Review of iRobot Roomba

The Roomba is a robotic, battery operated vacuum cleaner. It is designed for use on both carpet and hard surface floors. It has a self adjusting mechanism to automatically adjust to flooring height. The battery system is rechargeable, and on a full charge, the vacuum runs for about 2 hours continuously.

The Roomba is a lightweight vacuum, it weighs about 10 lbs. Entry level models of the Roomba are priced from about $197 from internet retailers. The Roomba is backed by a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty.

iRobot Roomba Features:

• Virtual Wall
• Rechargeable battery
• Easy to use
• Cleans under furniture and around objects

Virtual Wall:

The Roomba has a “virtual wall” accessory. The virtual wall requires two “D” size batteries to operate, and its function is to prevent the Roomba from going into areas that are off limits. The virtual wall gives off an infra red beam that the Roomba will not cross.

Rechargeable Battery:

The Roomba runs on a rechargeable battery. With the newer versions of the Roomba, the vacuum automatically goes back to the base to recharge when it is getting low on battery power. A full battery is equivalent to about 2 hours of vacuuming time.

Easy to use:

Roomba is incredibly easy to use. Put it in the center of your floor, push the “clean” button and it goes to work! The Roomba is self adjusting to different heights/types of flooring surfaces, and has built in sensors so it avoids stairs and other drop offs. For best results, empty the dust bin after every use.

Cleans under Furniture:

With other styles of vacuums, you may need to move furniture to do a decent job vacuuming. With the Roomba, it is so low profile, it can get itself under most pieces of furniture. It has an edge cleaning side brush, so getting close to walls and baseboards is not a problem for the Roomba. The Roomba gently bumps into objects and vacuums around the object or furniture leg.

iRobot Roomba Recommendations:

Most reviewers liked the product. Reviewers were impressed that it got under furniture, such as beds, which are difficult to get completely under with a regular vacuum. Many reviewers liked the fact that you press the clean button, and then either leave your house, or go about other chores, and the vacuuming is taken care of. Reviewers also thought you got good cleaning despite the small size, and that the Roomba ran for a reasonable length of time before needing recharging.

The negative comments were that the unit does need some frequent maintenance. The dust bin needs to be emptied frequently, and the Roomba’s brushes need to be cleaned fairly often. The filter also needs to be changed every other month or so depending on conditions and usage. It does take the Roomba longer to vacuum a floor than it takes to vacuum with a regular vacuum. So if you have company coming over and didn’t get a lot of notice – you’d probably want to use a regular vacuum cleaner! Also, the Roomba can’t really do the entire house at one time; it’s a room by room machine.