iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
by iRobot
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List Price: Buy Used: from $229.00 (click here) Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
Customer Review: Would love to give it 5 starts, but I cannot
Summary: 4 Stars
I cannot give this 5 stars because it does not clean without some interaction. That is not to say I do not like it, I just wish it would do its thing and let me do my thing.
It works - the more you use it the better it works because the cleaner the floor is to start with. It must be cleaned thoroughly though. just like the Roomba vac - pick your poison - clean the floor or clean the Scooba/Roomba.
These devices live in a world of sensors - if they think they are stuck they will stop moving, if they think something is hitting their bumpers, they will back up - therefore it is imperative that you maintain them, or they will fail you as their sensors get fouled. Then you will come on here and give them bad reviews, when in fact you are a bad owner. You shouldn't get mad at a poorly behaved dog - get mad at the owner!
I use my Scooba to mop my tile kitchen and hallway. It runs through the entire tank of water/cleaning solution, then switches to vacuuming/squeegeeing (sp?) It does a great job, but does not kow when it is finished. It sits there and beeps with the "Check Tank" light on. The tank is empty - as it should be and the dirty tank is full (as it should be). The first time it did this I thought something was wrong with it - it was just finished. I have had other Check Tank errors and there are Forums chock full of Check Tank error horror stories. I have not had any problems that popping the tank up quickly and then hitting clean again would not fix yet though.
PROS:
Does a nice job of mopping
Doea a great job of drying
CONS:
Check Tank light is irritating - learn to just do the job and then beep when you are done!
Would definitely recommend. As I write this, I am cleaning my garage (Dirt Dog 1100), vacuuming my great room (Roomba 560) and mopping my kitchen (Scooba 330) my dinner is in the oven, and I am recording my favorite show to watch later (TiVo)
Customer Review: If you want something that LASTS, do NOT get a Scooba!!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
Have you ever owned anything that, the minute it is out of warranty, everything goes wrong and the only response you get from the manufacturer is "you'll have to buy another one"? Well, trust me, THIS product is most definitely THAT kind of product!
Though it worked wonderfully for the entire year after purchase from iRobot, now that it is a couple of months out of warranty, it seems to be failing like a 99 year old man who's seen more than his share of hardships!
Now, I probably use my Scooba less than anyone, because I live alone and I only have a two-room economy appartment, so I've only used it once-a-week ever since I received it and took it out of the box. Just think what the more "normal" owner/user might have to look forward to if they have multiple rooms to clean every single day!
Apparently, iRobot has unqualified "tweeners" working their tech support phone number, because they can't solve anything that is NOT covered by their standard answers "cheat sheets" and don't even seem at all concerned that it might be a design flaw that might need to be noted and looked at for future Scoobas!
If the U.S. military has as much trouble with their iRobot products as us poor schmucks at home, then it's no wonder we have those "$3,000 hammers" on the congressionally passed budgets! Especially so when these "tweeners" at tech support all say the same thing: you'll have to purchase a NEW Scooba, but it'll be at a "reduced price"...which probably means it won't be a brand new Scooba, but one that has been refurbished the way mine could and would be if I were to simply send it back to iRobot.
Once again, my friends, don't waste your hard-earned dollars on the iRobot Scooba. Not unless you're willing to buy another one at the end of your warranty and another after that, and so on and so forth, ad nauseum!
This really makes those ultra-cheap Swiffer Mop systems a lot more desirable!
Customer Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little apprehensive when I pulled this out of the box - it's much bigger than I thought it would be, and our kitchen floor really isn't THAT big.
I set it up, turned it on and let it do it's thing and it was OH so nice not to have to clean that kitchen floor. I was able to spend time playing with my daughter instead.
