iRobot 110 Dirt Dog Workshop Robot
by iRobot
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List Price: Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 110 Dirt Dog Workshop Robot
Customer Review: The best bargain of the iRobots
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had the iRobot Dirt Dog for a week. Since I have a full basement, two-car garage, and many hard-wood floored rooms I figured this would be worth the price. As for the other iRobots, for me they are too pricey for what they deliver, as there IS NO WAY, given the power differential in suction and agitation, a small device like this can clean a carpet as well as a traditional vacuum cleaner. So that brings me to the Dirt Dog. For hard floors, this won't clean as well as a real vacuum either (nor did I expect it to), but it does come close enough. Close because it will pick up the larger stuff, but it cannot get the small particles of dust (and of course microdist). The Dirt Dog uses two circular undercarriage brushes, and one spinning brush on the side of the unit to sweep stuff out from corners, to clean. There is no vacuum. I've used it twice now in the basement on two different rooms and it did a good job--took about 45 minutes each. I have a large window in one room and the light revealed how the Dirt Dog kicked up the fine dust as it roamed around; this is expected of course because again this is a sweeper unit and not a vacuum. So my point is this unit cleans pretty well but it's not a substitute for occasional vacuuming with a real traditional vacuum. I've used it on my patio and it did OK, but the patio bricks have beveled edges and of course the brushes cannot get into those crevasses. I have not used it on the hardwood flooring, but I know it will do a decent job with the caveat that this is not a substitute for occasional traditional vacuuming and wet mopping. The Dirt Dog needs to be cleaned (brushes removed, etc.) about every 3 time you use it so this is not a care-free device. Also keep in mind that the brushes wear out and the prices are NOT CHEAP--the company uses a traditional business model where they rake you over the coal on parts (like ink jet cartridges). For example, the cost is $40 to get a set of replacement brushes (4 rollers and 1 sweeper) and the battery is $50. In conclusion, the Dirt Dog like all the iRobots is a convenience item, not a replacement for traditional sweat equity cleaning if you like truly clean. But it will do the job between real cleanings and will free you up for other tasks.Customer Review: A GREAT, HARD-WORKING DOG!
Summary: 5 Stars
With 4 dogs, 2 cats, 2 kids and a 60x45 loft-like main area with a concrete floor, I needed help. I researched the roombas and decided that the Dirt Dog was the one to choose because it was designed for hard floor surfaces and had an over-sized dirt bin.
What a great choice! I absolutely love this dog. Unlike the other reviewer with the large space, we have all kinds of things for the dog to bump into (table, chairs, dog beds, sofa, walls...). We initially placed the dog in the center of the room and didn't pick up anything just to see what the dog could do. It did a few turns & took off diagonally across the room. It just kept bumping & going under tables & chairs, and made its way out & went off in another direction.
According to the instructions, the dog is suppose to have patterns that it follows for cleaning, but I think our space is so big that it just seems to scoot randomly after a bump redirects it.
Random patterns or not, the dog really does pick up screws, dog hair, candy wrappers & regular dirt. For other spaces, rather than a "virtual wall", I used recycle bins and boxes to keep the dog restricted to my tile floor kitchen & the dog did a fine job. As for other things, the dog will push itself onto area rugs (low pile) and even went over a cotton doormat. We also have used it on a wall-to-wall low pile carpeted room and found that it works well on this type of surface as well. As others have noted, it does not like rug fringe & cords, so I have to make sure those are taken up or blocked.
The manual says that the dog will clean up to 60 minutes. My experience is that this time is correct.
I do not expect the dog to do all my cleaning - I still have to get the corners and wall edges and mop - but the dog has significantly lightened my cleaning load. I'm now looking at scoombas to keep the dog company.
Overall, I am thrilled with this purchase, and wish I had made it sooner. I'd give Dirt Dog 10 stars if I could. Highly and Enthusiastically Recommended.
