iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
by iRobot
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List Price: Our Price: $229.00 You Save: $170.99 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
Customer Review: For the lazy, maybe. For the super busy, OH YEAH!
Summary: 5 Stars
Product for the lazy? Maybe. Product for the super busy..OH YEAH! One person claimed that this product is purchased to cater to laziness. Uh, I beg to differ! I work 8 hours a day, take care of my 98 year old grandmother, 4 year old daughter, husband, 2 dogs, do all the cooking, cleaning, gardening, and home maintenance. If I can save an hour or two not vacuuming and mopping I'm happy. Lazy no, busy yes! With that being said, I LOVE Scooba and Roomba!
I always read the reviews before I buy a product. When you read that many mixed reviews you have to believe that some of the people are committing operator failure, some are misunderstanding the true function/design of the product, and a few just got a true lemon.
I'm a habitual cleaner. Two hairy dogs, a four year old and allergies! Needless to say I vacuum and mop every day. I'd seen Roomba for years but when they came out with Scooba I started doing my research. I took the plunge and bought a Roomba and a Scooba.
Love, love, love, both. But Scooba is awesome! A true time saver. We have a 200 square foot kitchen with vinyl flooring and it does a great job. It does leave some moisture on the floor, but not enough to complain about. It leaves no more moisture than a regular mop.
As for the complaints about noise. Yes, it produces noise. Duh, it has a motor. How many motors do you see that don't produce noise? Does it interfere with television watching or phone useage? NO.
Complaints about start up...my box came with instructions and a bulb syringe to use to prime the the pump. Maybe older products that have been sitting on the store shelf don't have those instructions. The instructions were simple. READ THEM first. Don't freak out if the thing travels in a circle every now and again...it's supposed to do that.
Maintenance...rinse out the tank, rinse out 2 small parts, clean the lint trap and you are done. 2 minutes. What's the big deal. It takes longer to rinse out your mop and wash out the bucket.
For a large floor you will have to refill, but for 200 to 300 square feet you'll be good with one fill up.
Saves so much time I actually had time to sit down and write this review while Scooba is cleaning my floor.
I can't vouch for longevity since I've only had it a short time but so far so good.
Still not sure?....Get it locally then you can easily return it if you don't love it.
Customer Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I injured my back and have been unable to sweep or mop (and will probably never be able to again.)
My husband gave me a Roomba 560 and a Scooba 5800 for Christmas, 2007. They are wonderful!
The Scooba is very easy to set up (fill the tank with water and cleaning solution and push two buttons) and easy to clean (empty and rinse the dirty tank, remove the brush and rinse, remove the filter and rinse, remove the vacuum port and rinse -- these are all much easier than they sound - they just lift out.)
I was skeptical about the cleaning ability of this thing because I have porcelain tile throughout my home. I didn't think it would work well enough to clean the grout and the tile (especially since the floor isn't smooth.) I was wrong!
I was surprised at how well this cleans. The brush actually scrubs the floor. My husband leaves for work at 5:30 am (before I get up, of course) and sometimes spills drops of tea on the floor -- being a man, he doesn't wipe it up and it dries on the floor. The Scooba will get every bit of it clean. I use it at least once a week and am always amazed at how dirty the water is after it finishes. The cleaning tank and the dirty tank are completely separate so the only thing that ever touches your floor is the clean solution.
Scooba can be used with the Scooba solution or with plain white vinegar. I have used both and far prefer the Scooba solution. I think the solution cleans much, much better. The only problem with the Scooba solution is that you can't find it in stores and have to order it on-line. I ordered it from IRobot and was able to buy several bottles at a discount.
I have had only two problems with my Scooba, and one was my own fault. The first time you use your Scooba, you have to prime it. I did not do this correctly, so the Scooba would not run. After several tries, I figured out what I was doing wrong. You are given a sqeeze bulb that must be inserted into a small hole into which you force air. I did not have the bulb inserted correctly and a vacuum was not created. Once I figured this out, it was easy.
The second problem was that my particular Scooba had a defective battery. It would stop before the cleaning tank had been used up. I called IRobot and they immediately sent me a new battery for free.
This product gets five stars! It is easy to use, cleans very, very well, and IRobot stands behind their product.
