iRobot 110 Dirt Dog Workshop Robot
by iRobot
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List Price: Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 110 Dirt Dog Workshop Robot
Customer Review: I can't stop raving about the dirt dog to my friends!
Summary: 5 Stars
I had the feeling that this little machine would be awesome, and it has exceeded my expectations.
There are only two downfalls that I can think of. One, it's hard to stop watching the dog work!! It's such an interesting invention and so far I've wasted so much time following him with my eyes glued to his every move... I like to see him get all the crumbs, etc, off the floor!
I find myself talking to him, "That'a boy... get 'em!! You can do it!" Needless to say, I haven't saved much time yet. Once I get over the excitement of my new "toy", I'll have no problem leaving him to work by himself. I mean, he does a nearly perfect job. His brushes rotate rapidly and they get everything along the edges of the room. The only thing "he" misses are the corners, but they're not bad at all.
I have not used compressed air to clean him yet... for one thing, I'm not sure exactly what compressed air is, where you buy it, and all that jazz. I'm going to have to ask my husband to show me... hopefully it won't be a big deal because the manual says that you're supposed to use compressed air after every third use. Even so, the Dirt Dog is worth it.
I know that this machine is geared toward men for use in the garage/ their shop areas, but I love to use mine in the house! I use it on my granite floors as well as on my carpet. It easily adjusts to the different heights of the flooring. It is excellent on my rugs (I don't have fringe on mine... I think the dog would have quite a lot of trouble with fringe... it would really get tangled). When I would use my full-size vacuum on the rugs, they would tend to get sucked up and it was a real pain. Not only that, I had to lug the big vacuum cleaner out. It's so easy to get the Dirt Dog, press the "clean" button, and watch him go!
He will clean under things that you have procrastinated cleaning for years. He cleaned underneath my bed, my sofa (although some won't be high enough off the ground), my piano, etc. He will even go around the legs of your tables.
He'll run for about an hour, and then he needs to recharge for about 4 hours. I often use him twice a day. In my dining area, he's completely replaced the dust mop. My kids and husband are jealous of him because they suspect that I think he does a better job than they do (it's true, he does). Even our dog is jealous, I can see it in his eyes. He's an outdoor dog, but he'll press his nose against the glass door and see me following my "house pet" around giving him tons of attention. Poor Scotty!
The bin that the dirt is swept into is nicely sized and can hold a lot. It's easy to empty. The roller brushes to tend to pick up a LOT of hair, so it's a good idea to clean the brushes once in a while. The Dirt Dog comes with a little cleaning tool, kind of like a letter opener with a small blade, which you can use to cut the hair and strings, etc, that get wrapped around the brush.
I like my Dirt Dog so much that I can't say enough good about it!! I've told my friends about him, and I'm afraid that they must think I'm bragging. I just want to "share the joy" with them! The Dog is not a gimmick... it's fun to watch, but it works, too. I thank the people who invented him! One of these days I'm going to buy the "robot mop", too, when the price comes down somewhat. I don't imagine that it will work as well as the Dirt Dog does, but I'm sure the iRobot people will perfect it...
Did I mention that the Dog is not a vacuum? It's actually a sweeper. There is no suction, so it's amazing how much dirt, lint, etc, ends up in the dirt bin. Trust me, it really does a great job.
If the area you want to clean is extra large, the Dog might not get every single crumb. It depends on the size of the room... just experiement like I have and you can improvise. For example, when he's cleaning my kitchen and dining room floors, I'll usually block off the living room with chairs that he can't get through so that he'll be sure to do a thorough job in the dirtiest rooms first. If I see that he's still got some power left when the floor looks good, I'll take him into another room and let him work till he stops. He doesn't talk, but he makes some cute sounds. When his battery is low he makes a sound like, "I'm all done!" Once he's fully charged again and you press the clean button, he makes a sound like, "I'm on my way!" When he's stuck on something, it sounds like he's saying, "Uh-oh! Uh-oh!" (No, I am not crazy).
