Review by About two months ago I received a Roomba, iRobot's robotic floor vacuum, as a wedding gift from my officemates. I must admit that anything that is a “robot” makes me skeptical. But having had the Roomba for just about two months now I can truly say that this product is all it's cracked up to be.
The Roomba has the diameter of a small pizza and is about as tall as a big book (i.e. the Bible, War & Peace, etc). This is small when it comes to the vacuum world. It has a very low profile so that it can get under beds, shelves, tables, etc.
It's quite possibly the easiest vacuum to use. You place it in the middle of the room and hit one of three buttons “S, M, L” (small, medium, large) depending on the room size. The little robot then just takes off and starts vacuuming away. They say that it is that easy, and it is true.
It cleans well. My house hadn't been vacuumed in quite a while so there was a significant amount of work for the Roomba to do. It performed better than I would have with a vacuum in hand. My small house has hardwood, tile, and carpet and the Roomba performed equally on all three. It did have a smaller battery life on the carpet as it takes more power to clean. It's amazing to watch the vacuum crawl under the bookshelf and under the bed, places I'd never do with a hand vac.
The dirt compartment (where it stores all of the stuff it picks up) is fairly small. On the first cleaning of a few rooms it completely packed the compartment. But this I've found out is only on the first few times. Because it's a robot you get into the habit of setting it loose more often than if you vacuumed by hand. Now that I use the product regularly a vacuuming of the whole house doesn't even half fill the compartment.
Another thing to note that it is relatively quiet. It's not whisper quiet by any means, but compared to any other vacuum it is quiet. You can have a conversation with someone in a room where the Roomba is moving about your feet.
We've found the battery life is not fantastic. It can do roughly two to three medium sized rooms before it needs to be recharged.
If you haven't prepped the room before hand the vacuum will more than likely get stuck on something. We have a particularly pesky coffee table that it likes to wedge itself under. We solve this by placing the coffee table on end while it's going, or just putting it up on books so the Roomba goes under it.
One minor annoyance is the proprietary air filters that the vacuum uses. They are triangle shapped doodads that last a while, but we'll have to order some more from iRobot soon. Hopefully they will be reasonably priced (we'll let you know).
Be warned: While the Roomba does all of your vacuuming for you, you won't save anytime. You will watch it. It is mesmerizing and you'll find yourself staring at it from start to finish.
All in all it is making my house a much cleaner place and it scores high on the party entertainment charts. Well done iRobot.
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Comments
waylman - July 7, 2004 3:35 PM
Interesting. Always wondered if they actualy worked. One question though. How does it do with stuff on the floor, like cloths or papers? Does it get caught up on them or go around them or both depending on size of pile ect.?
Dan James - July 7, 2004 4:36 PM
Waylman,
It depends on size/weight of the things. Shoes it just cleans around. They are heavy enough to trigger it's bumper device. Clothes and other light things I'd imagine it would push around. To be honest, I've never really tested this out. I usually pick my clothes off the floor before I vacuum. We do have hanging drapes that reach the floor. The roomba seems to just push them to the side as it goes by.
Another note: Becky, my wife, complains that the Roomba doesn't quite get into all of the corners. If you have a ninety degree corner it will not be able to reach into the corner completely.
Isaac - July 12, 2004 10:41 AM
Apparently there is a new version coming out, with some nice improvements such as self charging and a bigger dirt bin.
http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/roomba-discovery-017492.php<a/>
M O'T - September 12, 2004 6:32 AM
Thanks to Dan for the thoroughly descriptive review. I just heard of the Roomba tonight when I spotted a review by Gannett News Service in the Seattle Times, tech page. The length fun title and its subject suggested a joke! Though brief, it was convincing. It said a rotating brush emerges for small spaces - are there any other attachment-like appendages? It still seems hard to believe, sort of Art Bell and UFOs. F for floor in this case.
HasMan - October 28, 2004 5:59 PM
We've had a roomba since December 2003, and it did a wonderful job picking up general dirt including incredible amounts of doghair. After about 4 months the battery started draining quickly. Roomba sent us a new battery, and about 4 months later, again the battery only lasts 15 minutes. I'm going to Sears today to buy a conventional Kenmore canister.
Dan James - August 12, 2005 12:38 PM
Hasman,
I can confirm your battery problems. Our roomba will not even last for a minute after a year of use. I will be contacting the company to see what they are able to do. I'll post the follow up here.
Fauzia - August 28, 2005 9:29 AM
Dan James
I realy want to buy Roomba, but after reading different comments I'm very confused. It seems as Roomdba will not last for long time.
How long the battery life is? What is the problem with air filters? Do we need to buy batteries and filters after time to time.irobot has introduced new products such as Roomba Discovery SE and Scheduler, I need some feedback about both of them.
Lin - November 27, 2005 2:59 AM
Hasman,
How about human hair? I have long hair. My regualr vaccum always gets strangled by my hair dropped on the floor. I have to lift up the vaccum and cut hair loose by scissors. How does the roomba handle long hairs?
Eric - December 2, 2005 9:51 AM
Like all vacuums hair is a problem it will rap around the brush and tangle, but you can use the roomba tool to cut it free and keep on going.
Dann - December 11, 2005 2:34 AM
I've wanted to purchase a Roomba but have 3 floors. Does it come with only one docking pad? The battery life became an issue after reading other's comments. I wouldn't have thought of the 'lack of cleaning in corners' either.
Dan - January 9, 2006 11:25 PM
The new Discovery handles alot of prior issues. This is not altogether different from a new car line, 1-2 years later they seem to fix the bugs. I Robot does a great job of taking consumer feedback and then tweaking the product. Discovery has a much larger dirt bin, better battery life, and you can even buy 2 and 3 year extended warranties cheaply. It also goes back to its own batter docking station to re-charge automatically. These things will just keep getting better and better, like the PC, Cellphones, etc etc.
ralph riols - January 19, 2006 8:39 AM
I have just brought a Rommbu at Christmas. It is making a grinding noise and does not pickup anything on the carpet.It also does not return to the docking station. I live in Charleston, S.C.. Is there somewhere I can take it to get it fixed, or can I send it to you for repairs.
Ralph Riols
241 little oak Dr.
Folly Beach, S.C. 29439
Ingrid Landishev - February 19, 2007 12:13 PM
I have bought Roomba a year ago. Now it does't start. Can you advise me where in Budapest (Hungary) I can find a service to fix it up?
Roomba - April 20, 2007 9:24 AM
Seems roomba has a few new vacuums out now.
Ralph Riols you can always go to www.buy-roomba-vacuum.com
seems to have a few people that know what is going on with the roomba robots
http://www.buy-roomba-vacuum.com
Classified - January 15, 2008 11:20 PM
Thanks for the link, my old silver roomba has seen better days. Time for an upgrade.