iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, White
by iRobot
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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 |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, White
Customer Review: Love this cute timesaver! and good for allergies, pet hair
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought this as a Christmas gift for myself. Have a small dog that doesn't shed and a cat that does. No kids. It charged in a couple of hours, not the overnight time the directions recommended. We have nicknamed our roomba "Gilbert", he is so loved in our house!
The pets got used to Gilbert quickly and it is great to run Gilbert while I am doing something else. While I was wrapping Christmas gifts, he was vaccuming the dining room. You will be mesmerized watching him go back and forth across the floor. It is actually relaxing sometimes, like watching fish! It does this cute scooty thing along the baseboards and hikes it's "bottom" up when it reverses off of things.
*Now for the cleaning aspects. I hate to vacuum, and before the roomba, I was only vaccuming the house every other week, which with my severe allergies wasn't good. I toss Gilbert in a room every day when I get home from work while i am cooking dinner and run him in the bedrooms on the weekends. He cleans a room for at least an hour or more depending on the size and how much stuff he has to bump into, but my rooms are large and he has never died before finishing. Roomba cleans well, even tile and hardwood floors if you use it on a routine basis. If you are picky about clean floors, or if there is a large amount of debris then use your regular vacuum, but if you use it in a daily rotating basis your life will be easier.
*Drawbacks
This is the only drawback i have, but it is probably due to having a cat. The instructions say to clean regularly, but I clean out the dust bin compartment thoroughly after every cleaning. The cat hair and dust never stop building up! I use a disposable micro duster to get into the nooks and crevices of the dust bin and unravel hair from the brushes each time.(If you have allergies, use a dust mask) There is an included brush cleaner widget, but it did nothing to help remove hair. There is a roller weel on the bottom of the unit that can pop out and pop back in for easy cleaning which is good because mine became clogged with cat fur.
Also the self docking system is ok, but really only good in the room you have it plugged into, it seems pretty pricey to purchase another one, it is just as easy to carry it back to the charger, or bring the charger to the area you are vaccuming.
Overall this is the best purchase for the home since my deck that i have made in a while. I do wish I had the newer version with the hepa filter, but maybe when this one wears out, which hopefully won't be for a while!
Customer Review: First Time Roomba Owner
Summary: 5 Stars
My boyfriend got me my Roomba 530 as a birthday gift. I just allowed it to run it's first cycle and I couldn't be happier. I have a one bedroom apartment and "Marvin" went through and cleaned the whole thing. It took about 1 1/2 hours start to finish.
Before I let him loose, I pre-cleaned by getting certain things off the floor. I can already tell that just by owning him, everything in my house will be cleaner since the floors have to stay clear and I don't like clutter on tables, counters, etc. When he began, he first cleaned the living room and zoomed around for the most part. Whenever he approached walls or furniture, he slowed down and never bumped into anything too hard. He transitioned seamlessly into my kitchen and laundry area which have linoleum floors and got all the crumbs up. Last, he headed for the bedroom and cleaned under the bed (yes!). It was definitely entertaining to watch him buzzing around.
Overall, he went over each area he cleaned 3-4 times and my carpet looks absolutely beautiful. He is much, much quieter than an upright vacuum and the beeping noises are very cute. However, I'd recommend running him during the day when you aren't looking for absolute silence--he might be too loud to deal with for some people if you are trying to sleep. I was impressed with the amount of dirt he picked up. Cleaning the filter and dust bin out only took about 2 minutes and it was easy to do. It's far less effort than dragging out my regular vacuum, plugging it in, keeping the cord from tangling or getting unplugged, etc. I will probably only bring out my Hoover once a month from now on, for deep cleaning purposes and to do my furniture with the attachments.
I haven't used the virtual walls yet, but I'm sure they will come in handy when I want him to concentrate on specific areas. I parked his home base in an out-of-the-way corner. I don't feel like I will need a timer or anything because I plan on just hitting Clean before I leave for work each day. Then when I get home, I'll have sparkling floors. Right now I'm the only one living here, until my boyfriend comes back from overseas, but even then I'm sure Marvin will still do a great job.
