Roomba Questions

[aphex]

The old Vacuum is on the fritz and its time for a new one....

Thinking about possibly picking up a roomba but i had some questions.

1) How well do they do on tile? Since were downstairs quite a bit more often than upstairs, the downstairs (which is 100% tile) needs more vacuuming.

2) Are they as noisy as a regular vacuum? I only ask because we have a dog who hates our normal vacuum, i would hate to torture him all day with it while vacuuming ourselves takes only 15 minutes.

 

[KLin]

Get a Dyson.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: KLin
Get a Dyson.

I dont think a dyson is worth it for us. Like i said, we only really end up vaccuming the tile every 6-7 days, the upstairs carpet only every month or so if then.

 

[Ryan]

I sweep my tile.

 

[ni4ni]

I have heard that the Roomba is good for all surfaces and automatically adjusts. I have an Oreck at my office that I really like.

 

[alien42]

sounds like you need a scooba

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: alien42
sounds like you need a scooba

hmmmm, might save us from mopping as well, very cool.

 

[Jzero]

The trouble with Scooba is the exhorbitant price and the proprietary cleaning solution.

Roomba is in many ways BETTER on bare floors than on carpet. It is smart enough to transition automatically from carpet to bare floor.
It is very quiet compared to an upright vac.

You will find yourself using it more than your normal vac because you can just hit the button on your way out the door and let it go to work.

 

[Umberger]

i have a roomba red. if you just turn it on and let it go until it decides it's done, it will do a great job cleaning. sometimes it won't pick up bigger things (like leaves) and sometimes it tends to miss corners in a room (only 6" or so) i got a refurbished one for xmas and i love it.

it's not as loud as a normal vacuum, but it's a distinctly different noise. sounds kinda like a big electric RC car. (probably cause it's electric... and about the same size... duh...) i don't really mind it. i like to turn it on when i go to work in the morning. i rotate rooms. kitchen one day, living room the next, bedroom, bathroom, etc... by the time i do all the rooms, i can start the cycle over.

 

[RU482]

we just got one. Not sure about tile, but it does a surpisingly good job on wood floors and carpet. It's kinda loud on the wood (well, actually laminate) floor, but not as loud as our upright vac.

we usually just run it when no one is home

 

[IGBT]

..I hear dogs love em and cats hate em.

 

[JDrake]

Originally posted by: KLin
Get a Dyson.

:thumbsdown: Bad idea

 

[Gamingphreek]

We have a roomba.

It is really nice, but you really need to run a real vacuum everyonce in a while for deep clean. The roomba doesn't quite have the weight to get really deep. However, it does an excellent job. On Max clean mode, it goes over the same spots at least 30 times, almost too much.

As for steps, it has a sensor, but sometimes i guess it "forgets". Normally it senses the step, but occasionally you just hear a "*thump*" and walk over and set it back up.

The only real think i dont like is cleaning it. The filter and storage are easy enoguh, but it is so intricate that dust accumulates everywhere, so cleaning it probably takes 10 mins.

-Kevin

 

[SVT Cobra]

Hmm I have seen these and have doubted their cleaning ability, but after reading this thread it has made me consider one. What price do they go for currently? I assume you still need a regular vacum but how much dirt can they really get. What about pet hair in the carpet?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: F22 Raptor
Hmm I have seen these and have doubted their cleaning ability, but after reading this thread it has made me consider one. What price do they go for currently? I assume you still need a regular vacum but how much dirt can they really get. What about pet hair in the carpet?

They get 99% of the pet hair. It is the ground in dirt that you need a regular vacuum for.

I cant remember what we got ours for, ill have to check.

-Kevin

 

[SLU MD]

i have a roomba, had it for about two years now. All hardwood floors in my place, does a great job on them.....until about a month ago, doesnt seem to work very well anymore.

I used to be a big fan of her, but the cleaning power has diminished a lot. expensive thing for only 2 years of real cleaning.

and i clean it all the time, cut all the hair and stuff outta the underside of it.

slu md

 

[Alkesh]

roombas are the best thigns ever, got my mom one for christmas

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: SLU MD
I used to be a big fan of her, but the cleaning power has diminished a lot. expensive thing for only 2 years of real cleaning.

and i clean it all the time, cut all the hair and stuff outta the underside of it.

Have you replaced the filter?

 

[SLU MD]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: SLU MD
I used to be a big fan of her, but the cleaning power has diminished a lot. expensive thing for only 2 years of real cleaning.

and i clean it all the time, cut all the hair and stuff outta the underside of it.

Have you replaced the filter?

yep, i dont really know what to do. just doesnt really work anymore.

just a warning. maybe i'm just unlucky?

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: SLU MD
i have a roomba, had it for about two years now. All hardwood floors in my place, does a great job on them.....until about a month ago, doesnt seem to work very well anymore.

I used to be a big fan of her, but the cleaning power has diminished a lot. expensive thing for only 2 years of real cleaning.

and i clean it all the time, cut all the hair and stuff outta the underside of it.

slu md

ROFL nice :laugh:

 

[crystal]

Don't know if they fix the rechargle batteries leak problem or not, but I got the first or second generation Rumba and the battery refused to hold charge. I went and brought another battery with their rapid charger, a few months later, that battery death too. Too much money wasted for the piece of crap, so it is a big thumb down for me.

 

[HN]

i've been using a roomba discovery for the last few weeks on tile (my room). i sweep up the larger dust bunnies and Rosie (yes, i know, everyone names their's Rosie ) does the rest (including under bed and chairs). she's noisier than i expected; i don't watch tv while she's working. i find it amusing when she gets to my computer chair while i'm working and starts bumping and working her way around it.

they seem to require a good deal of maintenance to keep them running efficiently, though. here's one person's suggestion:
http://www.roombareview.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=46&start=0

and irobot's own maintenance page:
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=212

 

[Gamingphreek]

(yes, i know, everyone names their's Rosie )

Holy crap, i thought that was just us.

-Kevin