Does anybody have any experience with any recent Roombas or the like.
(especially with tasselled rugs. The wife likes rugs :| )
limoshawn
3:16 pm on Oct 18, 2010 (gmt 0)
have one, enjoy it HOWEVER the upkeep is counter productive, they need constant cleaning/emptying to work properly.
Old_Honky
3:31 pm on Oct 18, 2010 (gmt 0)
Avoid them like the plague they are boys toys that don't work properly!
We distribute a range of cleaning products in the UK for an Italian company. About 4 years ago they sent us 4 samples of a super deluxe robotic vac that looked like a little Ferrari. We tested them and were greatly disappointed;
1)Because they are so small and the motor and battery pack is so big in relation to the body the vacuum part is small and underpowered and the area where it stores the dirt is too small to be of any real use.
2)The automatic return to the charger system never ever worked.
3) Never mind tassels they get confused by even thin rugs. If they are on the floor they work around the rug, if you put one on the rug it stays there.
4)The idea that you can switch it on when you go to work and come home to a clean floor in the evening is just a fantasy. The battery will give you about half a medium sized room then it stops. However well before then the dirt box is full and the filter is clogged with fluff.
5)They don't clean effectively to the edge and around furniture you have to get out your other cleaner to clean the bits they miss.
6)The remote control override (so you can sit in your armchair and guide it round the house) doesn't work.
Before we took a final decision I talked to some of our customers who had sold these products before. A major TV sales channel had tried the Roomba and had 45% returns because of customer dissatisfaction. The mail order companies we deal with reported similar returns, and none of them would buy from us without a cast iron 100% sale or return agreement.
We declined the product but the Italians went on to launch it in other markets with a specially designed flash web site for the product and a PR campaign. Then after a year it was taken off the market. Somewhere in Italy there is a warehouse with 25,000 of these gathering dust. I'm sure that when they feel the time is right they will be written off as a tax loss and then they will become landfill. In my opinion that is the best use for them.
engine
4:53 pm on Oct 18, 2010 (gmt 0)
>a warehouse with 25,000 of these gathering dust.
Nice pun. :)
I thought about these when they first came out and decided it was more of a gimick than a practical solution.
Staffa
4:59 pm on Oct 18, 2010 (gmt 0)
I've had a roomba for several years and this year replaced it with a newer model, I just love it. I also find the newer model much faster to clean and it has improved detection of tassels and carpets, It has become very good getting over small bumps in its way something that would have stopped the previous one and its more silent.
We've had a Roomba for a few months. So far so good, cleaning it is something that sucks because we don't need to do that on our central vacuum. But the Roomba saves time.
Status_203
10:44 am on Oct 20, 2010 (gmt 0)
Thanks for the feedback.
Let's get more specific then - given that only those with a recent Roomba have posted anything positive, how much can one of those clean before it needs attention?
Staffa
9:19 pm on Oct 20, 2010 (gmt 0)
I never took much notice about how much in how long so I checked it out today and it takes about one hour for the battery to run out in which time it covers several times the surface of an approx 36 m2 room. I then emptied the dustbin and checked for hairs tangled in the brushes (several minutes) then put the device on the floor, press the dock button and it crosses the kitchen from the waste bin to the docking station by itself (approx 3 m)... job done ;o)
