This is my second review on the iRobot Roomba, the first review I did was about the latest Roomba. This is about the slightly older 5545 version. This is why the some of the review is the same as my last one!
We bought this Roomba about six months ago, more for the amusement factor and out ... Read review
Advantages: It vacuums by itself! Efficient and time saving! Also very cute! Disadvantages: Gets stuck on rug tassels, no scheduling.
...my second review on the iRobot Roomba, the first review I did was about the latest Roomba. This is about the slightly older 5545 version. This is why the some of the review is the same as my last one!
We bought this Roomba about six months ago, more for the amusement factor and out of curiosity than anything else!
I will tell you a little more about the company that we bought our first 'Roomba' from…
iRobot ... ...and rubble.
iRobot supply different robots for different uses, these are:
Roomba: A vacuum cleaner for the home.
Scooba: A floor washing robot for the home
Dirt Dog: A vacuum cleaner for the industrial floor
Verro: A pool cleaning robot for your swimming pool
Looj: A gutter cleaning robot
ConnectR: A communication robot, for talking to loved ones whilst you are away ... more
This is my second review on the iRobot Roomba, the first review I did was about the latest Roomba. This is about the slightly older 5545 version. This is why the some of the review is the same as my last one!
We bought this Roomba about six months ago, more for the amusement factor and out of curiosity than anything else!
I will tell you a little more about the company that we bought our first 'Roomba' from…
iRobot is an American company which was founded in 1990. They supply robots for home use (such as the 'Roomba' Vacuum cleaner and the 'Scooba' floor washing robot) as well as supplying places like Iraq and Afghanistan for help with search missions through debris and rubble.
iRobot supply different robots for different uses, these are: Roomba: A vacuum cleaner for the home.
Scooba: A floor washing robot for the home Dirt Dog: A vacuum cleaner for the industrial floor
Verro: A pool cleaning robot for your swimming pool Looj: A gutter cleaning robot
ConnectR: A communication robot, for talking to loved ones whilst you are away from home. (Being released early 2008) This review is about the recently released iRobot 530.
I bought this Roomba from www.electricshopping.com for £199.00. Good value in my opinion and definitely money well spent. I will list some of its many features here:
It is a green circular robot, 13.4 inches (34 cm) in diameter and less than 3.5 inches (9 cm) high, a bumper integrated into the front and three buttons in the middle, these buttons represent the following settings:
1. Clean - When you press this button Roomba will sing its short little song to let you know it is on its way and sets off cleaning. Pressing clean means that Roomba will vacuum until the floor is clean.
2. Spot - If there is a particularly dirty area of your floor then you can set Roomba to 'Spot' setting for it to concentrate on this particular place. Note, it does also do this on the other cleaning setting automatically when it finds particularly dirty area and will spin round in circles until it is clean.
3. Max: Roomba will clean continuously until it has run out of battery.
You are provided with a charging base which Roomba can navigate back to itself when it needs charging or has finished cleaning, or a plug in charger. It takes around three hours to fully charge Roomba.
It has a clever feature called 'The Cliff Sensor' which means that it will never fall down the stairs or steps, and can clean right up to the edge because a small infrared laser reaches out in front of it, and when that laser no longer hits the floor it will stop itself and turn around, cleaning along the edge until it reaches safe ground! It also uses this to find its home base to recharge.
Roomba manages to clean an entire room buy going in continuous patterns ensuring that all areas have been covered. There are lots of videos demonstrating this on the iRobot website. This is what makes it cheaper than any other robotic vacuum cleaners as they map out the room before they clean (this is in no way a disadvantage in my opinion)
Roomba in my experience is extremely efficient, it has never damaged anything, and although it does bump in to the walls it is never hard enough to do any kind of damage. It has two brushes (three less than its newer version) which sweep any dust and dirt underneath it so that I can be sucked up, this means that when it goes alongside walls it doesn't miss any bits.
You are always provided with a virtual wall unit which means that you can prevent Roomba from going into a certain part of a room or place easily. You also get a remote control in case you need to use that to direct it. Roomba also comes with a number of brushed for cleaning it between uses.
Roomba has sadly enough become almost a part of the family!! It is so wonderful being able to leave the house and on your return for all the floors to be clean! Roomba isn't very loud, not silent but no where near as noisy as a normal vacuum, and can hold a surprising amount of dirt. Whenever you turn Roomba on, it starts cleaning or if it gets stuck it has a little tune that it plays, these tunes are different depending on which you pick, and when it gets stuck it plays a little sad tune which is very sweet!
Roomba is easily emptied, there are no bags you just hold it over the bin and tip it out. You may have to clean the brushes after every 3/4 uses depending on how dirty your floors are, and hair and bits can get caught in it. Roomba is an absolute necessity to the working parent, and is incredible time saving, giving you the time to get twice the amount of work done than if you had to clean the floors!
Roomba is not suitable for deep pile carpets, but is great on all other types of flooring. It is small enough to get under the bed and all the sofas and all the places that you can't reach!
