If you want to see it in action, here is a YouTube video clip.
Actually, despite having bought one on Saturday (on sale), the video clip is the only way I have seen it in action so far.
I charged the battery (16 hours for the first time) and then hit the button.
Nothing.
I charged the battery again (16 hours) and hit the button - nothing again.
Called customer service - they told me how to “re-set” the computer chip and said it should work just fine now - unfortunately, yes - it requires another 16 hour charge - that is the way the robot is designed.
Supposedly, after the first time it works, you then only need to charge it 3 hours max between use.
The reviews were pretty decent - they said it wasn’t great with cat hair or lots of carpet (we have neither at home) but would be ideal for hard wood, none-pet homes (that be us).
Will get back to you in, uh, 16 hours to let you know how it works.
I do and it has been pretty disappointing. The little red sweeper brush falls off constantly. The main brushes clog too often and it requires a lot of cleaning. It was not worth the price tag, especially if you have pets or long hair in the house.
We can still take it back to the store and get money back - but as I said, we don’t have pets and regarding long hair - those days are sadly over for both of us. Both of us hate vacuum cleaning, but as we live here in the desert, we get lots and lots of dust on those hardwood floors. In theory, this seemed to be perfect for our needs.
Will give it one last shot after the THIRD recharge, and if we ain’t blown away, back to the store it goes.
No problems with any bits falling off. The only problem I’ve had is that recently dust got clogged up around the “edge” sensors, causing it to back around in circles as it was constantly “sensing” that it was about to fall down stairs or something. Searching on their website allowed me to easily diagnose it, and “fixing” just required some canned air spraying and wiping with a cloth.
The instructions for mine recommend cleaning the sweeper brushes every third run, including combing or snipping out any caught hairs, and emptying the bin at least (IIRC) every other run. Even with the huge amount of longish hair that I shed, I haven’t seen this to be too infrequent, and it’s not that much of a hassle to me.
Try to run it semi-frequently (I’d say once a week or so) or the battery’s “memory” seems to run down, and you may have to pull it out and reset/recharge again.
Our internal brushes would clog up every time it cleaned, but we probably have the worst case house. Wife and Daughter with long hair, we had 2 cats and a dog. A messy little boy added to the mix.
I got a cheap one for my wife for Christmas. She loves it, and it works great. Nothing has fallen off, and nothing has gotten clogged. We have a golden retriever, so most of what it picks up is her shedding. We live in a ranch, so no issues with stairs, and the common areas have pocket doors, so we can do the living room by itself and the kitchen by itself. In fact, since my wife decided we didn’t need the cleaning ladies anymore since the Roomba did such a good job vacuuming, it has already paid for itself.
DMark, is the orange light flashing during charging? Does it ever go green? Does it make a cute little musical sound when you push the button after it is charged?
Ta Da!
It didn’t take 16 hours to re-charge this time - about an hour.
I have it downstairs in the family room, guest bedroom and bathroom - and so far, it is doing quite well.
All the little bits of dirt and dust I noticed when I started it are gone.
So far so good…we’ll see how this turns out.
And yeah…just us two guys in the house, hardwood floors throughout (one carpet section under coffee table in living room upstairs) but other than that…just lots of desert dust and a few bread crumbs, etc. Theoretically, we should be the ideal household.
I bought a Roomba about a month ago. I love it - no wrestling a vacuum cleaner around the house anymore! I use it about twice a week. I have been impressed with the amount of stuff it picks up. I also like the fact that it can vacuum under the beds and couches. I have heard that maintaining it helps to keep it working properly so I clean out the tray and the brushes every time I use it.
It’s also really handy for spot vacuuming, especially under my 5-year old’s chair. I swear, that kid gets more food on the floor than he does in his mouth!
I prefer to leave the house after I turn it on, otherwise I find myself checking up on it (which kinda defeats the purpose!).
I like mine, but I’ve had it a few years and right now it needs a good cleaning. Also isn’t charging properly at the moment, I think I let it sit too long without using it.
It’s not a replacement for vacuuming, but it undeniably does pick up a lot of dirt, and it’s pretty entertaining too. The main thing is you have to just leave it alone and let it do it’s job. The algorithm it uses doesn’t seem that efficient as you watch it, but it does eventually clean everywhere. Don’t expect 100% perfect, but there is plenty of dirt in the tray when it’s done. I came across a photo that shows the movement pattern:
I got one for my birthday and I love it. We have mostly hardwood floors, and our 2 cats have a tendency to get kitty litter all over the place. The Roomba takes care of that 2-3 times a week. I also love how it cleaned up all the dust bunnies under our bed!
My Mom has one. She is quite techno-phobic, and she loves hers. She thinks it is cute, and has been known to attempt to give it advice and encouragement.
It scares the crap out of her dog, but at least this means the animal stays up on the sofa while it is running.
I think my fiancee is working on Roomba fan fiction. She’s in love with it.
We have one of the original ones. It’s pretty cool, with the glaring problem that it does not function on area rugs, and will rapidly choke itself to death in the presence of long hair.
If I lived alone, it’d be the awesomest thing ever, since I have short hair and don’t take well to vacuuming (allergies).
My father swears by it. He cleans it out and runs it religiously every day right before he leaves for work and when he comes home, the floors are reasonably clean. That’s a 2 person, 2 cat household with hardwood floors; a decent situation for a Roomba. It doesn’t get a room as clean as vacuuming by hand would do, but by running it 5-6 times a week, Dad keeps his house looking like it would a day or two after a thorough hand-vacuuming.
We have four. :rolleyes: One for each floor and a brand new backup in a box just in case.
I have long hair. Hubby has normal hair. We have two long hair dogs (Cavalier King Charles Spaniels) and four cats.
Lots of hardwoods. One floor is all carpet. Work great I guess. I don’t touch them - they are hubby’s thing. PROTIP: I did buy him seam rippers to help clean them, though.
We have one. A month after the warranty expired, it started doing the Death Circle dance, where it only goes backwards about half a foot and spins in circles and starts whining. We’ve tried to clean it out ourselves, but it didn’t work, and we haven’t taken the time to get it serviced. We haven’t tried canned air, though, since we didn’t have any.
When it worked, I loved it.
Now I think it was a waste of money.
But I want to fix it, because I want to love it again.
These are the instructions I found for my 400 series when it would only drive backwards. The canned air was an optional touch. They really have a great site when it comes to tech support info.