Roomba or similar smart vacuum?

[snow0160]

Hello guys! I got a roomb 980 after selling my 545 pet version. The new roombas are amazing! I had to really think long and hard before plunking down the cash for this roomba. I waited until Black Friday at Bed Bath and Beyond! I initially purchased the 960 and was so impressed by it that I upgraded to the 980. The 980 is much stronger than 960. It cost a lot more but the suction power is similar to my V6 dyson. For this reason, it works especially well on carpet.
It is very useful if you have a prodigious shedder like a pyrenees. The only thing is to run it while you are at home. Kit had an accident a few days ago (unfortunately no 2) and the roomba dragged it around the house. Let's just say it was not a pretty picture. I am happy with the 980 because I don't need to vacuum 2x a day.

[SebastiansMom]

Patrick, I laughed out loud at your post! Sebastian doesn’t mind the missed spots or haphazard vacuum lines, he hates HATES that the evil machines make hideous vacuum noises AND move around by themselves! Chester thinks that Roombas are fun chase toys, but Sebastian chooses not to fraternize with the enemy.

I’m not sure how I would “protect” him from the diabolical vacuum monsters if I didn’t have a two-story house.

[eddine]

I have a used one FSOT in the prize exchange: https://thehomedweller.com/irobot-roomba-665-review/
It works pretty well but it is no substitute for a regular vacuum. Consider it a light duty cleaner that you need to run often. The bin is pretty small so again you need to run it often to get the most out of it. We only have carpet but several people on Amazon say it works better on solid surface floor. We also have short haired dogs and it picks up the hair and dirt very well. The stuff it doesn't pick up well is the stuff that sticks to the carpet like lint or dog toy fuzzies. You will need to experiment with Roomba proofing your room. It can get hung up on throw rugs, grab cords and sometimes I've had it get trapped between a chair and the wall. It's not that big of a deal if it gets stuck, it just shuts down and beeps for help. It's kind of noisy when it runs so you can't really use it while you watch tv but if you're in another room it's fine.

To answer your question, they do run over rugs but will get hung up if your rug is not flat enough to the floor. If your rugs have fringe, you'll need to pick them up. If it gets hung up, it will work it's way out of most things. We've watched it get itself unstuck from a bunched up throw rug and it's pretty amazing how it works itself free.

The best thing about it is you can start it up right before you leave the house and it will vacuum while you're gone. The invisible walls work great. When the battery gets low or it's finished the cleaning cycle, it will go back to the charging station - the trick to that is the charging station has to be in the same room as the robot so it can detect it. It's not a big deal to manually put it back to the charge station though. The other good thing is that it will roll under furniture and get some places you otherwise would miss (just make sure there's no cords under there it can grab). It can detect the edges of stairs so it won't fall down them. Also, I don't know how the dirt detector works but if there's a larger than usual mess in a particular spot, it will concentrate on that spot for a longer. It has a remote control if you want to "drive" it over to a specific area. Sometimes I run it while I'm doing other chores which is a lifesaver when company is coming and you're multi-tasking. you can do a deep vacuum a few days before, then touch up with the roomba the morning of.

Our house is very small so I like to pick up the invisible walls every time I run it. Then I get lazy about getting the house "set up" to run the robot before I head out. Since I don't run it often enough and the house gets pretty messy between vacuums, I usually just use the regular vacuum.

Hope that helps!

[Aleksks]

Roomba is a good brand when it comes to vacuum cleaners. I have three cats who keep us covered in pet hair, and Roomba 980 does a great job. I have my robotic vacuum set on an automatic schedule - 7 days a week. You can find a review on it here

[Sarahpol]

My husband has offered several times to get me a Roomba...but I really didn't think they would be worth it, so have always declined.

Enter the Roomba 675, which yes, I was offered to review through Amazon's Vine Program, but that doesn't mean I have to give a glowing report. I actually passed it by 3 times, before saying, 'Eh, why not? Since I expect to be unimpressed, I'd be the perfect person to try one out!'

Our family immediately named her Hazel, and after several hours of hard work, I have no qualms about keeping her on my payroll. ;-)