Who here has/had a roomba?

[Littleum]

My birthday is coming and I have been asking David for years to get me a roomba. It's kind of a running joke but I really do want one!

I'm not actually interested in the roomba to CLEAN anything. Mostly I'm thinking there's some entertainment value in it. I'm thinking I'd probably stick a pom-pom on it and tie string behind it for the cats. I think having a little robot marching around the house bumping into things might be good for some chuckles.

How is their pathfinding? Their motorskills on smooth (tile/hardwood) surfaces? Do they get stuck? Does it need a lot of human handholding, or does it mostly take care of itself?

Do they actually clean at all? If I set it loose in the kitchen will it actually clean up even part of the crumbs on the floor? It might be nice if it actually could handle stray cat hair and the like between heavy duty sweeping/vaccuming.

 

[Charley]

I had one several years ago. I loved it! But it turned out to be disposable as the battery lasted about a year and was so expensive to replace that I was told to just buy a new one. So that was the end of my roomba. It did not get stuck and did a wonderful job. You clean them by dumping the tray that collects what it picks up in the trash and cleaning the brush of hair just like any other vacuum. It worked well on our pet hair. We had some carpet and some vinyl and it did a good job on both.

 

[wildoak]

We have one and yes, there is a little entertainment value in it LOL but it does actually do a decent job of cleaning. Great especially for under sofas and tight spaces. The only place it seems to stick is climbing the edge of the rugs. The dogs were pretty intrigued with it at first.

Jan

 

[djskid]

I had one several years ago. I loved it! But it turned out to be disposable as the battery lasted about a year and was so expensive to replace that I was told to just buy a new one. So that was the end of my roomba. It did not get stuck and did a wonderful job. You clean them by dumping the tray that collects what it picks up in the trash and cleaning the brush of hair just like any other vacuum. It worked well on our pet hair. We had some carpet and some vinyl and it did a good job on both.

That's kinda what happened to ours too! It worked great for about the first year and then the battery went, so now it sits!! I don't think that I'd ever buy another one-too expensive for the length of time it actually worked.

 

[Shari]

There are many different models now.....even one that is good for pet hair!

I have been wanting one....as vacuuming is painful for me. LOL... it might make a good cat toy too!!

 

[wildoak]

Update on my post - ours has gone belly up.

Just put a new battery in it not long ago, and today it runs for about a minute before shutting down. What I really want is a Dyson......just have to pony up and pay for one!

Jan

 

[Magic]

We just got a Roomba a couple of weeks ago. It cleans great on our wood floors (kitchen, dining area, hallway and living room). I haven't tried it on carpets yet. It seems to be rather random and erratic, the way it goes around cleaning, but it sure beats vaccuuming!

It will dock itself in its charger when it's done too. It's also pretty quiet, and the dogs don't mind it. I LOVE my Roomba!