broom and dust pan later, and it's a LOT better than sweeping the whole floor and shaking out the rugs!!
If you're a picky housekeeper, the Roomba is not perfect, but it's close enough for me!! Picky house keepers can dust while it's cleaning, and then go around with their fancy attachments and clean up the nooks and crannies after it makes it's way back to it's home base to recharge.
My Roomba seldom gets hung up `cause I keep the cords tucked away like a good mother, but when it does, it lets out a little cry. I'm always temped to say, "Yes honey, what is it?" It's SO cute, it's like a little toddler. The grandkids love it to death, and so do I!
I gave it 5 stars because it lived up to my expectations and more.
Customer Review: How did we ever live without it?
Summary: 5 Stars
My kids named "her" Rhonda. This little gadget is cool. My floors are all hardwood, so i can not speak for carpet use. (although it works great on my little throw rugs) With 3 kids, a landscaper husband, 3 dogs and 4 cats my house is quite a test subject and I'll tell you, I couldn't be happier with it. It bustles about picking up everything in its path. Just when you think it's going to miss a small corner, it spins around and gets it. My family asks "How does it know?" I experimented with picking up a couple of different things: FLOUR- I thought it might blow it around but nope! It got every bit up. Cereal? No problem. I was floored (No pun intended) when I cleaned the bin and found one of my toddlers small toy cars!! Dog/cat hair: GREAT job! Sand, grit, dust bunnies etc... no problem. My 6 year old was amazed that it picked up a pretty good size chunk of zucchini without smashing it. I have used Rhonda every day for a few weeks now and here are a couple of tips:
1. It says to clean after each use. With really dirty floors empty a couple of times per use.
2. It says to empty the filter every week. It is so easy to do while emptying the bin that there is no reason not to clean it each use.
3. Keep an eye on those brushes! Especially the little one on the side. It gets tangled with hair from time to time. Just pull it off gently.
I love this product. It has truly made my life easier. I tell my kids to "Rhonda proof" the room and everyone runs around really quick and moves toys and phone cords etc. MY ONE COMPLAINT: I had trouble getting the waste bin to stay in place after I would empty and then replace it. My husband found a piece of rice lodged under the release so it was essentially keeping it unlatched. We cleaned it but i have found that it happens often and when Roomba drives around, it opens the bin on its own and voila... big mess. A little piece of electrical tape giving it added support worked great and hasn't failed me yet. Using an air compressor to clean it out also works. Design flaw, I guess. Hopefully they will fix it for the next generation. I will never live without a Roomba in my house again!!!
Customer Review: Meh, entertaining but so-so performance...
Summary: 2 Stars
Well, it is a cute little robot and it is certainly entertaining to watch. It does a good job of getting itself out of trouble as well. That said, well, I'm not entirely sure what the point is. Given its super tiny capacity and the fact that it doesn't use bags I find it more of a pain than a well designed normal vacuum. You do have to empty it every use or every other use. That's fun, you get a nice big cloud of dust around you while you do it. My wife who as allergies can't even be in the same room when I empty it. Very poor design there. And the the little brushes seem to get clogged way faster than with my Oreck - I don't know why that is. But they need constant attention as well. And of course you have to Roombaify the room first to make sure it won't get stuck or suck up a cord.
In the end it really doesn't seem to save any time or make things any easier. Sure, you don't push a vacuum around, but the prep time is the same or worse and the maintainence is far far worse than a normal vacuum. I just fail to see the advantage it has over a normal vacuum, but I'm sure this depends on your living space and lifestyle. All in all I think its utility could range from marginal to waste-of-time.
Finally, it is worth noting that even on medium pile carpets it will rip out enourmous amounts of carpet fiber. It seems like it wants to convert all carpets to ultra-low pile simply by ripping out fibers. This is of course not good for the carpet, but it also means the dumb little thing will fill itself up very quickly. So definately don't get this thing if you have anything but the most ridiculously low pile carpet. It seems people are interpretting this as "wow, I vacuumed right before using the Roomba and it picked up all sorts of dirt the vacuum didn't!" Well, no, I think the vacuum left the carpet attached to the floor like it was supposed to and the Roomba was a bit less discriminating.