The first Dirt Dog I bought from Amazon, before Christmas, was $90 with free shipping. Around Christmastime the cost went up to $129. The cost is down again, so I'm buying another one for $95. I haven't seen the cost lower than Amazon's price of $90 anywhere on the Web. The Dog would make a great gift! I plan on buying one here and there throughout the year to give as gifts to my parents, siblings, and in-laws.
I hope my review has helped you!
Customer Review: Excellent and useful item. Works for household duties, too.
Summary: 4 Stars
I had heard about the possibility of using robots that can clean the floors of the house, and found this model. Based on other recommendations, and comparing the various models offered by iRobot, I purchased this model.
Pros:
1. Ease of Use: Essentially, this item is very basic. I plugged in the battery, and charged the item, and turned it on. Easy!
2. What's it like? Once you depress the on button, you get a nice little ditty that says, "Hello, I am attacking the mess!"
The machine runs around in circles and has a bumper that it uses to run around to floor in a seemingly random pattern. After about 1 hour, it will give a ditty that says, "Hey, my battery is about out of a charge!" and it will stop.
It would appear from first blush that nothing has happened, but actually, you floor will be cleaned. Hair, crumbs, dust and things that you don't want to talk about a cocktail parties will be in the removable container in the back. This little machine does its job!
3. Effectiveness: This machine is darn effective. I use it in bedrooms, and in the main floor of our estate and it works magnificently. I am surprised at how many things it picks up from a seemingly already clean floor.
Although this unit is designed for a garage workshop, it works very well in a house with hardwood floors. An hour is very effective at cleaning a floor of about 500-700 square feet. I was quite amazed to see the machine chew through the "crud" presented by hair, dust, shmutz and whatever else you don't want to discus at cocktail parties. In the randomness of it's cleaning cycle, this little machine actually seems to find it's way around the whole room.
4. Avoidance:
First off, this unit has a bumper and a spinning brush that it will use to run into things and turn around to understand the environment it is in. It does not "learn" the room, unlike other robots offered. So it will be like a clumsy kid. If the prospect of hitting things continually disturbs you, this is probably not the machine for you.
There is also a "cliff" avoidance system that will avoid steep drop-offs like stairs. Only on one occasion has this failed and my robot decided to go down the stairs (which didn't work out too well - I heard a crash, boom, bah and then I heard a "I've fallen and can't get up" cry). The machine is pretty indestructible and survived this one attempt and hasn't done this act again. It also hasn't harmed anything by running into it, either.
Cons:
1. Lack of features: Of course, since this is the lowest cost iRobot product available, it is not the fault of this product. But be aware that you will only have a power button available. If you want programming, you will probably want a more expensive model, or you can purchase accessories that make this possible, but it would seem that your tricking up a small pony into a thoroughbred when just simply buying the thoroughbred will be easier and cheaper.
2. Hair: Be aware that if you have a dog or cat that sheds, this unit is VERY effective at picking up these items. However, you will probably need to clean the wheels (which are very easy to remove and to clean and replace). If you don't do this, you will eventually get the "Hey, I can't move anymore, please help me" ditty that this machine will give out.
3. Noise: I don't find this annoying at all, but this thing makes the noise of a vacuum cleaner, so I wouldn't expect to run it at night without being awoken to its presence. It is not something you pet will be joyful about for that matter. The family dog seems to both want to play with it and run in fear from not understanding the thing either; is it my toy or a monster coming to kill me?.
Addendum:
1. Accessories: I recommend that you purchase the "home base" unit that is available. The base allows the robot to find the base and recharge when it needs it and it is much better that having to plug the robot into the charger every time and having to search for it after it stop running.
Overall, for a fairly inexpensive item, this is a very useful item. Overall, it has exceeded my expectations.
Customer Review: I'm torn on the Dirt Dog....
