Reviewer: M Varghese| Date:2009-07-13

I have a Roomba 535 and its been running great for the last 4 months.
I am very happy with the purchase , the only problem I had was with the side brush , the one which comes with it ( red one with six hands has a design defect and will break within a month ) , I called support and they send me a newly designed brush ( white one with 3 hands) which does not have that problem. New brush - Roomba 500 Series Side Brush, 3-Pack

Overall very satisfied with the product , I switch it on and leave my apartment, when I come back the carpets look clean and new.

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Reviewer: W. Griner| Date:2009-07-10

I got this about 3 days ago and have cleaned my home about twice to get all the dirt. I've got hardwood floors and rugs, as well as 2 longhairs that shed - a cat and a wife. ;) I found cleaning hardwood floors very tiring because there are no brush marks to show you where you've been. I got tired of finding the dust bunnies after the fact.

The Roomba is not meant to replace your main vacuum. It can't - it doesn't have the dirt capacity or the battery power. But once you clean your home, it will keep it just as clean if you run it once a week, or more.

Let's start with the
CON: You are a slave to the Roomba.

If you want it to work properly, you can't leave stuff on the floor. Think of it as your cleaning lady. You have to pick up all the toys and make sure the Roomba has a clear path to every place you want it to go. The idea is not to challenge it, so you need to turn the dining room chairs over onto the table, so it can clean properly and not play pinball with the legs.

Keep it clean. Regardless what the instructions say, you have to clean the entire robot after every time you use it. That means emptying the dirt bins, cleaning the filter, and, especially, removing all the hair and dirt that gets stuck and wound up around the brushes, bearings, and idler wheel.

Use it often. Because it can't hold a lot of dirt you will have to use more often than a regular vacuum cleaner and have to clean it more often. Of course, some people are so in love with it that this is a pro and not a con.

You will still have to clean corners and crevices, especially around thresholds. Dust bunnies can be a problem if they get blown around, but as long as the Roomba approaches them from the front, they get sucked up.

It does bump into furniture legs, door edges, and ledges that don't rest on the floor. I haven't seen a paint scuff marks, though.

My dirt cup filled up and dirt spilled out a few times. I don't know if there is supposed to be some kind of signal. The only sign I had that something was wrong was that I heard some kind of laboring sound which probably came from the brushes.

PRO: It works as advertised.

Although the movements are screwy, it does seem to get almost all the dirt. As long as you get rid of the clutter and hide the cords, the Roomba will clean very well. It's not too noisy and, surprise, it doesn't scare my cat, like my vacuum cleaner does.

Cleaning it is straightforward. Pulling the idler wheel housing out is a little tough. Just make sure to pull everything apart to clean it and you will be alright. I think that some of the brush problems that people have reported might be due to the bearings not being cleaned. These are the little yellow boxy things at end of each brush. They will accumulate dirt and hair behind them that you can't see. These must be pulled off and cleaned.

The wall works well. The Roomba will stumble its way from room to room, even without a lighthouse. I can't say how well the dust sensor works, although I noticed that the Roomba would move in circles occasionally, indicating it found more dirt.

Best of all, you press the CLEAN button to start cleaning and it will go back to the charging base when it is done.

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Reviewer: Jeremy R. Gleason| Date:2009-07-07

I bought this about a week ago. It cleans very well, but I think there is a problem with mine. The battery life on this thing only lasts about 40 mins. The roomba makes no attempt to dock when the battery is low either, it will simply die.The only time it will dock is when I press the "dock" button. I have tried to change the docking location but to no avail. When it is working, it does a pretty good job cleaning. I have laminent floors along with 4 pets and it gets most of the hair up. I think it is neccessary for anyone with animals to clean the roomba after every cleaning. Aside from the battery life and docking issue, this is a great little helper to have around the house!

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Reviewer: Stephen Lerch| Date:2009-07-07

I purchased the Roomba 530 from another seller for a steep discount and I have to say I am in love with my new family member; Little Jimmy.

This robot can clean a floor like nobody's business. I've watched it maneuver under multiple chairs sitting around my kitchen table, grasp cables and realize it's grabbed a cable, then work itself off of the cable with ease. Under my bed has NEVER been cleaner (well, maybe it was cleaner when I moved in and vacuumed it the old fashioned way, but once the bed's in place, no upright will get under there, nor will any canister vacuum reach all the nooks and crannies).

One a single charge, which takes as little as 20 minutes, Little Jimmy can clean 3 medium rooms, and in my case, 4 rooms as they are smaller rooms than what he is rated for.

