iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, White
by iRobot
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, White
Customer Review: A godsend for those with pet and dust allergies
Summary: 5 Stars
Two weeks into owning this thing, I can't stop raving about it. I'm pretty sure my girlfriend is tired of me doing so.
You see, I am allergic to pet dander, BIG TIME. Particularly cats. So much so that I have a supply of loratadine (aka Claritin) ready in every piece of luggage I own, in my glove box, and of course in my medicine cabinet. I also have sleep apnea, which is only worsened whenever my allergies are doing their thing.
My girlfriend and I decided to move in together, and unfortunately she rescued a cat while we were geographically separated! All of this being a gamble anyway, I decided to order this model of the Roomba. The first day together, we vacuumed normally in the house, and then set the Roomba about. I had to empty it out four times before it finished it's run of the living room, so keep that in mind if you end up purchasing it. Since then though, it does it's best Wall-E impression and dutifully and relatively quietly cleans the floors and carpet in our apartment. I haven't had to touch my allergy medication as a result!
There are things to keep in mind, though. You will have to make your environment Roomba friendly. I was prepared and not so annoyed with this, as I have had ferrets before, and you have to ferret-proof their environments (ferret owners will know what I'm saying). So, to make things Roomba friendly, I had to put some of that rubber cabinet liner stuff under the mats in the kitchen and the bathroom, so that the Roomba didn't push them around. I had to do the same for the cat's food and water bowls. We also had to ditch some black mats, because the Roomba went out of it's way to avoid them - I think the Roomba "thinks" the black mats are actually a stairwell abyss. And, we have a tall oscillating fan that has a base that sometimes acts like a ramp for the Roomba, which it occasionally gets stuck on. I have yet to figure out a way around that, other than to put the fan somewhere else.
These are what I consider minor "problems" - certainly understandable, considering what an engineering feat I think this product is. To complain about them would, to me, seem like complaining that it doesn't pick your dirty socks off of the floor and toss them into the hamper.
The fact of the matter is that the Roomba has enabled my girlfriend, her cat, and I to live together in peace, and that means a lot to me! I'd recommend it for someone finding themselves in similar circumstances, or someone who has my work ethic when it comes to vacuuming (read: none).
Back to my allergies, the first few days of use I did have to take my allergy medicine, but that was because the Roomba just had so much work to do. It seems my girlfriend wasn't a regular vacuumer, so it took about ten passes for the Roomba to get around to just picking up day-to-day stuff. Keep in mind that this thing is for day-to-day use, the reasonable limitations of it, and you'll be plenty happy with it.
Customer Review: Immaculate Floors and even fun to watch
Summary: 5 Stars
My parents were early adopters of the Roomba a few years back and back then the Roomba had vacuuming abilities of a low end cheap vacuum. I was still convinced of the technology and decided to buy one for my apartment as a first "real" vacuum. My wife was skeptical and I didn't have very high expectations at first. After about 2 days of it running, 4 months of dirty floors became absolutely immaculate. Our soot and dirt filled white carpet turned back to pearly white again. Granted it did take about 2 days of it running to get to this stage, but still, that's the point, YOU don't have to clean, it does! (Plus once it's clean you can just run Roomba once every 2-3 days)
A few things to note:
1. Check the waste bin and air filter before every cleaning. It takes 30 seconds tops to open, empty, tap clean, and re-insert
2. Check and clean the brushes often, this really does help to make sure it gets more dirt up
3. Don't get entranced! Me and my wife easily sat for almost 45 minutes one time just watching it clean the house, so fascinating. Just let it do it's thing and it'll charge itself, easy.
I was worried that it wouldn't have the sense to return to it's base all the way on the other side of the apartment when it was done, but I was wrong. It gives itself PLENTY of wiggle room with it's battery charge in order to make sure it can make it back to it's base. Essentially it just runs until it get's down to about an hour of remaining battery and then goes into "dock" mode where it just continues to clean and wander about the house. If you've done due diligence in making sure the base is pointed at a large swath of open space in your living room it'll simply clean till it notices the invisible IR beam shooting out of the charging base and it will hone in on the signal and dock itself.
I would recommend (after the initial 16 hour "refresh" charge) simply setting the Roomba down and watching it clean. See where it likes to go most and try to place the base station there. Make sure that you give it a good 4-6 feet clearance in front of the station so it has plenty of room to notice and hone in on it's signal. I placed it at the end of the hallway leading from my front door to my kitchen, this way if it's in either room moving between them, it's going to notice the charging base signal. Just be smart about it, think like a robot.
All in all, superb vacuum. Me and my wife have no real desire to buy a "real" vacuum anytime soon and were very happy that I bit the bullet and got a Roomba instead of a pain-in-the-butt-upright.
Customer Review: Works fine for what it is
Summary: 5 Stars
Own 535 model for about a week. Use it every day. Works great so far.
I currently live in a carpeted 3br alone, being out to work 12 hours a day, so this thing is absolutely invaluable for me. I've read all the negative reviews, then bought it. $212.42 at hsn.com, + $34.95 2yr warranty (I guess you'd want it too). No illusions, prepared to spend some money for spare parts in (near?) future. Reviews are discrepant about the iRobot customer service, from "excellent" to "it sucks". I somehow more inclined to believe in the latter, but we'll see.
The thing is FUN to watch (and show to a guest ;o), but it does really good job too, judging from the amount of dust it gathers every time. Of course, have to spend 2 minutes cleaning it after every 2-hour working cycle, which is fair enough, if you ask me. Cut hair from the brushes with scissors. Remove all chairs, shoes, etc, from the room, place the base there, shut the door, then leave for a day. At night, find the room (supposedly) clean, and Roomba charging itself at the base. Cool!