-Donna ><>
Customer Review: Truly labor-saving inspiration
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a second vote for Scooba's satisfying the 80/20 rule and not doing corners well. It will also clean but not free 3-year old hardened mystery blobs glued to the floor. A Swiffer wet cloth or sponge & plastic putty knife can easily get the stuff Scooba misses. Scooba's parts also have to be cleaned before it's put away. Nevertheless, it is truly a labor saving device and, for the clutter-challenged like me, an inspiration. I get so tired dealing with the clutter that I don't have energy left to mop the floor, which is probably like the retired navy person's. I HAD to sweep before the first run because of the over-sized junk strewn across the floor. That said, Scooba cleans what it does clean better than I do. As it motors across the floor, it vacuums up grit, kitty kibble and the occasional candy wrapper; sprays cleaning tank solution on the floor; scrubs with its rotary brush; and then squeegees the floor fairly dry behind it. It uses only clean water for the "mopping." It wanders seemingly erratically around the kitchen but covers many areas repeatedly, giving time for the cleaning solution to work and the grunge to soften up. It's hysterical watching it circle a table leg to get all the grime. My Scooba dispensed cleaning solution correctly the first time out because I used the little baby syringe (included)to "prime the pump" (per directions). Scooba stopped twice during its 45-minute cycle because the vacuum/lint filter was completely clogged and needed to be rinsed and reinserted. Unfortunately, the error light showed "check tank," so I had to diagnose and fix the real problem (not difficult) myself. The next day I let Scooba loose in the bathroom, crossing my fingers about its fate under the claw-foot tub. Late in the cycle, Scooba complained. Hair clouds, long undisturbed dust and escapee toilet paper had accumulated into a soggy mat under one wheel such that Scooba could no longer move. "Check tank," indeed, but again E-Z to fix. When Scooba finished, the bathroom scale was reflected in the floor. That's why I said Scooba was an inspiration. If all I have to do is keep the kitchen floor free of major junk/gunk, I won't have to pre-vacuum, and I can then run Scooba much more often than I ever tried to mop. You'll find yourself staring at the floor and ignoring the clutter. Four stars for cleaning; five stars for a lot less effort making the place look like normal humans live here.Customer Review: Lovin It (so far)
Summary: 5 Stars
I will freely admit that I have only owned this guy long enough to use it once. I will post updates as time goes by because i know from first hand experience (we own the Roomba 560) that i-Robot products can be extremely finicky and customer service is hit or miss. Still, I can't help gushing. I LOVE SCOOBA! Mushy, gooey LOVE! "Me and Scooba sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Seriously, there's nothing I hate so much as cleaning floors (unless its cleaning the bathroom). Our house is all tile and hardwood floors, I love going barefoot but hate the gritty feeling that inevitably builds up. We have a dog, a cat, and two people, so the floors get pretty gross, what with my aversion to mopping. It had been at least a month since i had cleaned them (gross i know) when I put Scooba down for his first test. That little blue guy cheerfully swept and mopped and dried, and in no time my floors felt FANTASTIC!!! Way cleaner than I have ever had the patience to get them! The Scooba Juice (a very tiny bottle comes in the package-it's made by Clorox and you can only use that or plain vinegar and water lest you ruin Scooba's electronics) smelled very nice while the cleaning process was going on. Best of all, I was off doing something else entirely while Scooba did all the work (Oh I lie! I was watching Scooba in fascination-everyone does the first couple times you use them).
So far Scooba is very easy to use and to clean. It does a great job on both tile and sealed hardwood floors. I wish we could have afforded to get the upgraded 350 model with the better tank and battery, because I can see where emptying and charging all the time might become a pain, but I am not really complaining because my lovely, smooth floors are just too delightful!
**UPDATE**
Is now 7 months later. Just used Scooba today and he's still going strong. Love my nice clean floors. I run Scooba about 3 times a month through the whole house. I am now using the vinegar and water solution which doesn't smell as nice as the Scooba Juice but costs almost nothing. A faint vinegar smell while Scooba is cleaning quickly goes away after cleaning is done. I will continue to update this. My Roomba needs a new battery after only two years of use and the battery is $90.00. I wish i-Robot products were more durable! But durable or not, I cant live without them! Long Live the "Ooombas!"
Customer Review: Cute, but ultimately poor quality item & company
Summary: 2 Stars
I've enjoyed having the Scooba clean my apartment floor. It's noisy, slow -- but still more fun than doing it myself.
No, there won't be millions of Scooba devices being sold any time soon -- it's just too cumbersome to maintain and operate. As you can see from other reviews, iRobot's product reliability can be quite poor, perhaps because their non-military products are in fact manufactured by an Asian toy company. To compound iRobot's poor build quality, they typically insist on customers shipping their (frequently) defective products back at their own expense.
While I'm sure we'll have devices like this ubiquitously in our future -- they'll probably be a lot easier to maintain, more reliable, and I doubt they'll be made or designed by iRobot.
I've had a number of defects with this unit. First, the rubber wheels needed to be replaced weeks after arrival with minimal use.
Secondly, the power supply was defective. Since it arrived, there was something clearly loose inside of it. I never made much of it, until realizing it sounded metallic, and probably posed a fire hazard. I didn't contact them until after the warranty period had just ended (90 day refurb), and they strictly refused to do anything about it. Instead, they insisted upon a whopping $40 to replace a $5 power supply that was defective on arrival.
And that's ultimately the rub: iRobot markets their consumer products as "practical, reliable" and "innovative solutions" -- but if you dig deeper -- they're not. Instead, they're merely high-margin, unreliable products sold under an Asimov-cloaked guise of "robotic" high-tech. The company brings little ownership to actually deliver the brand promise they promote and capitalize upon.
In short: buy it if you want a cleaning robot that works adequately, and you don't mind that you may be throwing it out shortly after your warranty expires. Depending on your frequency of use (and iRobot's fat margins), you may be better off just hiring a decent housekeeper with your money - and holding until more established consumer electronic companies make quality products that work well and last more than a year.
Personally, I won't ever be buying another one of their products -- and I honestly can't recommend them to friends who value quality manufacturing and responsible service.