Robotic Vacuums

[MrPShah]

So I was last minute shopping on Friday at sharper image and happened to glance over and give some serious thought to the robotic vacuums they have there. There are two them they carry I think?

EVac and Roomba? So I bought one for my parents, they haven't yet tried it out, but I have to say it looks promising. But anyone know if there's a difference between these two as far as how good they really are? Is there anything even better to look forward too in the "A.I." dominated future?

 

[TallBill]

I saw a show on the Roomba a few months ago. It sucked compared to a regular one. Got caught up on carpet, took forevor, and didn't clean so great.

 

[NascarFool]

My wife got a Roomba about a year ago. It works pretty good for light vacuuming.

 

[flot]

My dad got my mom one for xmas (don't know wtf he was thinking) .. it seems okay, you empty out the "collection cup" and you're like "wow look at everything it got!!" but then again, the collection cup is about 1/10th the size of one from a normal vacuum.

I have a couple friends who think they're great, but they're easily impressed. My take is that it's mostly a gimmic. I think the super-$$$ ones are almost approaching decent, as I believe they can even self-dock and self-recharge (this $200 one you have to plug the cord into to charge) but until it is quiet and comes out during the day and randomly cleans the house on its own when no one is home, I'm just not that impressed.

Good things that surprised me: when it did get stuck, it would sit there for 20 seconds or so, then decide it was stuck, and always managed to unstick itself. It did manage to go underneath furniture etc where I'm sure no vacuum has gone in 10 years. It seemed to get decent coverage of an area. The dogs didn't care when it hit them.

Bad things that surprised me: It went MUCH slower on carpet than on a hard surface. It made a lot of noise in normal operation. It only ran for maybe 10 minutes (on the "max" setting) and then shut itself off and acted like it was done.

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: flot
My dad got my mom one for xmas (don't know wtf he was thinking) .. it seems okay, you empty out the "collection cup" and you're like "wow look at everything it got!!" but then again, the collection cup is about 1/10th the size of one from a normal vacuum.

I have a couple friends who think they're great, but they're easily impressed. My take is that it's mostly a gimmic. I think the super-$$$ ones are almost approaching decent, as I believe they can even self-dock and self-recharge (this $200 one you have to plug the cord into to charge) but until it is quiet and comes out during the day and randomly cleans the house on its own when no one is home, I'm just not that imrpessed.

there's ones that self-dock and recharge?! i may have to look into this. although it would probably drive my dog nuts. :laugh:

 

[artikk]

Robotic vacuums aint't worth it. You yourself can do a much better job than the teeeny vacuum though you might too lazy to.

 

[Slick5150]

The newer Roomba Discovery line is very good. It isn't made for heavy duty cleaning, but for regular vacuuming it does it's job quite well (and can re-dock itself when the battery gets low which is quite cool).

There was a comparison done awhile back between the Roomba Discovery, the original Roomba, the Sharper Image one (eVac?), and one other one I can't remember. The Discovery is by far the best, and the eVac was way behind.

 

[Toastedlightly]

I got my grandma the one that self docs and stuff for xmas. She has bad knees, bad heart, etc. and needed something to get under everything. She says it works much better than she did, but htat wouldn't be hard.

 

[0roo0roo]

they don't have the power to do the job. its a joke...well a toy.

 

[element]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
they don't have the power to do the job. its a joke...well a toy.

what he said

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: PinwiZ
The newer Roomba Discovery line is very good. It isn't made for heavy duty cleaning, but for regular vacuuming it does it's job quite well (and can re-dock itself when the battery gets low which is quite cool).

There was a comparison done awhile back between the Roomba Discovery, the original Roomba, the Sharper Image one (eVac?), and one other one I can't remember. The Discovery is by far the best, and the eVac was way behind.

Any evaluations of the new Electrolux Trilobite?

Edit: Link to the product... http://www.electroluxusa.com/node116.asp

 

[0roo0roo]

if they were more honest about it, they'd call them robotic dust busters

 

[DeMeo]

I think Rosie from the JEtson's a pretty good one.
Don't know where you can buy one though.

 

[MrPShah]

what makes the discovery one so much better than the evac....pricing wise it's only $50 more (and if it is that much better, I'd be curious to invest in it)....