Advantages: Automatic, Light, Cleans very well, works on all surfaces, less noisy Disadvantages: can not clean stairs
iRobot Roomba (Green) is perhaps my best purchase of the year. This fully automatic vacuum cleaner works fantastically and saves a lot of time and labour. Roomba is much lighter and much less noisier than the traditional vacuum cleaners and yet cleans better than them. It can move seamlessly from one kind of surface to the other (from carpet to hard floor to wooden floor, etc.) and works with minimum supervision. With just a press of a button you ... ...do your own activities in the mean time. You can even leave the house and go to office or for shopping while Roomba is at work. After coming back, you will find the area fully cleaned!
It has three mode selectors. "Clean" mode means it will keep cleaning as long as "thinks" there is any dirt left in the room. "Spot" mode is for quickly cleaning a particular dirty spot. In "Max" mode, it keeps cleaning as long as the battery lasts.
Roomba works ...
data_ray 19.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of iRobot Roomba
Advantages: No need to push a heavy vacuum around Disadvantages: Cleaning the robot can be a litttle fiddly
My husband bought me this for Christmas last year and despite the stick he got from his friends for buying me a vacuum cleaner I can safely say it's probably the best present I've ever had!
We were sceptical at first that it would clean as well as a 'normal' vacuum but it's very thorough in its coverage of the floor so picks up masses - we were shocked to find how much cat hair even clean looking carpets contained. Although the search pattern it ... ...problem as you can leave it alone while you do something else. I wouldn't be happy leaving it alone in the house tho' as it does occasionally get into trouble (caught on a wire you hadn't spotted for example) in which case it will beep until rescued.
It comes with a 'virual wall lighthouse' to stop it leaving an area. This is only really useful if you have a large open place house. My rooms are quite small with too much furniture so it's easier ...
Alsion 02.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of iRobot Roomba
Advantages: Easy to use Disadvantages: Doesn't do a thorough job with pet hair, can be a pain to clean the brush.
I have two large dogs, therefore a lot of dog hair on my carpets and I didn't think the roomba would cope. I was quite pleasantly surprised! It didn't pick up all the hair, so it won't do a good a job as a conventional vacuum cleaner if you have pets, however. it's ideal for 'in between' cleaning when you don't have time, or can't be bothered to get the vacuum out! I found it does tend to go over and over the same spot again which you wouldn't do ... ...doing the pushing! It comes in very handy if you have a dry spill by using the 'spot' clean. I find it tedious to clean the brush and that can take a bit of time, but apart from that, it's a handy gadget to own. I don't regret buying it! ...
purpledaises 01.06.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of iRobot Roomba
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Advantages: Deep clean, very easy to use, brilliant bit of machinery Disadvantages: Price can be off putting
What Is It?
The iRobotRoomba is one of the latest robots; built for busy people and to fit into peoples day-to-day lives. It is an automatic vacuum that runs efficiently, safely and effortlessly on its own. It uses technology that is used for bomb disposal robots in the armies all over the world.
Why Would You Buy It?
I got the iRobotRoomba recommended to me by a friend. I had gone over to her house and saw it vacuum the whole room while we were busy chatting! I sat watching it cleaning around the chairs, tables and even the lamps gracefully.
She was saying how useful it was and you could even go out shopping and you would come back to a vacuumed house. That was enough to convince me.
Other reasons to buy it would be if you have an older relative who finds it hard to clean the house then this would be perfect as ...
scotlandizdabest 01.02.2008 (09.04.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of iRobot Roomba
Advantages: Anti Tassle, Cliff Sensor, On Board Scheduling......you dont have to vaccum!! Disadvantages: No major problems, can sometimes get stuck.
We bought our first iRobot 'Roomba' a few months ago, and I can honestly say we haven't looked back since!!
I will tell you a little more about the company that we bought our first 'Roomba' from?
iRobot is an American company which was founded in 1990. They supply robots for home use (such as the 'Roomba' Vacuum cleaner and the 'Scooba' floor washing robot) as well as supplying places like Iraq and Afghanistan for help with search missions through debris and rubble.
iRobot supply different robots for different uses, these are:
Roomba: A vacuum cleaner for the home.
Scooba: A floor washing robot for the home
Dirt Dog: A vacuum cleaner for the industrial floor
Verro: A pool cleaning robot for your swimming pool
Looj: A gutter cleaning robot
ConnectR: A communication robot, for talking to loved ones whilst you ...
charlottemt 09.11.2007 (12.11.2007)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of iRobot Roomba (
Advantages: no more hoovering what else do you need. Disadvantages: few minor echnical problems but sorted out immediately by the helpline.
i was very sceptical about this product at first but was pestered to buy it by my gadget obsessed son. The price was £250 online which when compared to say a dyson is not so bad. I relented and was so glad i did. I expected something similar to one of those hand held hoovers but this was so much more. it copes wonderfully with my carpet and dog hairs from a very hairy dog. I don't have to worry about doing the vacuuming now i just leave it to roomba. The kids love it and are forever taking it into various rooms to clean up which is a bonus. Also it has made them more aware of the stuff they leave on the floor because they are worried it will damage the machine. It does need regular cleaning but it is easier to clean than it is too vacuum a room. I have had a few problems with it but rung the helpline and they have sorted it immediately ...
