Anyone have a roomba?

[spikehs]

Thinking of getting one, a bit pricey, but with a cat and the ability to run it every day, I think it'd be worth it... 95% of people love them (from what I've read so far...). Anyone around here have any experiances with one?

[Pescador]

We've had one for a couple years, it's pretty slick it keeps up between the weekly vacuums and we have 2 cats.
You have to clean it out every couple runs and you might want to get the "virtual walls" to make it easier to keep it where you want.
It's open source and hackable people have been getting them to do other stuff.
I see Costco has them now.
Now to get the one that washes floors :lol:

[Reefer Rob]

We bought one for my parents last Xmas. More of a toy really, fun to watch, we cheer it on when it gets it's pattern right. Won't take the place of regular vacuuming.

[reefbyremote]

We have had one for a couple of years. I think it is cool robotic technology but it really does not do a great job. And it takes a long time to cover a room of any size as it just moves randomly. Good for under beds though!

[spikehs]

Went to their site, they have the 560 for $250 (refurb)... I managed to haggle an additional 30% off, so with shipping + handling (which they kinda screw you on) it comes out to about $230cad. Not too shabby.

[The Grizz]

I could not imagine how many of these I would have to buy to keep up with my 2 Husky's and living in the country to boot.

[bigmac]

We had one; and after a short while (approx. 6 months) we had to replace the battery as it would not hold a charge for longer than 5 minutes. After the new battery was installed; it lasted another month or so before not holding the charge any longer. As far as I'm concerned; it's a gimmick and will never buy another one.

[chisai]

I had mine for three years before the battery died. With two dogs and cat it was great for keeping up with the daily upkeep on the floors. Certainly won't replace a good vacuum, but it was nice not to see dust bunnies every day. I'm waiting to see what kind of Christmas deals they have to buy the next one.

[michika]

I could not imagine how many of these I would have to buy to keep up with my 2 Husky's and living in the country to boot.

I'd so buy something that could keep up with two heavy shedding dogs.

[spikehs]

I'd so buy something that could keep up with two heavy shedding dogs.

a lot of the reviews I read said it did a good job of keeping it tidy inbetween regular vacuuming...My cat sheds quite a bit especially on my black rug, so it'll be interesting to see how it does, if I get one.... which I probably will, ha.

[Ellie_A]

We purchased a Roomba about a year ago. We have 2 dogs and 3 cats and it does a pretty good job. We run it Monday to Friday while we are at work because it is pretty loud. No problems with it at all.

[spikehs]

just found a scooba (base model) for $75 used! Even if I have to replace the battery (which I assume I probably will) I should be up. Will give it a test spin tonight!

[workn2hard2day]

this isnt my video ***warning for potty language***

if you have animals you will appreciate this. (most if you have one of those vicious pit bulls)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--FyndryTFo&feature=player_embedded

[spikehs]

Picked up the scooba and ran it for a few mins before the battery died as it wasn't charged when I got it. Thing is pretty cool, goes in total random patterns, so it'll be cool to see how it does on a full charge. ran it in my front area before it died which was pretty dirty, and it did an awesome job.

When I run it on a full charge tomorrow it should do my kitchen + front area + bathroom. The higher models do 3-4 times the area of this one. I'd say its about half the noise of a vacuum, you could watch tv if it was running, but might have to turn it up a bit.

[spikehs]

ok, got the roomba for christmas, and I LOVE this thing, it works amazingly well. I have a cat and the amount of hair she leaves on the rug leaves it looking terrible, but running this thing every couple of days keeps things looking nice and clean.

If anyone was thinking about it, i'd definatly recommend them.

[Leah]

spikehs

We are thinking about getting do you find it noisy though?

Leah

[workn2hard2day]

I also recv'd one for Christmas. It is not any noisier than an overflow.
I have a golden and a blk lab. Had just vac'd the day before, used it to clean up the tree needles (did excellent job), but it did "power down" because it collected too much.
Had run for about 30 min, cleaning l/room, hall & part of fam/rm. Emptied out the dog hair and away it went again :biggrin: Was really good at going between different floor types.
I am kinda a clean freak, it will never replace my vacuum. But I do like having it. Set it and when you come home, nice clean floors :biggrin:

[Leah]

workn2hard2day,

I know what you mean I just vacuumed yesterday and today I see dog hair swirling in the kitchen. Love my dogs, just wish they didn't share all that hair. Might be worth it.

[spikehs]

workn2hard2day,

I know what you mean I just vacuumed yesterday and today I see dog hair swirling in the kitchen. Love my dogs, just wish they didn't share all that hair. Might be worth it.

For the sound, I find it about half the noise level of my regular vacuum. I have it running around right now while I watch tv and I've had to turn the TV up slightly but nothing too drastic. The noise level of it has impressed me. It gets all the cat hair that it can find for me! You could always pick one up from costco or canadian tire and test it out for 30 days.

[chisai]

My wife got our new one on Boxing Day, splurged and got the programmable. It's set to vacuum the upstairs of our house every day at 10am, so we're both gone to work and noise isn't an issue. With two dogs and a cat it makes a world of difference. When it ran on the weekend I noticed it was louder than our old one, but no worse than running the regular vacuum.

[my2rotties]

I always wondered the same thing with my pack of three, in the forest. My rottie won't let me mop so I would imagine she would pounce the roomba as well.

I could not imagine how many of these I would have to buy to keep up with my 2 Husky's and living in the country to boot.