Had to adjust the height of a sofa to let it under. 10 minutes of hard work, but I am a man in the house, am I not? (Remember, no illusions! It's NOT your regular vacuum..).
Have not used the lighthouse yet, the instruction is a mess, bought D-size batteries, but they do not fit, need C-size. But (!!) I found that closed doors work perfectly as well! Otherwise, it works too, but sometimes has trouble returning to the base from another room. Not really a problem, just works till the battery dies, then has to be charged for a few extra hours.
One of my rooms is a loft, and the robot feels pretty comfortable there, has not fallen from the stairs so far. Runs at full speed towards the abyss, then somehow manages to stop on the brink every time. Could not believe it at first, stayed "on belay" for a half an hour, but now feel comfortable leaving it working upstairs unattended (we'll see ;).
For a computer guy, it is really interesting to guess its algorithm from its behavior. My best guess it is completely randomized, with ~60% chance to go at a sharp (~15-20 degrees) angle after hitting an obstacle, and the rest is showing a "smart" behavior following a wall. Resulting in some room areas covered obviously better than others. iRobot says everybody's welcome to play with its programming through some open (?) API, but I did not investigate it yet. Depending on its computational power, it might be possible to apply some state-of-the-art AI algorithms to improve it. At least, make it remember the room configuration...
Customer Review: It's Like a Beloved Pet Who MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER
Summary: 5 Stars
Awesome. This new generation fixes all the problems of the previous. Much smarter, much bigger dust bin, much better in every way. Great that it self-docks when tired. Maintanence is a snap...really could not be easier/faster. There are some negatives - how could there not be? - but this thing has such a contagious personality that it starts feeling like your pet, and you're inclined to forgive, and even find the faults charming.
You have to prep the room (cords up and out of the way, no papers or clutter on the floor, move small items out of the room and learn which objects present problems and get them out of the way). Performance varies on throw rugs (it's great on rug/carpet surfaces themselves, but Roomba can get caught up as it travels over edges of throw rugs that don't have much weight or cling). It's good at slowing down and banging objects gently, but less so on narrow vertical objects (e.g. piano legs), which it really clunks (not enough to damage, but it will make you wince). In terms of results, it's a notch below a stout top-end British maid with her sturdy Hoover, but several notches above what mere mortals can achieve, and it's especially good on edgework, under baseboards and furniture, and other spots most people would miss.Yes, it gets corners fine, in spite of its round shape. It's got a whirling brush that ably gets at them.
Most of all, if you're someone who's non-meticulous about keeping up housekeeping cycles (even if not, like, a total slob), it's hard to describe the satisfaction of ALWAYS having spotless floors. Since, per above, you'll develop at least some degree of affection for your Roomba, it's the ideal pet...it vastly contributes to the household, yet its needs are few (I pull hairs out of its brushes with the affection of a dog owner checking his dalmation for tics).
I have a fairly large house, and one unit is more than enough. Every other day, I bring her upstairs to work, that's all.
Oh, and it's extraordinarily entertaining to watch. The drama of whether it'll ever get to this hairball or that crumb is downright fraught. In spite of its seemingly random pattern, it does somehow get everything in the end.
One nice side effect: the act of prepping a room for vacuuming - i.e. getting clutter off the floor - is itself a life-changing improvement. I find it much easier to organize books, papers, etc, when it's for an immediate purpose than as a general habit. So the house isn't just cleaner, floor-wise....it's also generally better kept-up. Love my Roomba. Buy one now.
Customer Review: Love it
Summary: 5 Stars
It is absolutely great. I read a lot of reviews before I decide to buy a Roomba. I was a little skeptical that it would work the way promised, especially if you consider the price. If I put together all the miracle cleaners and vacuums and so on, I spend a lot more money than the $ 249 they were asking for it. True to be told, I hate to clean anything, but I hate a dirty house even more, so I am forced to use a lot of elbow grease to keep things at least acceptable. This little machine is my new best friend. I Robot recommend you use your Roomba often and I do every day (no complains here. Hey, if the robot want to work, I am fine with that).
Some things to consider before you buy. It will make your life really easy but a minimal preparation is recommended. Model 530 can clean up to 3 rooms at once, but because my rooms are fairly big, I clean only two rooms wait until the unit recharge (It goes back to the charger dock by itselfº). The recharge is really fast, and then it clean two different rooms. My floors having being this clean since we bought the house. My husband has a Maltese and a cat. The cat seems clean, but the Maltese is my nightmare leaving buckets of white hair everywhere. There is no more hair to be found.
It will clean for you but I would advise to pick up any large debris. I have a ceramic studio in the back of my house and I have some dry clay and dry plaster of Paris on the floor. I swept the floor to remove the large pieces (My studio was the only room in the house where I pre-clean the floor before I first use the Roomba on it. The rest I just let the robot lose and it did the job). The floor in the studio looks so nice now. The very first time it cleaned the dining room I remove the chairs to make things easier. It is not necessary because it will to a pretty good job with all the chairs in place.
Can you do a better job cleaning? Yes, of course. Can you do it every day? Good for you, because I cannot. I have to work full time and I am back to school after 15 years and I do not have time or energy to clean the house every day, and I am happy the floors are nice and dust and hair free with minimal effort from me (Maintenance = cleaning the robot after use that takes about 2 minutes only).
Just remember. After each use clean your robot. My floors look so clean, but still every time I open the machine there is a lot of hair, human and from pets, around the brushes. I have it for week now and I am seriously considering buying another one and a Scooba (The IRobot that washes the floors).