As a note on refurbs, mine had a battery that just wouldn't last for very long even after all the various recovery methods recommended by iRobot. Would die in just 30 or 40 minutes of operation. Easy Amazon return though.
Customer Review: When it works, it is great.
Summary: 3 Stars
When my wife and I first got this unit, we eagerly charged it and released it in our living room. It was amazing watching this thing scan our living room and immediately head for our sofa. It was then equally amazing that as it went over the edge of the area rug, it immediately wedged itself under the edge of the sofa. No big deal, I just moved the rug closer to the sofa, and released it again. We anxiously watched it approach the sofa again, and our fix worked. We watched it for another couple of minutes, and it was looking good. We went about our normal cleaning and left the Roomba to do its thing. After about 25 minutes, we couldn't hear it any more so we went to look at it. It had now wedged itself under the stereo rack. I placed a book under the rack and tested the Roomba. It worked. We have rarely had it get caught in any other spot, so we are satisfied with our Roomba-ized house.
After about two months of heavy use, the unit started to malfunction. We always cleaned it according to the instructions and had never had a problem. Suddenly, though, it started to back up like it was always running into a wall. I checked the iRobot website, and they described a fix for this problem. Basically, it was beat the snot out of the bumper. I tried it, and it worked again for about two minutes, then started to do the same thing again. I started cracking its skull again, put it back down, and started it again. This time, it worked for about 10 minutes before doing the same thing. Thinking I now had a rather expensive toy, I decided to bring out the big gun: my air compressor. I blew high pressure air underneath the bumper and all over the sensors. The Roomba then worked great, and has continued to work great.
Would I recommend this to everyone? No. It is not perfect and requires more maintenance than a traditional vacuum. BUT, it does a reasonable job cleaning (especially cat litter that is tracked out by the cats!). It does a fantastic job of picking up dog and cat hair.
Bottom line: If you like tinkering and don't mind giving it some TLC, buy it. If not, skip it.
Customer Review: Great for hardwood floors and pets
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my second Roomba purchase. The first was for my house, the second was for my mom's house.
The good
I think the roomba does great if you have pets and hard surface floors. Given that my house is all hardwood and I have a hairy dog as a pet, this thing really reduces the amount if time sweeping and cleaning up the dog hair. I think it is absolutely great. As a bachellor, this thing is really a time saver. Funny thing is that the Roomba does not bother my dog, whereas a vacum really annoys her. I use the Roomba 3 times a week and it does a great job on maintaining my floors between cleanings.
I have to give it to Irobot. The machine is cool too. It wont go over thresholds or stairs, re-docks and charges itself, and can really cover 100% of a room...really. It goes under my dresser and bed, gets into tight spaces and cleans corners pretty darn good.
The not so good.
-It gets caught up on rugs or just about anything on the floor.
-It cant clean carpets very well..
-It doesnt pick up anything large than a nickel
-My first one broke (well...wouldnt clean as well as it used to), but Hammer Schlemmer(?) sent a new one.
-The dirt receptacle isnt that big and will get full; but that is kinda of a good thing...it means it is working
So I bought this reconditioned roomba for my mom who has 2 dogs and 1 floor of her house is all hardwood.
She loves it. And for $140 - it was such a good deal. We had paid $325 for ours from Hammer Schlemmer.
If the thing wouldn't get caught up so much and clean rugs or carpet better, Id give it a 5 star.
If I look at it as "a machine that makes my life easier" I'd give it 5 stars and put it in the same categroy as such great inventions such as tivo and wireless internet.
So - if you have hard surface floors and pets...this is for you. If you have all carpets/rugs, kids toys laying around, and no pets... maybe a better manual vacum is a better choice.
Hope this helps!!