Summary: 3 Stars
The Dirt Dog is a great little machine in certain regards yet not so good in others. I have mostly hardwood and tile in my home, so after reading all the reviews I thought this would be the perfect machine for me, as I'm constantly fighting the Battle of the Dog Hair. The Dirt Dog does indeed do an excellent job of sweeping hard floor surfaces, and it zips under the furniture and beds effortlessly, picking up all traces of dog hair, dust, and debris.
The Dirt Dog has its downfalls, though. It's loud - it's LOUD!!! I find it to be louder than my Miele canister vacuum. You may ask what the issue is if the vacuum makes noise too. Well, the issue is that the Dog takes a long time to clean a room. I can deal with the vacuum noise for a short while, but the Dog takes anywhere from 30-45 minutes to clean an average-sized bedroom, and that's just too long of a period to have to listen to all that racket. Keep in mind that if I want another room cleaned, the noisy time doubles. Even if I go to another level in the house or close the door to the room being cleaned, I can *still* hear the blasted thing - it's that loud. I can also hear the constant bang! as it bumps into walls and other objects.
As mentioned, it takes a long time to clean a room. At times this is not an issue, but other times it is, as it's not convenient to be in the same room that it is cleaning, so I have to plan my activities accordingly (and again - the noise!). It has fallen down the same set of stairs three times in the last two days - this can't be good for the machine - and I'm not going to pay extra to have a "virtual wall", I feel this contraption should be capable of figuring out there's a drop-off there (first time I understand, but three times down the same set of stairs in two days? C'mon...). It does not do well on low-pile area rugs. It did a light surface sweeping of the rugs, but I don't feel they were really cleaned well after the Dog was through, so, again, I had to pull out the vacuum. Also, when it went from the rug back down onto the tile, it dumped a bit of a dirt load at the edge of the rug each time - vacuum to the rescue once again. It also can't fit into tighter spaces, such as around the toilet or between an object and a wall if the object is somewhat close to the wall, because it's a wide disc, so my rooms aren't getting all areas cleaned as they should - and you know darn well I had to pull out the vacuum again!
Unfortunately, I'll be returning mine. I do feel it is a very good machine when used in particular environments, but in my home I find the cons to outweigh the pros.
Edited 1/31/09: I decided to keep it for a couple weeks before the return window closed, thinking maybe I judged it too quickly. I bought a cheapie twist shower rod to barricade the stairs to fix that problem, that solution worked well. I continued using it to clean the wood floors and tile, and like I mentioned above, it did do a good job (but again - it doesn't get in/around tight spots), and I appreciated the fact it zipped under the beds easily and cleaned the dust and dog hair from under there. I noticed one day, though, that where the machine was hitting areas that were painted (corners of walls, painted furniture legs), the paint was chipping off, so that was the final deal-breaker for me. I really think this is a great machine for a shop/garage/basement where this wouldn't be an issue, but not for in the house where furniture/walls can be damaged and spots are missed. So, all in all - great machine for a particular application, but not an all-around machine.
Customer Review: Our family adopted a robot.
Summary: 5 Stars
We have a black Labrador and a Doberman, and the shedding from the Lab is intense at the beginning of a Texas summer. The Doberman LOVES to get dirty and bring it in with her, so suffice to say, our indoor/outdoor fur-babies make our home a little...messy. With a new human baby joining us and not liking the prospects of him getting down on our floors, we decided we needed help.
Enter an iRobot Dirt Dog. My first father's day present (a little early) was a robot that I had long regarded as an adult toy that was "more show than go". I didn't take the effectiveness of an oversized hockey puck with a couple of styling brushes and a Dust Buster bin very seriously. An amusing gadget to have, if you don't already have a cluttered house (which we do).
I am here, now, to eat as much crow as I can. Yes, I'm admitting I was WRONG! Well, okay, not exactly "wrong", but I seriously underestimated this "toy". It is fantastic! So much better at cleaning our floors than WE are. We have a lot of nooks and crannies and furniture with deep undersides like our king sized bed and huge couch. We have carpet and linoleum floors, some with rugs, and tile. My retro 60's dining room table is a dust bunny collector with its four leg pedestal trapping them under protective 'feet' preventing our regular vacuum from getting them out. The rolling butcher block in the kitchen is similar, trapping dust bunnies just up under the wheels.