We watched the Scooba run for a while, it was interesting to see it make it's little patterns and paths and I was sure that it would miss some part of the floor but by the time it was done every part of the floor with the exception of the corners had been scrubbed clean and was for the most part dry. There were a few damp spots here and there but no puddles or anything. I was curious how well it would do at picking up dust and hair and dirt while it cleaned - there were a few larger dust bunnies that got smeared across the floor in a wet clump, that didn't surprise me. A quick wipe with a paper towel and those were cleaned up easily enough. But when I emptied the machine and cleaned it there was a surprising amount of dust and dirt that it did pick up so I was quite pleased with that. It only requires a miniscule amount of cleaning solution if you choose to use it which is nice- I think once I've used up my cleaning solution I'll switch to vinegar and water.
The machine is loud when it runs- I wouldn't recommend doing it at night when you're trying to sleep or need peace and quiet. It's not so loud that you can't go into the other room and watch television or read a book or something though.
I didn't use the electronic 'wall' that came with the machine - we already had baby gates in use in the doorways and these worked perfectly to make sure the scooba stayed in the kitchen to clean.
Overall I'm very pleased with the purchase - time is very valuable these days and the less of it I have to spend cleaning the happier I am.
Customer Review: Why I Love My Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
Summary: 5 Stars
Last year I obsessed about the tile in my kitchen, hallway, breakfast room, and utility room. LOTS of tile to obsess about. My 3-year-old grandson had been visiting and came in to show me the bottoms of his socks, which were dirty. I had been mopping. The cleaning lady had been mopping. I couldn't imagine why we still had so much dirt. We had even been using the steam cleaners, which were getting up lots of dirt, but, as my grandson showed me, there was lots left. Okay, one reason was the 2 dogs who go in and out during rainstorms, red Oklahoma clay mud, and the fact that I drag in mud when I'm doing yard work and gardening.
I tried 20 or so different tile cleaners. Somewhere down the line I realized that it wasn't the TILE that was dirty; it was the GROUT! So I went at it scientifically, trying each grout-cleaning product to find one that would safely and effectively clean the grout, without having to be scrubbed. I have much too much tile to have time to scrub the grout.
I had worn out one Scooba several years ago and hadn't replaced it until now. It worked! It actually gets the grime out of the grout, over time, not instantly, and doesn't require scrubbing. I used it maybe 3 times a day in some areas, but it takes little effort to fill it with the Scooba cleaning product (don't use anything else because you may end up with a dead Scooba) and then empty out the dirty water when you're finished.
My tile had always been fairly clean, but now, when I use it, which isn't every week, it's squeaky clean. The grout is now almost completely back to its original color.
I love my Scooba!
Let me add that my cleaning lady uses the Hoover Spin-Mate floor cleaner and I have a review of that as well. She loves it, but she has never used the Scooba of course, because that's not what cleaning ladies do.
Customer Review: I love you Scooba!
Summary: 5 Stars
Sigh... I miss my Scooba so much!
I got my Scooba shortly after my daughter started crawling. We live in a small apartment with hard floors and the constant cleaning and anxiety about cleaning was driving me nuts!
As you might guess, with a new baby we didn't have a lot of money so I did not take the $300 for this lightly. I also bought a service plan, since I have worked with small appliances before and planned to use this guy a lot!
Well! To the point of things, I love Scooba! He would mop the whole floor while I did more important stuff. Of course you have to refill him and clean out the filters but it's no more of a hassle than cleaning out a mop. And I found it cleaned the floor much better! Especially in a small place like an apartment, where it's difficult to wield a big mop and bucket. And the baby wasn't even scared of it. Well, unless it started coming straight at her.
Unfortunately after 6 months the pump failed, which is where the service plan came in. I called customer service and they were very quick in diagnosing the problem and offering to fix it. This is when I found out that I was sold a service plan in error, since the Scooba I bought was refurbished. I didn't even have an opportunity to get upset about this because Amazon apologized and gave me a full refund on both the service plan and the Scooba! I was amazed at this level of customer service. They even paid to ship the Scooba back to them.
I will definitely be getting another Scooba soon! We bought a Hoover H3044 FloorMate SpinScrub Wide-Path Hard-Floor Cleaner recently, thinking it would be as good. Just so you know, it's NOT. It's heavy and hard to use and barely does as good a job as the Scooba. Thrice the effort for twice the price. Boo.