iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, White
by iRobot
|
List Price: Our Price: $287.99 You Save: $12.00 (4%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $177.98 (click here) Category: Home See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, White
Customer Review: An Amazing Machine!
Summary: 5 Stars
Is Roomba the greatest thing since sliced bread? Yup. I think so. I'd rather slice my own bread than give up my Roomba. Simple as that.
I live alone in a rather large two-story house with four bedrooms and three baths, along with two very furry cats and a dog that won't stop shedding. Needless to say, my place needed constant vacuuming, usually once a day. And if I left for a long weekend, the place would be a disaster when I returned. Not so with Roomba. I just push the button every morning as I leave and the house is cleaned when I get home. I have extensive hardwood floors, tile floors, wall-to-wall carpeting and throw rugs. The Roomba adjusts for all surfaces and cleans them equally well. No problem. And my oriental rugs with fringe aren't an issue with Roomba's anti-tangle capability. In short, it's an enormous timesaver and well worth the money.
Some have complained that the Roomba isn't as powerful as a regular canister or upright. True. Its suction is roughly the equivalent of an old Dust Buster. But it's very effective nonetheless because of an ingenious combination of brushes underneath that pop the dirt up and into the debris bin without the need of a powerful vacuum. Furthermore, the combination of vacuum and brushes can suck up debris the size and weight of most coins along with large clumps of mud and tangles of pet hair, perfectly adequate for most home needs. Others have complained that the Roomba is noisy. Not at all. In fact, it's far quieter than my regular vacuum--again, it's about as noisy as a battery-powered handheld vacuum. Still others maintain that it takes too much maintenance. Well, I haven't had any problems with my Roomba, and I've been using it almost daily for four months. Yes, you do have to clean it regularly. Unlike a canister vacuum that you can shut off and ignore, you may want to clean your Roomba almost every time. But the five minutes or so I spend emptying the debris bin and cleaning the roller bushes is nothing compared to spending an hour or two vacuuming the old way.
Things to be aware of: Be sure to clean the roller brushes thoroughly. I had trouble initially when my brushes stopped working after only a few weeks. I thought, "Oh, boy. Here we go. A faulty machine." But no. It was my fault. After calling the Roomba service line, I discovered that I hadn't read the instructions carefully and failed to clean the bearings on the side of the roller brushes. The bearings eventually became clogged with pet fur and stopped turning, causing my rollers to freeze up. After a little cleaning, the rollers were working again like new. Lesson learned.
I'm also careful to block off rooms I don't want vacuumed so my Roomba can do a more thorough job on those rooms I do want cleaned. You can either use the two battery operated "virtual walls" that come with the unit to prevent the Roomba from entering a room, or just close the doors. I usually rotate between my family room, kitchen and hallways in one cleaning; the dining room, living room and library in the next. I also use my Roomba upstairs to clean the bedrooms and baths in a similar rotation. Again, such rotations may seem like a lot of work to clean the whole house, but I'd much rather spend the minute or two moving my Roomba between the upstairs and downstairs than to spend an hour or more vacuuming.
Sure, Roomba can't do stairs and it can't quite reach into the corners. But while my Roomba is busy cleaning the rest of my house, I can take the few minutes to vacuum the stairs and hit the corners with the regular vacuum. Again, a huge time savings. Do the pets mind? Not at all. After running it the first time, my cats and dog became completely bored and now ignore it whenever it's working. It doesn't bother them in the least.
I bought the 530 model have been absolutely delighted with it. And though I don't have the lighthouses to guide it back to its recharging station, my Roomba usually finds its way back all by itself anyway. And if it doesn't and runs out of juice somewhere else, it's hardly a chore to move it back to its base for recharging. After a couple of hours or so, it's fully charged and ready to go again. While I haven't timed it, I'd guess my Roomba runs for at least 90 minutes, maybe longer. I think the battery may run down faster if the brushes are full of cat hair. So I'm careful now to clean the brushes every time.
After a while, it just becomes a habit to turn on my Roomba every time I leave the house. It's such an amazing convenience and it actually works. My girlfriend, who has terrible allergies, has noticed how much cleaner my house is now. And while my Roomba doesn't have a HEPA filter, its filter does pick up an amazing amount of dust--making the entire house much more breathable and dust-free.
Like a lot of people, I was fairly skeptical when I first invested in my Roomba. But I'm not anymore. This is an amazing machine that does exactly as advertised. And I am thrilled at how easy it is to operate and maintain, and how simple it is to develop an entirely new vacuuming routine.