Something to keep in mind is that the manual recommends you charge your Roomba "overnight" when you receive it. This means leave it plugged in for at LEAST 8 hours before you use it for the first time, whether it turns green in 20 minutes or not. I've read online where people have experienced issues after receiving the Roomba and not heeding this advice where they had to have the battery replaced under warranty because they were a little too eager. Yes, it can be an excruciating wait to see your new little buddy sit there with a green light, ready to work and you not able to set it free, but fight the temptation and you shouldn't have any issues.

As far as problems, I have one. I have a throw rug that has 1 dark square, one light, one dark and so on. Little Jimmy has gotten caught twice on one of the lighter squares because he mistakenly thinks he's surrounded by a cliff. This is an issue with overly sensitive cliff sensors (this is the part that keeps the Roomba from taking a suicide leap down stairs). There is currently no fix for this and if you have very dark floors, you may be purchasing something you cannot use. iRobot has a 30 day return guarantee, so if you want to try it but aren't sure if the Roomba will clean your floors properly, give it a shot and send it back if it doesn't live up to expectations.

One feature I wish I had sprung for on a higher model number is the ability to use scheduling to tell Little Jimmy what day and time to clean. Unfortunately you need a 535 or higher Roomba to have this capability. It's all the better, though, as most rooms require a little work to make them Roomba friendly, meaning if you can get it off the floor, DO IT. If I had the scheduler I'd forget when Little Jimmy would begin working and leave stuff on the floor that could hinder him in doing his job.

Which brings up another point: clear clutter from the floor along with cables and cords. Sure, the Roomba can clean around most everything and can untangle itself, but ideally it shouldn't have to. And if you have cords for things that can be pulled from shelves or higher up locations, you run the risk of damage to the device AND the Roomba in the instance where it grabs the cable and drags the item down while untangling itself.

This model also lacks the ability to utilize the Lighthouse technology where you can place a lighthouse in a room and the Roomba will either clean the room completely before moving on or spend 25 minutes cleaning the room before moving on. I'd like this functionality, but given the price difference I couldn't justify it for the Lighthouse tech and the scheduling.

A caveat is that this vacuum requires more maintenance on your part. It's recommended to clean the Roomba every 2-3 uses. One the first 2-3 uses I would actually highly recommend you clean it EVERY use as it is bound to pick up more dirt than on later consecutive cleanings, which means later on down the road you can get away with not cleaning it so often. If you own a pet, expect to be pulling pet hair off of the rollers as it will wrap around some of the metal parts holding the brushes in place. It's not hard to clean, but it takes time to clean. For the time it saves you from having to vacuum every day or a LOT less frequently than you already do, it is worth the effort.

You will find with regular uses you won't need to vacuum so often anymore. You will likely still need to vacuum from time to time to ensure you have a clean house, I would say you will likely only need to do so, if at all, once a month, tops. With my house being mainly hardwood, I think I may one of the lucky ones and I won't have to vacuum much at all; probably 2-3 months between pulling it out. And I will have to manually vacuum the rug Jimmy can't handle.

Pros:

Cleans floors really well
Quieter than a regular vacuum
More free time for you

Cons:

No scheduling
Can't use Lighthouses
Doesn't get tangled but can pull things from locations while dislodging itself


I'd definitely buy again.

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Reviewer: N. Otterloo| Date:2009-07-06

If you are fortunate enough to have a significant other who cleans more than you do, you will find the gift of this little vacuum will earn you MAJOR brownie points ;-).

We've received great service from this robot. If you buy it, know that there are two pitfalls that will cause it to fail more quickly:

1. Not cleaning after every use: The brushes do a LOT of work and need to be cleaned regularly to prevent wear and tear. Not a lot of work, it becomes habit. Much better than vacuuming.

2. Not using often enough: This bot is made for maintenance cleaning (read - daily), not monthly or weekly. If you let your floor get so dirty that the brushes get clogged or the bin/filter get full before it is done, you will not get a good clean and you will wear your bot out. If your floors are consistently that dirty, hire a maid :-), or if you have hardwood, get a dirt dog.

Overall, very happy with this little guy.

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Reviewer: Roseann Santella| Date:2009-06-29

I absolutely love this robot! I have only had it for 2 weeks and I was still working on the best configuration for the lighthouses this weekend, but I think I have it set up perfectly now. I run it while I am at work and my floors are clean every day! I have a big dog and a bird and I never see the hairs/feathers covering my wood floors anymore. I would spend a couple of hours at least twice a week vacuuming my entire house before. The Roomba has changed my life!

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Reviewer: Abel Garcia| Date:2009-06-01

Living in an apartment and having a pretty busy life that means I'm hardly ever home, roomba is a life saver. Just turning it on, and letting it run loose, I'm able to have my apartment clean in no time.

This is well worth the money, and probably the best investment I've made to date!

