Roomba Vacuum – iRobot Roomba Vacuum

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Reviewer: Christopher Keys| Date:2009-06-30

The roomba 535 was, as I understand it, created for the Home Shopping Network by iRobot and was discontinued after they finished selling it. Based on the 530 model, it does have a noticeable upgrade. The big upgrade is the addition of the lighthouse technology. Lighthouse is an advanced virtual wall that ensures your roomba will clean the room it's in first, then move on to the next room and ensure it's cleanliness. The lighthouse can be switched as well to function as a virtual wall if you don't want the roomba to venture into a particular part of the house.

We've had our 535 for about six weeks now and we love it. It tackles daily vacuuming quite well and returns to its base to recharge when it's done. We have a 1700 sq ft home and it does a great job of handling the whole house on a single charge. It does require some daily maintenance, where you empty the trash bin and clean the brushes daily, but this takes only 1-2 minutes and is a snap with the included tool. It goes under our furniture and picks up anything that's hidden under there. It even pushed out a pair of sunglasses that we were missing.

Flooring:
We have 4 types of flooring in our home: Carpet, linoleum, laminate flooring and ceramic tile. The roomba covers them all and transitions seamlessly between each.

Pet hair:
We have 3 dogs; a maltese, a silky terrier and a german shepherd. We didn't realize how much dog fur was lying around until we sent the roomba off on it's task, now we see the fur as we empty the container. I've heard its a wiz with cat hair as well, but we're not cat people.

There are 2 cons with the roomba:

1. It doesn't replace your standard vacuum. With daily use of the roomba you're standard vacuuming job will be greatly reduced, and it will get deep into the carpeting that the roomba cannot. If you vacuum once a week like we did, we've dropped to once every 3-4 weeks now.

2. The roomba isn't great with corners. You'll notice that you may have a buildup in the 90 degree corners of rooms.

iRobot support:

As I sing the roomba's praises, I do have to point something out. After a week of use, our roomba started making a thumping noise. I contacted irobot's technical support and found that we had a defective brush housing. They sent a new housing out right away and it installed in about 5 minutes. They've designed the roombas with replaceable components, so they're easy to swap out if needed.

Other common questions:
What about stairs?
The roomba has stair sensor technology that will stop it & reverse it if it senses a drop off.

Can I schedule it to clean when I want to?
Not out of the box. There are programming tools to do it if you really want to. I just hit "Clean" before I leave the house for the day. There are other versions that have a schedule function built in (ie. the 560)

What about cords? Does it get stuck?
There are safeguards against cords as well as technology to stop the brushes if it senses a cord and the roomba pushes on and the brushes resume when the cords are no longer sensed.

On a 1 to 10 scale, I give it a 9, but on a 1 to 5 scale, I give it a 4. I hope this helps.

Review from Review from Amazon

Reviewer: H. Nguyen| Date:2009-05-14

I bought this item in Sep 2007. Used it very lightly. A couple of weeks ago, the light started blinking red. I thought the battery went bad and ordered an expensive set of authentic iRobot battery as replacement. Still the same problem. Tech support confirmed that the machine itself was shot.
The plastic construction of brushes is of lowest quality: easily damaged by tangled hair, etc.
A model (also 500 series) sold at Costco seems to be better made.

Review from Review from Amazon

Reviewer: Linda M. Breaux| Date:2009-05-01

I love my Roomba, it does a great job and I love to watch it work. You need to divide up your rooms by using the lighthouse as a virtual wall or put something in the doorway to keep it from going to another room. You will be surprised at how much dirt it picks up.

Review from Review from Amazon

Reviewer: UmitoYama| Date:2009-04-03

I, too, got this on special through Woot.com and though "Little Button" (yes, we named him) has only been with us for 2 days, he's already an indispensable member of the household.

Indeed, both my wife and I are already regretting that we did not bring one of these into the family earlier.

We used to vacuum once a week (if that) and there certainly was no joy in the task. Little Button? That is the sole purpose of his existence. Everyday, we can just hit the little CLEAN button and head off to the office or out to dinner and Little Button heads straight to work with single-minded purpose and relentless determination. Dust, crumbs, hair --- none stand a chance against this little guy. And for the first time in years, the areas under our bed and dresser are getting regular vacuuming attention. Goodbye 2cm thick layer of dust under the bed.

There's a great review for the 530 model that points out another great perk of Roomba: Aside from the obvious benefit of never having to vacuum again, if you're like us (okay, me) and not always good about ensuring that things are tidy and put away, you get the motivation of knowing that Roomba's ability to do a good job vacuuming is dependent on you keeping things neat and potential obstacles out of the way. I'd like to think that this a change that is going to stick.

As if all this weren't wonderful enough, once the little guy is done vacuuming, he finds his way back on his own to his charging station (though I have to admit, it's a bit creepy when we set him to work before we leave the house and then come home to find him docked and glowing softly in the corner).

Finally, there is just something mesmerizing about watching the Roomba putter around and do its thing, especially if there's an obvious patch of dust or hairball somewhere. You just sit there watching and wondering which pass is going to be the pass it manages to pick it up.

We are totally in love with our Roomba and planning to purchase more for family members (the mopping one for my wife's mom, the vacuuming one for my mom) and as wedding gifts for people we want to love us forever.

Roomba has already earned itself a coveted place in our pantheon of modern gadgets that have changed our lives for the better:

1. Toto C100
2. TiVo HD
3. Roomba 535
4. iPhone

Roomba. Rocks. We love you, Little Button.

Review from Review from Amazon

Reviewer: Courtney Robertson| Date:2009-04-03

I bought the 535 model on woot.com because I had read mixed reviews and wasn't sure I wanted to pay $300+ for a Roomba just yet. I've had mine for two weeks now and I'm not sure how I ever lived without it! I've got dark hardwood floors and a very furry Golden Retriever. I used to vacuum with my upright two or three times a week but since I've had my Roomba I haven't pulled it out once.

It's not perfect but it is supposedly a learning robot and it does seem to be doing better every time I run it. I now spend 3 minutes emptying the bin and cleaning the brushes instead of 20 minutes vacuuming (and moving furniture to fit my upright). The Roomba even gets under my kitchen table with the chairs still in place! And it transitions from hardwood to rugs without any problem.

If you're looking to fully replace your upright vacuum this probably isn't for you. But if need some help keeping the pet hair under control the Roomba is your perfect companion!

Review from Review from Amazon