Any drawbacks? Well, wouldn't it be wonderful if my Roomba could do stairs? Or reach those corners? Or make my bed? Or do the laundry? Or clean the dishes? Sure. But as it is, it's simply great--and well worth the investment. I can recommend this machine enthusiastically.
Customer Review: Initial thoughts on Roomba
Summary: 5 Stars
The Roomba is fun. The 530 model doesn't use half of the owner's manual stuff (no special "lighthouses" to get it to do multiple rooms in series, no remote control, no scheduling function so it works while you are away), but it does clean. It can get out of any area it can get into unless it did it by moving shoes and jammed them up. Mine didn't get caught under the dining room table, but it spent a long time there hunting and pecking. It moved some slip on sandals to get under and then as it kept trying to get out they kept sliding in the way, but it eventually kept nudging them until it could get out.
It went under the cabinet where I store my flip flops to clean and ended up pushing them all over the room in different direction.
Don't sweat when it doesn't pick up "big stuff" like sweetener packets, the actual vacuuming area is smaller than the robot, so stuff gets nudged until it rides right over it in its pathing. (Does dropping stuff in front of the robot to make it clean more count as abusive harassment? :lol)
The wall/corner side brush does work well to pick up the junk along baseboards and corners, it also feeds it directly into the pickup area (it is the off side that has a problem with shoving small debris out of the way).
It can end up leaving little piles of debris if you let it range over a large area, the pathing algorithm would end up getting it, but when it moves out of the kitchen into the hall, gets excited about the front door rug, tries out the way to the kid's room, gets excited again about the front door run, then trundles back into the living room area, then finds the hall to the computer room and the computer room itself, it just doesn't make the full sweep.
It follow odd shapes it considers "wall" very well. It looks like it is missing bits, but the side sweeper brush is hitting the tight corner areas.
When you first start cleaning with it, unless you have just done a spring cleaning type of thing, check the debris box often, it isn't that big.
Open the debris box over the trash can and fiddle with the emptying, dirt/dust can hang by the filter tray hinge and dribble. Mainly empty away from the hinge while holding it sideways.
We have a Rainbow and it seriously would kick this little bugger's arse any day of the week for cleaning, but it is a lot bigger pain to set up to hit the high traffic areas only. This looks like it will be great for day to day maintenance of picking up hair. I'd have said pet hair (which was the first thing I noticed from both my long hair dogs), but after it worked the little corners around my computer chair and desk, I noticed that the majority of the hair was mine. I had picked up and stacked some of the various boxes of supplies, equipment and parts out of the way, so it had more access to areas that haven't been vacuumed in a while.
Not enough data, but it seems to have an issue where a wall to wall carpet meets a tile area. The little lip edging isn't enough to stop it, which means it doesn't sit and dig right there where dirt accumulates. It did quite a bit, but it was spending time with one wheel on the carpet and one on the tile and never could bring the side brush into play. That is a coding issue, but it probably would take more expensive discrimination circuits.
Another issue is that it can manage to get stuck under furniture that is just the "right" height if it hits it wrong. Did that under one of the wingback chairs, it turned under it where the bumper sensor wasn't, picked it up enough to jam itself.
If let it roam too widely, then when it loses charge it cannot find its docking station. Easy enough fix, I pick it up and take it where I want it to work and let it go, then check back on it and return it to the dock if it needs a charge.
Looks like it needs regular maintenance to keep it cleaning well. No big deal, everything pops out, cleans easily (need good pointy scissors to clear wrapped up hair) and goes right back together. I'd say at least after every second cleaning cycle when you first start up with it. Tip: the big wheels on the end of the big roller brush pop off so you can slide the brush cleaner thingy right over the roller after you have cut and pulled all the stuff wrapped around it off.
It is light enough to pick up and walk around with, so it looks like it is easy enough to just pick up the obstacles in a room, but it in there, shut the door and let it go when you leave the house. If you put the docking station in with it, you should get back to find it charged and ready for the next room that evening. I'll test that. Then just cycle it around the house doing a room or three every day and you should be good.
Overall a great little widget to keep the general level of dirt/hair/debris down between heavier duty cleanings. Bonus to that should be easier "heavy" cleanings without you having to do anything but move it and hit a button. Well worth the money.