Self charging when it gets low, two lighthouses to restrict it to areas I want clean, and the ease of just turning it on as I leave and knowing when I get back my floors are clean makes this my favorite household gadget

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Reviewer: Tracy L. Whiteside| Date:2009-04-29

I have had countless battery problems, and once the machine was out of warranty (16 months) it broke down.

Look at this reply from CS:

"We apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, at this time we do not have a program that allows customers to send robots in for maintenance or service. iRobot offers support by phone or email. We would be happy to assist you in troubleshooting any issue that your robot may have."

OK, iRobot, you officially lost my business forever.

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Reviewer: Dew| Date:2009-03-09

I really wanted to love our Roomba. We even named her Rosie after that famous cartoon robot of the 60's. In the end the battery didn't last long and she would only clean bare floors and wide open spaces. She got confused one day and the company sent us a software update. After that she was never the same. She got confused a lot and just sputtered around. I'm sad to see her go. I would not buy another Roomba even for half the price.

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Reviewer: K. Ng| Date:2009-02-06

I've owned this Discovery over 3.5 years, and it's still running 1.5 hr on each charge. I charged until it's green and unplug then removed the battery away and stored them. I only used it twice a month though.

I hate to vacumme, so this robot help me a lot with a cat & a long hair dog. I don't mind to do a routine mantainace to clean up the brushs and filter, about 5 min, and usually 2 or 3 clean up on each vaccume since I only do it once a month!

Recently, it was malfunction, keep backing up and circuling... I found the info from irobot web site to fix it, since I don't have the air compresser, I used the small electric inflator to blow the dusk out bewteen and bumper and the unit. And slapped the bumper few times. Then it worked the way it should.

I never use the station and I think I'll buy a Red one if this one broke in the future and along with an after-market battery.

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Reviewer: | Date:2009-07-01

The roomba is a good buy so long as you dont watch it clean because it might drive you crazy if you are and organized person. Though, it some how gets the job done leaving the floors clean and free of pet hair as it advertised. I would recommend this product to all owners of a apartment/house and would like to note that it works best when left to run while out of its way and when only cleaning one room at a time.

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Reviewer: | Date:2009-07-01

The roomba is a good buy so long as you dont watch it clean because it might drive you crazy if you are and organized person. Though, it some how gets the job done leaving the floors clean and free of pet hair as it advertised. I would recommend this product to all owners of a apartment/house and would like to note that it works best when left to run while out of its way and when only cleaning one room at a time.

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Reviewer: Clifford T. Cupples| Date:2009-05-11

The information given with the product said it was "NEW". which infact when I recieved it they were reconditioned.
The warranty was only for 90 days, but the Roomba's worked perfectly.

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Reviewer: Daniel E. Hanna| Date:2009-04-11

Does the job I need it to. Sometimes it may miss an item after a pass or two, in most cases because of the unique shape of it. For some reason, though I think I initially charged it for at least 24 hours, it seems to have enough power to do maybe 2 rooms before requiring a recharge. I think the documentation says to expect a bit more. But all in all, my floors are much much cleaner that if I had to do the work myself, so mission accomplished!~

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Reviewer: Alan Suding| Date:2009-05-16

Some of the add-on parts used are no longer available (wireless routers) or replaced by newer versions (BlueSmirf). Fundamental approach still applies but will take some reader knowledge to apply with current products. Interesting hack book nonetheless.

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Reviewer: jef| Date:2008-09-15

Great book, I would suggest getting more than one roomba so you can mod one and still vac the floors. Top fun, all good info in one book, Yes you can get most of the info online but I think its better to have the directions at hand when halfway through a mod instead of rushing to look it up again link after link

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Reviewer: David L. Bump| Date:2008-07-22

I've only gotten into chapter 3, with a few peeks in the back, but so far this book has lived up to my expectations and more. It has all sorts of basic information for people who haven't had much experience with tinkering with electronics. There's also plenty of reassuring and cautionary information for those concerned that their attempts to play with or improve their Roomba will break it instead. I'm looking forward to trying the experiments -- the book will be worth reading even if I never get around to them, though.

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Reviewer: PJT| Date:2007-01-25

I received a "Rootooth" adapter as a Christmas present so I bought this book to expand on hacking Roomba. It is very detailed and easy to follow. The book assumes that you have some basic programming knowledge (i.e. MS VB, MS C#, MS C++, Java)to get the most out of it. You need to know how to compile and execute Java code to do the experiments in this book. It has some cool experiments and a lot of references to downloads for any utlities you will need to hack Roomba. I would highly recommend "Hacking Roomba" as a must have.

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Reviewer: Donald Cochrane| Date:2007-01-15

As a SW programmer interested in SW Robotics Control, this book goes over a lot of those things you would want to do with the Roomba. The iRobot Roomba is a great platform for this and the book highlights these features nicely. Well worth the purchase.

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