Note: This is one of several articles here on the Roomba. Use the search at http://feedme.typepad.com/ and search for "Roomba."
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Have had the Roomba for over a week now and wanted to share some impressions.
First, I will note that I bought some stock in the company that makes it because I think it's a cool product and a clever company. Full disclosure and all that.
Overall impression: It works, it's useful, it's fun to watch, and it's technologically interesting. I love mine.
Negatives
Not cheap. For $250-320 or so, you can buy a top of the line, top-rated vacuum cleaner like the Hoover Wind Tunnel.
If what you want is a robot that will do all your vacuuming and keep your carpets beautiful, I don't think Roomba will quite cut it. I think you still need to use a full-sized vacuum cleaner every week or two. Roomba is quite good but probably not as deep a cleaner as a real vac.
It runs for hours and the noise may bother you. I run it mostly when I am not home, so no issue.
You may find it requires more fussing than you are willing to do, because you need to empty its dust bin after each use and clean hair out of the rollers every 2-3 runs. I don't mind this (in fact, I get a thrill out of tossing a big wad of dog hair into the trash.)
Those vacuum tracks — looks like you hired a drunk to do your vacuuming.
Positives
It really works. I find it very gratifying to have this gadget that effortlessly cleans.
While I don't think it quite matches my Hoover, I think the Roomba is great for in-between. And if you have pets, it's a boon because it will suck up lots and lots of pet hair.
It wanders everywhere. It's really quite clever at exploring behind, under and among objects.
It does a great job on edges with its spinning flicker brush and its dogged edge cleaning.
It hasn't damaged anything. It nicely detects and circumnavigates objects.
It's fun.
Update
The Roomba was not the most reliable of appliances but a new generation introduced in October of 2007 improves reliability and makes most components user-replaceable. They also increased performance, dust capacity, and added features. I don't have one of the new units so all this is based on the company's materials.
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