Customer Review: Updated version is studier, better than before
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been following roombas for years. The 500 generation roomba is definitely better than the generations before it, and will be a worthy replacement once your old one finally fails. Don't have a roomba? If you have little time, it can be a big help. If you've never used a roomba before, it's basically fire-and-forget cleaning, with a few caveats.
Roombas are designed for regular cleaning, but require a little prep work. First, pick up anything long and stringy that might get caught, like loose socks or power cables. Next, the roomba will by design bump into everything, so if there is anything light or carefully perched in the room you have to move them. I've had groups of folding chairs leaning on the edge of a desk, only to return to the roomba sheepishly pinned underneath their mass. It also has unique ideas about where to put the bag of paper bags.
You may also have to put up virtual walls or close various doors to keep the roomba from wandering or getting stuck. The 500 series is much better about getting over the bumps that divide rooms, but it still gets stuck if the bump is too big. It will sometimes take a step down that is just a little too big for it to step back up. It will also find new and unique places to get stuck, like underneath La-Z-Boy chairs or on the edges of rolled up newspapers. The virtual walls themselves are nice to keep it out of problem ares, but in a pinch a weighted cardboard box will do.
And again, these are for regular cleaning. You ought to run them two or three times as often as you would regularly clean the floors. They don't get everything every time. After the third time or so, regular runs should be enough to keep the room clean. While other people have said these work great on hardwood and linoleum, I personally think they are the most helpful on carpet.
Roombas require a little upkeep themselves. This generation of roomba is much easier to disassemble, but I recommend after every few vaccuums to spend five minutes removing the brushes and picking off all the hair. The 500 line shut off the brushes when they get caught on something. This helps save the motor (and de-tangle from stuff), but if you don't clean the brush it will eventually stop spinning. Similarly, the dustbin is really only large enough for two or three dirty rooms before really needing dumping. And somehow it seems to leave dirt right wherever it happens to be when it shuts off.
Also, expect to replace the battery every two or three years. These are about 100 dollars, so it isn't a cheap expense.
The main difference within the 500 series of robots is compatible accessories. 1. Does it have a home base? 2. Can it be scheduled? 3. Does it work with virtual lighthouses? 4. How many walls / lighthouses does it come with? To go through that list: 1. A home base is nice as it saves you the trouble of plugging it in (you can tell it to plug itself in). 2. If it can reach all of the important areas of your house from the home base, it can be nice to schedule it to start cleaning while you're away at work. That's not essential, of course. 3. Virtual lighthouses stop the roomba from going into the next room until it has finished cleaning the current one. If you have enough money to buy a lot of these, they can be a nice way to control the flow of the Roomba. However, I find them to be a bit gimmocky, and would rather just wall off areas to avoid. 4. Virtual walls are a nice convienience, as they can be setup and just work for long periods of time. However, they effectively just close doors. So if there are areas your pets must access, two or three virtual walls can be very helpful. But you can always just put down some heavy books. Basically, the entry-level 500 models are fine for lazy cleaning, and as your budget goes up so too does the convienience level.
Overall, it's hard not to love something that cleans for you. It's about the same volume and price as a nice vaccuum cleaner, but it frees up your time to do what you want. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Roomba works tirelessly, and works well.
Summary: 5 Stars
I must admit, when I read some of the reviews, I hesitated to buy Roomba. Then, after reading more reviews I realized that some people are expecting perfection in such a complex device.
But, keep in mind that it is impossible for manufacturer to create something that anticipates all the variable that are presented to Roomba. Literally - every room is different in some way. Also, it does require cleaning every time you use it. It is not like a regular vacuum where you can wait a month for the bag to fill.
Another important factor - people and their expectations. Clearly, in any group there are some that want everything to work according to their rules and expectations. We all know that is not the way life works. There are kinks and turns we face daily. And, frustrations. And, nothing is perfect. If Roomba is going to work for you, you have to conform to some of its rules none of which are unreasonable.
Even our magical computers make us want to pull our hair out when we face some glitch with some application or Windows glitches.
I purchased the model 550 Roomba at Costco because with the immediate $[...] off it came in at $[...]. In the back of my mind, I did not expect Roomba to work as well as it does and so far, have been pleasantly surprised. So much so, that the original box and packing has moved from the back of my car to my attic. Also purchased on my Amex so that the warranty is automatically extended another year.
My house has a 80/20 tile to carpet ratio downstairs. There are bar stools and chairs and tables. There are cords, tassels and throw rugs. Sonia's [her new name] bed is under a corner table out of sight.