Customer Review: SKEPTIC TO BELIEVER
Summary: 5 Stars
I cannot give the Dirt Dog enough praise! As a single Dad and trying to keep up with work, house, yard, dog and 10 year old, I needed some help. Bless the single parents out there! My house only has tile and wood floors. After reading review after review saying the dirt dog was excellent on both, I had to order one. I wake up, get me and the daughter ready, feed the dog and turn on the Dirt Dog. When I come back from work we empty the Dirt Dog cleaning bin and Whoooooooo Doggggy! First time I used it I thought it had swept up the dog. I really didn't think my floors where that dirty! My daughter and I watched it for half an hour the first time sitting on the couch as it did it's job. My daughter noticed a little bug that was making it's way across the living room. The Dirt Dog just missed it on the first pass. We were screaming and yelling at the Dirt Dog to get it. We would yell "left" and the little Dirt Dog went right. We yelled "U-Turn" and it would go straight. The little bug was almost to safety when the Dirt Dog turned around like it was on a search and destroy mission and.........bug gone! I live in the desert so sand and dog hair are the challenges for our Dirt Dog (the occasional little bug)and all three are no problem! I am getting one for my garage next and then another for the upstairs. Then I am going to try the Scooba. This isn't going to completely keep you from pulling out the vacumm cleaner for areas the Dirt Dog cant get into, but for everyday cleaning .....Nice!! The battery lasts for almost 2 hours on mine after a few charging cycles were complete.I have never experienced a problem with our Dirt Dog yet. The only negative we have experienced is that my daughter is very upset that she doesn't get paid allowance for sweeping the floors downstairs anymore! She would like to see a poop patrol Irobot for our dog though! If your on the fence about this product, I recommend you purchase it! I don't think you will be disappointed. I know I am not!Customer Review: The expensive ones are crap...this one is very good
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had 3 Roomba Discovery machines for a total of around 800 bucks....they all died , one during the warranty, so Amazon shipped me a new one, which died shortly after warranty....the last one has died as well. All were used in a medium sized home office with a very short business type rug, on average of once per week. The "vacuum suction" is really a joke if you are trying to pull deep dirt from your rug. Half the time most couldnt find the parking charger, and also went over stairs and door sills from time to time...I used compressed air from my shop to clean it....At first no one would repair them, now there are people that will do it, but it seems the repair will be up to 100 bucks for a 30 day guarantee on the repair...Well, they can stuff the repair and the Roomba "all around machines" (Anybody want to buy the last one for repair,{?} the unit is doing the famous circle dance)
The Roomba dirt dog on the other hand has been outstanding. It has been working for about two years in my home shop of about 24 x 24 feet volume....I leave it running until the battery discharges, after which time, the concrete floor is as clean as anything else I have used....noisy little creature, but it lets me know it is working hard for me.....sawdust, metal shavings, and other shop residue is no problem and the dirt bin needs to be emptied only once at the end of the chore.....(98% of the time)
The important thing is "would I buy another?" Answer is "absolutely"....thinking of buying another before the old guy drops dead....maybe I will run two at a time and cut the cleaning in half.....Lastly, I tried the Dog on my office rug mentioned above....it did every bit as good as the super expensive ones.....since both really only take up the surface dirt, a strong vacuum cleaner should be used every now and then.....I might use the new one in the office while waiting for the death of the old unit.........
Customer Review: I adore this item
Summary: 5 Stars
We have an incredibly sheddy dog, and my husband and I both have back/disk injuries. It was at the point where, by the time our backs stopped hurting from sweeping, it was time to sweep again (seriously, this house needs sweeping daily, our dog can seriously shed). This little device is a lifesaver. It gets everything up, and it's easy as can be. A few people mentioned it being difficult to clean the brushes; I don't get that at all. I think it's pretty easy. It's even easier if you ignore the comb part of the cleaning tool that comes with it and get a wire dog brush (not recommending any brand, but this is the kind I mean: http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Self-Cleaning-Slicker-Medium-Large-Brush/dp/B0002DIRWS/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1257196684&sr=8-8). use the bladed part of the cleaning tool that comes with it to break up any "rings" of dog hair caught on the brushes and pull them off, then brush it with the dog brush. Seriously, it's like a 2-3 minute process tops. The instructions say to clean the brush every 3rd use, but I clean them every time I empty the dust pan.
I've had this for almost 2 months, and it gets run almost daily. After about 2 weeks it started running wonky. I followed the website instructions based on the number of beeps it made (the number of beeps is supposed to tell you what's wrong)and it didn't work, so I sent a message to customer support on the irobot site. I got a response back within 15 minutes, with a list of "things to try." In my case, it turned out I needed to clean the little end caps on the brush as well, which I'd missed. Once that was done, it worked perfectly again. This item is just such a major convenience, I highly recommend it to everyone with hard surface floors and area rugs without fringe (it cleans our area rug as well). Now if only they could make another robot that would pick my kids toys off the floor and put them away...