iRobot 560 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, Black and Silver

Great but not perfect ***Downgraded Star Rating***, September 16, 2007

By 

M. Kelley “mpkelley20” (Boston, MA United States) –

  

  

  

My wife and I decided to get one of these because our 8 month old son is about to start crawling. While we try and keep our floors clean, our beagle has other thoughts as she sheds all over the place. We went with the latest 560 model as it has just about everything we would want with a product like this. It works as advertised and we will definitley keep it but there are some areas that need improvement. Here is a quick breakdown of the pros and cons

Pros

1. Quieter than a standard vaccuum

2. Seems to learn the room dimensions quickly. The virtual walls and lighthouse feature are very nice.
3. Is “smart” enough to avoid getting tangled in our area rugs

4. Obviously easy to use as it is just a push of a button (or even better when you program it)

5. Can use everyday to keep the floors spotless

6. Have successfully used it on hard wood, vinyl, carpet and (accidently) concrete

7. Cleans under furniture which is otherwise a pain to do

8. Entertainment value – keeps the dog and baby interested for a while!

Cons (or areas for improvement)

1. Fills up fast – Upon intital cleaning cycles, we had to empty it after about 10 minutes. Further usage proved better as the dust/dog hair was a lot less than before. I suppose this is a good thing as it is picking up dirt that I missed with the regualr vaccum.

2. No warning that it is full. This is the one area that would be a huge improvement. I feel like I need to interrupt it all the time to check if it is full. It would be great if it had some way to gauge how full it is.

3. Battery life – Not sure if I am getting the full specified battery life out of this as it seems to need a recharge after about an hour to an hour and a half (isn’t it supposed to last longer?)

4. Automatic docking is iffy. Several times after it was done cleaning, it wandered around aimlessly looking for the docking station. The “lighthouse” feature didn’t seem to help much. I ended up moving the dock to a more open area and hopefully that will work better.

So for my first few days playing with this thing, it seems to do its job rather well with just a few annoyances that really do not affect its ability to clean. We plan on running it once a day to keep the dog hair and dust down to a minimum which will hopefully help our allegies.

*****UPDATE: 10/2/2007*******

Well, I’ve been using the Roomba now for a couple of weeks. I have it run every other day and here is what I think of it now

1. After letting it clean several times, I find I don’t have to empty it every 10 minutes. I can now clean three rooms (about 900 square feet) without having to empty it.

2. My wife and I both agree that we seem to breathe better in the house now. Maybe it is due to less dust in the house (especially under the couches) or maybe its in our heads. Either way, we are breathing easier.

3. The self docking is now working great. I think my problems in the past were due to the brushes getting too dirty and requiring frequent cleaning (2 or 3 per run). Now, since the floors are cleaner, this has not been a problem and the Roomba finds its way home with no issues. I use the lighthouse settings to clean each room separately and then I guess they help Roomba find its home. Very nice!

4. Battery life doesn’t seem to be a problem. I am getting the stated cleaning times per the manual and it seems to be enough to clean the 3 rooms.

5. The Roomba does require maintenance after each cleaning cycle. This requires emptying the dust bin, removing the brushes and filter to clean and, sometimes, cleaing the sensors that may have dust buildup. The entire process takes no more than 2 minutes and, even though it sounds like a pain, will hopefully keep Roomba problem free for a long time.

I can find no fault with the Roomba right now. I might even consider purchasing a second and third one for the other parts of the house. I suppose I can move Roomba to the back rooms on the first floor or the upstairs but that would require too much effort on my part!

I am also considering the Scooba for my kitchen and bathrooms but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I might wait for the next generation to see if the bugs have been worked out of the current models. Also, if Irobot ever invented one, I would jump at the chance to get a robot that will shampoo carpets! Maybe we will see one soon..

***Update 11/19/2007***

Ran into my first problem with Roomba this past week. The side brush snapped off and I was unable to put it back on. Knowing that these brushes need to be replaced from time to time I decided to order some replacements. Finding them on…

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A Worthy Successor to the Roomba Line, December 12, 2007

By 

Lisa Shea “LisaShea.com” –

  

  

We have two Roombas plus a Scooba in our house. When one of the batteries on one of our Roombas finally reached the end of its life cycle, we decided to donate that Roomba to a friend and to get ourselves the new top of the line – the Roomba 560. We got this right when it first came out, but we waited several months before posting a review. It’s pretty much impossible to review one of these Roombas after only a few days! It takes weeks if not months to start to see how well they last over time, and what breaks down. Believe me – been there, done that.

So now it’s many months later, and I have to say, we are quite pleased with the improvements of this Roomba over the previous generations of Roombas. So first, for those who don’t even have ANY Roomba yet (hard to believe!). Roombas are awesome. We have cats, and we work from home so we’re home all day. It is AMAZING how much dirt and dust and junk collects in the carpet every single day. Who really has time to vacuum their carpets twice a day any more? With the Roomba, you set the scheduler to do it while you are asleep. You wake up in the morning, the carpets are clean, the air is fresh, and you empty out the dust bin. It is just wonderful.

Even those without pets might be amazed how much lint and such the Roomba will find every morning for you.

I have a noise meter and have done several tests with the noise meter. The Roomba is much quieter than other regular vacuums. It is NOT silent – it can’t be! How could it vacuum up dirt and be silent? But it is quieter than the alternatives, and heck, you’re sleeping anyway. I can easily sleep through a Roomba running.

Now, on to the improvements of this new Roomba over previous models. First, it has a cool feature where the speed drops when it senses it is approaching a solid object. The old Roomba would just run full tilt into an object – wall, couch etc. – and then turn around. This one slows down so that it hits the object gently. Sure the old Roomba wouldn’t dent the walls with its powerful force, but still, it’s nice to have it be gentle on furniture and your building.

Next, for better or for worse, the new Roomba is much more aware of when its bin and brushes are getting grungy. I admit I didn’t clean my other Roombas as often as I should have. And it led to problems. This new Roomba will actually stop and warn you when it’s getting full and when the brushes should be cleaned. If you’re a procrastinator like I am, this is a good thing. If you’re a clean freak that empties the bin every time, and cleans the brushes every time, then you probably won’t even notice this feature.

The anti tangle technology is nice. The previous Roomba would start to eat a cord and just keep going until it was really stuck. This Roomba at least tries to get itself untangled. Still, I don’t recommend leaving cords and strings and things lying around. You’re just asking for trouble if you do.

The new system uses a “lighthouse” instead of just a wall. With a lighthouse, you mark out a room so the Roomba finishes with that room completely before going on to the next room. They are like section markers. We tend to just use walls, but if you have two large rooms the lighthouse feature might be really helpful for you.

After several months of running we have had NO problems at all with our Roomba. No broken brushes, no falling off pieces, nothing. It is still going strong and we are very pleased with it.

Highly, highly recommended! I am happy to give personal advice and I even have videos of Roombas on my website. I love Roombas, they have saved me countless hours of work, and they make my home a much cleaner and easier-breathing place to be.

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