Festus gets them all with his little 'claw" spinner that whisks them under his brushes for ingestion. Yes, I anthropomorphized the blasted thing. After the second day, I dubbed him Hephaestus (Festus to shorten it), because he 'limps' (rolls) a little to one side when traveling in a straight line. I don't know if that's a problem, but it doesn't impact his function in the least, and we put him to work twice a day, every day. I clean his brushes once a day, and we end up dumping his bin twice per charge. Are we that filthy? Not really, but he keeps finding fur and detritus from SOMEWHERE. The Lab is curious about him, and tries to intimidate him, but the Dobie avoids him as much as possible. Occasionally he gets hung up on a bit of furniture or the lip of a linoleum-to-carpet transition, but I had heard that these robots are "smart", so I left him to his own devices the first few times to see if it were true, and sure enough: the little blighter eventually recognizes that he's hung up and tries a different solution. The only times he has been unable to extricate himself from something he's gotten into is with my son's "bouncy seat". It has a metal frame that Festus rolls over and gets a wheel stuck on. When that has happened he eventually gives up and calls for help with a little "Uh-oh" beep. Now I just put the seat away on top of the couch while Festus is working, and this is the only special concession I make for the robot's functionality.
I love this little robot. I plan on tricking him out with some stylized shark teeth, Flying Tigers style, and some googly eyes...Maybe a single spinner hubcap velcroed on top of him? Nah, that's too much.
There has been some talk of including him in the next family photo. I figure why not, if the other dogs are there for it, the Dirt Dog should be too.
Customer Review: My "little buddy" as another lady called him is the only one who truly helps me clean my house.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Irobot dirt dog because I have two dogs, boxers, with a dog door for them to go in and out as they please. Well, this is wonderful, except that they track in every ounce of dirt from the back yard. My first floor is an open floor plan, with my kitchen, dining room, and living room all connected. It's a relatively small house, so you would think it would not take much to clean it. On the contrary, for me to just merely sweep my floors it's a half day event. I have all hardwoods with tile in my kitchen. I have to move my couch, and dining room table, among other things, to get underneath them, then as soon as the dogs go out and come back in, I feel dirt on the bottoms of my feet again. It's SO FRUSTRATING. Needless to say, I used to just sweep around the couch and do a short run under the dining room table. Therefore huge dust bunnies would pile up under my couches. But then I got the Irobot dirt dog. One lady referred to him in her review as her "little Buddy", and I do now too. When I first showed my husband, he laughed at me and jokingly asked if I was lonely and needed a friend...haha. I started letting buddy do his thing when I was at work. I would start him before I left and when I came home it was nice and clean, then, when my husband would come home from work, he would notice the clean floors and ask me if I cleaned them. "Nope" I would say, "It was Buddy." Then I started having him clean the floors as I cleaned the rest of the house, and it's like we're a team...I move out of his way and he helps me clean. I run him about every other day, if not every day sometimes, and the difference is not only noticeable by sight, but when I walk on the floors I don't feel dirt under my feet. I also find myself looking under my couches all the time amazed at the fact that there are no dust bunnies. Buddy gets every spot. As I am typing this right now, Buddy is cleaning my floors. I wanted a maid, but can't afford one, so this is the next best thing. He's even made a believer out of my husband who says this was the best purchase I have made. I have had him now for nearly a month and have no complaints. The only thing I would invest in next is the docking station, because then he can recharge himself. The charger that came with it is a little finicky, and if you don't plug it into buddy just right, it will come out and he wont be charging. That's the only thing. And make sure you flip him over every few cleanings and make sure his brushes aren't clogged and wipe down the dust that builds up. You will be amazed at what he picks up even off a seemingly clean floor.I recommend him to anyone who needs help around the house. I am actually buying another one for my mother because she has two pugs that shed a lot.