Others say...

"Look out Ester, here comes some help"
With life's hectic demands it is sometimes a challenge to even find time to vacuum ,especially a home of some size.

We purchased this unit over a year now and so far it is still trucking along minding it's own business while keeping our carpet clean-to a degree.

Environment; 3k sq ft home, 2 story, Berber carpet, 1 baby, and 5 dogs.

The unit is capable of following a schedule that you would enter through the buttons. It is a bit more complicated than it should be in todays plug and play world but it does work. A PC interface would be be a welcome addition.

This unit is not meant to replace a powerful upright vacuum but will allow you to extend your vacuum times exponentially. The deeper the carpet the harder this unit will need to work and there is only so much suction a little unit like this can produce not too mention the storage area for debris is limited by it's size.

Now, with that stated, we run this unit once a week in each room and clean/empty it out every two weeks. It will fully vacuum our loft which is 28'x18' in about 45 minutes. Though it will not pick up every microscopic element hidden deep in the carpet it does a pretty good job of cleaning the surface area and little beneath it. This unit is designed to be used more often than an upright and I have found that routine cleaning makes things much easier and cleaner.

Noise is not annoying and sounds like a low volume motor while it treks across the room. Battery usage is ok though I would prefer lithium batteries for extended time. It will go about 45minutes to 1 hour in it's Max cleaning mode. So in order to vacuum our house we leave it in one room, close the doors, come back and charge, place in a another room. Though this may seem like a hassle keep in mind that we are off doing something else while it is left alone to clean.

The unit comes with two invisible walls that you place on the floor to keep it contained which work very well.

The unit comes with a sensor to prevent it from going over edges or stairs and not once has it decided to take a tumble.

Though far from appearing on a episode of the Twilight Zone the avoidance algorithm is pretty slick as it can find it's way out of almost any situation in your room and given enough time will clean the entire surface.

We paid $300 when it came out and so far are pleased with the unit and look forward to more innovations in the robotic field to make our lives simpler.

The only real issue with all Roombas is the battery life which last only about 12-14 months before it's charging ability is severely handicapped.
It does come with a one year warranty and past that expect to shell out $60+ for a new battery.

Lee A. Dye
Simi Valley,CA.






"ROOMBA"
iRobot Roomba 4230 Remote Scheduler Robotic Vacuum

I LOVE IROBOT- HAVE 3 NOW- ROOMBA 4230 WORKS SUPER-LITTLE WORKHORSE IS SO PRACTICAL. ALSO HAVE THE SCOOBA- NO MORE SCRUBBING WHITE (WHAT WAS I THINKING??) FLOORS. MY HUSBAND HAS THE DIRT DOG FOR THE POOL ROOM AND HE LOVES IT! IT CLEANS WHILE HE'S READING! GET THEM. U WONT BE SORRY!!

"what a piece of garbage"
This is one of the most horrible things my husband brought home. It is a filthy machine to clean... stupid plastic comb for the brush... give me a break... broke the first time i used it. The lines in the carpet are deplorable. I have to go over it with my REAL VACUUM to make the rooms look respectable. I would not recommend this to anyone. I guess if you are too lazy to use a REAL VAC, then this might work, but, not in this household!!! Really ticked when I saw what hubby paid for this piece of trash. I only wish we had not opened the box & tested it.

"Loved it until it broke!"
I loved this little guy when I got it, but just after 5 months of normal use it broke! The people at Roomba wouldn't replace anything after the 90 day warranty had expired, so I ended up paying an extra $200 to have it replaced !
The product is great, it's life-span is NOT!

"just wonderful"
I have two cats, a double coated long haired manx and a domestic short hair kitty. I also have two daughters with very long thick hair. All the dust in our house is the color of that manx. We got the Roomba because I just don't want to spend my time cleaning. We love the Roomba. He does a great job of getting around and under furniture. The carpets look cleaner, and feel better too. In fact, the whole house is cleaner because we are getting the hair and mess up before it turns into dust. The roomba gets into places I wouldn't have cleaned even if I was limber enough to get there. The cliff warning keeps the little guy from falling down the stairs. The dirt sensors send him back to redo really dirty places. He does a great job on all the hair. He gets nuts, seeds, dry cat litter, leaves, dirt, and dust. I do take the brushes out and cut out the globs of cat and girl hair. I have not used the scheduler yet, we are all still enjoying watching him work. The virtual walls work really well. I fully intend to get a Scooba for our tile mopping and Dirt Dog for the pool deck. If they would just make a Tinker Bell to fly around and dust I would be in business.