Automatic Robotic Vacuum

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LoudMusic

LoudMusic

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Does anyone have one of these things in their house? Of any brand? Any thoughts / recommendations? My wife and I are rather tired of sweeping the kitchen every day.

The name of this company is frightening. But it looks like a good product.

http://www.irobot.com/

I think I'm going to roll over to Sharper Image later and check out whatever brand it is they carry - might even be this one.
 
I did a lot of research on those about a year ago (for the hell of it), and it seems to me that about half the people who buy them are satisfied, and half aren’t. Common complaints included not enough suction power (“shallow cleaning”, you might say), has a hard time picking up animal hair, doesn’t actually clean the whole floor (since, if I recall correctly, none of the automated vacuums currently in production are able to “memorize” where they’ve been), and the ones that are supposed to automatically go back to their recharging stations usually don’t. The most common complaint I read was that they don’t hold enough – the cartridges to hold the dust and dirt are tiny, which means it might fill up even before the thingy is done cleaning one room.

They’re still interesting though. I think it would be prudent to wait for the second generation of automated vacuums, since they’re supposed to address most of the complaints of the first gen.
 
Ahh yes, heard of the roomba. I believe Argos sold them at one point. I've seen them advertised on shopping channels too.
They look pretty smart, but you have to set them off every day really - they're not very good as vacuums in general i guess.

I'd still stick to our dyson.
 
Newly married and already trying to get out of your honey-do list. (:

Let me know if you pick one up and how it works. Our upstairs is wood (well plastic that looks like wood that's laminated on pressed saw dust) and this handy dandy little do-dad looks like it would do the trick.
 
Pako
Newly married and already trying to get out of your honey-do list. (:

Let me know if you pick one up and how it works. Our upstairs is wood (well plastic that looks like wood that's laminated on pressed saw dust) and this handy dandy little do-dad looks like it would do the trick.
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ABSOLUTELY! (to all points). The Mrs and I both hate sweeping and the kitchen is eternally dirty.

but you have to set them off every day really
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Isn't this automated though? On a schedule?
 
I have a Roomba Discovery, and it's not half bad. I splurged on one having seen one at a co-worker's house one night. It cost me about $250; Kathy thought it was the "coolest thing", and just had to have one. It's rare she gets excited about that sort of thing, especially snice I usually do the sweeping. Hey, one less task for me.

They aren't exactly the quietest bit of machinery, but after a while the noise fades into the background like anything else.

With three pets, you do have to stop it halfway to dump out the contents, and you can't expect it to get every little nook and cranny, but it gets 99% of the dirt and pet hair up, the way our house is laid out. It usually takes Roomba the full 2 hours to clean our entire 1200-square foot house, and it's learning to go back to it's recharging station; at first it just kept cleaning until the battery was dead, but the last three times it returns after cleaning.

Mind you, it takes Roomba 2 hours to do the work that you could do in 20 minutes. TO me, it's one less task, and the house stays neater. And it even worked once (one stint with no recharge) when we were without power for 11 days, unlike most of what was in my house.
 
So this thing misses corners so in the end your just gonna have to do it anyway...

Nice idea but seeins as its not 100% effective and nowhere powerful enough to do any miningful vacuuming I wouldnt bother.
 
Now we need one to do the washing, dishes, ironing, folding and general housework 👍

:lol:
 
Young_Warrior
So this thing misses corners so in the end your just gonna have to do it anyway...

Nice idea but seeins as its not 100% effective and nowhere powerful enough to do any miningful vacuuming I wouldnt bother.
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It does a lot to make life more simple. If it takes care of even half the work, that's half the work the person doesn't have to do.
 
Most of my floors are wood or tiled, it's only the bedrooms and one of the living rooms that have carpet, the bathroom, and cooking half of the kitched are tiled, the dining half of the kichen is wood, so is the main living room, the hallway, stairs and landing, the spare room and the study. The downstairs toilet is tiled and wood, it's wooden tiles :dopey: . To ge on topic, my house isn't hard to clean so it'll be a long time before we consider anything like this.
 
live4speed
Most of my floors are wood or tiled, it's only the bedrooms and one of the living rooms that have carpet, the bathroom, and cooking half of the kitched are tiled, the dining half of the kichen is wood, so is the main living room, the hallway, stairs and landing, the spare room and the study. The downstairs toilet is tiled and wood, it's wooden tiles :dopey: . To ge on topic, my house isn't hard to clean so it'll be a long time before we consider anything like this.
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Actually, I plan to use mine on un-carpetted areas exclusively. The sweeping aspect is one of the best things it has going for it.

Electrolux is the best vacuum company ever. Seriously. My grandma still uses her 1940's electrolux around the house. I wouldn't doubt the unit's quality.
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I am with you on this - Electrolux is what Hoover wishes it was.
 
We bought a Roomba Scheduler! Purchased from their online store, it arrived yesterday and spent all night doing its initial charge (16 hours!). So tonight we'll play with it and see what we get. I'll let you guys know (:
 
I wouldn't get the Roomba or the iRobot, we've had them both, didn't pick up a thing, and the wheels left tire marks all over the floor. it was a disaster when we left it alone one day. maybe the $1,800 one will take all your mone.....i mean work.

From,
Wall51
 
Wallrunner51
I wouldn't get the Roomba or the iRobot, we've had them both, didn't pick up a thing, and the wheels left tire marks all over the floor. it was a disaster when we left it alone one day. maybe the $1,800 one will take all your mone.....i mean work.

From,
Wall51
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Well seeing as how the Roomba is the product and iRobot is the company I can tell you're an expert on the topic.

First two runs it did great. The kitchen / laundry room are clean (including cat litter debris) and the master bedroom is clean.

As far as tire marks go, any vacuum will leave tire marks. It's called "rolling on carpet". But it does leave them in a less organized pattern. It just roams around the room finding dirty spots and running back and forth over them multiple times.
 
LoudMusic
It seems to get stuck on floor vents.
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Hm, that’s a shame – never heard that complaint before. How ’bout cutting a few pieces of wood to create a raised “barrier” around the vent so that the robot doesn’t even try to go over it?
 
Sage
Hm, that’s a shame – never heard that complaint before. How ’bout cutting a few pieces of wood to create a raised “barrier” around the vent so that the robot doesn’t even try to go over it?
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That's the plan! Great minds think alike ... ;)
 

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