Sonia is set to work daily at 3:00AM so we don't hear her as she toils. I clean her daily which takes me about 4 minutes. The brush cleaning device works well and I move it back and forth, rather than one direction as the arrow indicates. I use a pair of needle nose pliers to extract hair on the sides of the small brush which does not have removable hair guards. This will not quite relate to those of you that don't have Roomba. I also occasionally blow out dust [outside the house, of course] from the collection bin and clean the bottom of the Roomba with a damp paper towel. Once a week, a bit of WD40 on the two small brush bearings and the front wheel bearing. [They easily pull out] Like anything else, you give it good care and it will return the favor.
Amazingly, every day there is stuff in the bin that causes me to ask - Where the heck did this come from? She works so well, I am thinking of changing to a reduced work schedule and giving her a couple of days off a week.
I have not had side brush problems and if I do, I will update. I think they were re-desiged on the 550 to a three brush arrangement. I did purchase the brush/filter replacement kit at Amazon Prime for $39.95 just so I have them if I need them. I am sure that all brushes will have to be replaced in a year or so.
I do agree instruction book could be better, but, found that it is rather intuitive once you use Roomba a week or so. The Virtual Wall device was a bit of a mystery, but once placed, it literally draws a line that the Roomba won't cross over. This is if you want to keep it cleaning one area only. If you just play with it a couple of times, you will understand that fully.
I am seriously thinking of buying a second one for the upstairs of the house which is 20/80 carpet to tile ratio. I tried it a couple of times and it worked very well on the upstairs.
Customer Review: Roomba 535
Summary: 5 Stars
Hey:
Here's a link to the Roomba telling you how to get the discount price at HSN (if you're a first time customer). It is the best price on the net--I've looked everywhere.
http://www.roombareview.com/buy/roomba535/
Ours is working great so far. You have to empty the bin and clean the brushes after each use but it's a whole lot quicker than vacuuming the entire house. I checked behind it yesterday after it did the bedroom and you can see an inch thick layer of dust under the bed where it couldn't get to because of junk we had under there (and I could never get the big vacuum under the bed and was too lazy to move the bed around to vacuum).
I let it run while working out and it did two bedrooms, the hall and the bathroom before needing a charge. If confined to the room with the charger base, it will return to the base by itself and start charging. If you're doing rooms beyond the base, though, you have to take Roomba back to the charger room. The little lighthouse thing will confine the vacuum to one room or area and won't let it go beyond that area until it is cleaned.
It has not had any trouble going over AC vents (even one of those wooden ones that stick up) and it fits under kitchen counter toe kicks perfectly. We haven't had but one or two instances of it getting stuck (once on a floor fan base, it's plastic and slick so I guess it lost traction).
It does not like black rugs because of the stair/step sensor that keeps it from falling down stairs.
It can get over bathroom rugs sometimes but they do give it some trouble (not as much as trying to use a full-size vac, though).
It likes to bump doors until they open and then Roomba keeps pushing until the door is closed and it can't get out of the room; so, if using the lighthouse to confine it to the room before going on to the hall or next room, you need to secure the door somehow.
You need to make sure you don't have a lot of junk just laying around so Roomba can get every nook and cranny.
It is great for pet and human hair (which is why you need to clean the brushes after every use).
Filters come in a three pack that cost $15 at Amazon.com with free shipping (they say change every 2-3 months).
Since we have berber carpet, it is hard to tell if every square inch is covered; but, the floor definitely looks completely clean when done. Before using Roomba the first time, I went over one room entirely with the full-size vacuum and then let Roomba go over it. Roomba still got hair and dirt off the floor.
It is a lot quieter than a full-size vacuum.
Doolittle (the cat) just stares at it when it's running--and runs when it's coming! Since it is summer, Doo pulls out more hair and you can see it drifting around on the hardwood floor. Since getting Roomba, though, the hair gets picked up regularly and thoroughly.
People have asked me about corners and edges of walls. Roomba gets them, too, with its little whirl-a-gig side brush.
Overall, the user reviews online (hundreds) are positive and so is our opinion of the Roomba.
I used to never find time to vacuum. Now I vacuum almost daily. I just wish I could get one for every room, get the optional scheduler, and just go room to room every couple of days and dump the bins and clean the brushes.
I think Roomba has a 12 month warranty. If your credit card is like ours, it will double the warranty for you.
Try it, you'll like it.