I definitely am giving this product two thumbs up. I'm already attached to my new robotic friend.
Customer Review: I'm glad we finally have the technology for this.
Summary: 5 Stars
I despise vacuuming, so getting a Roomba was a non-brainer for me. I'm very satisfied with its performance, and feel it does an excellent job. A few points about it:
-The picture may show a model with a carrying handle, but you likely won't get one with yours. I did not. It's not a big deal.
-Two virtual walls and a docking station are included, and all you really need. I typically limit Roomba to one room at a time by closing doors, and use the virtual walls to keep it away from pulling on wires (this model doesn't get caught on wires, though, so if both ends of the wire are stable you have nothing to fear.) I'm not sure if it has sufficient guidance technology or battery life to do multiple large rooms in the same trip (though it always manages to find its way back to its dock, so maybe it has better guidance tech than I think).
-It's (currently) significantly cheaper on Amazon than the retail price!
-The first several times you run it, it will probably pull up a lot of fiber from your carpet. Don't worry-- that stops pretty much entirely once it has gotten all the loose fibers. This model also works with hard surfaces, though honestly I don't think vacuuming in general is the best method for cleaning those.
-It comes with two filters, with more available for purchase, but I have not changed mine yet after months of use, though I do occasionally wash it. So far as I can tell, it's not effecting the performance.
As for cons, I should note that
1. Roomba may not do quite as a good a job as vacuuming by hand.
2. you will probably have to move a bit of furniture around before running Roomba so that it will fit everywhere.
3. Emptying out Roomba's bin and cleaning its brushes (though you don't really have to clean them after every use) takes a couple of minutes.
Nevertheless, to me, none of those cons matter. I hate vacuuming so much that I simply do not do it, and thus my place would be filthy if not for Roomba. Since I DO have Roomba, I run it once a week and my apartment is quite clean! I'd much rather spend five minutes moving furniture a bit than spend twenty minutes vacuuming, that's for sure.
Customer Review: Better than expected, but consider the 560
Summary: 5 Stars
We recently received this as a wedding shower gift and have really enjoyed it.
Vacuum Performance - It seems to vacuum really well. We recently had carpet installed in part of the house, and this did a great job of getting all of the loose fibers out of the carpet. Also, I accidentally left a screw on the floor and this had no problem picking it up. The only con - which I knew going in - is that I do not believe it is hypoalergenic like some upright vacuums.
Maintenance - The unit is really easy to clean, and the bin is a cinch to empty.
Coverage - Ultimately, I think most people are sceptical that it will cover an entire room, but it really does. You can tell by the vacuum lines. Not only does it cover what you would usually vacuum but it gets under dressers, beds, etc. better than I would with an upright. The only Con is that it takes longer than a person would. A room I could vacuum in 5 minutes takes the Roomba 30. This isn't a problem for me because I start it up on my way out in the morning and come home to a clean house.
Support - I have not had any problems with the roomba yet, but most of the parts are easy to change (I mean really easy) and parts seem easy to get on Amazon or the iRobot website, so I don't anticipate having problems getting parts when needed. I really view this as a big plus because with a traditional vacuum when something breaks you have to get a new unit or take it to a costly repair shop.
Multi-room coverage - I had hoped I could leave in the morning and have the roomba vacuum the entire upstairs of my townhouse. This is not the case with this model. Unfortunately, the 530 does not distinguish between rooms so it cannot efficiently vacuum multiple rooms at once. If you get the 560 or any other model higher than the 530, they come with "lighthouses". These "lighthouses" tell the roomba where rooms are so that it doesn't leave a room until it's finished, then it goes to the next one, etc. This is a great feature (for me anyway) and I really wish I had received the 560, but I'm making do by just starting the roomba in a different room in the morning.
Customer Review: Love the Roomba but can only give it 3 Stars now.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this about a month now. It is great! It is easy to take apart for cleaning. The virtual walls are easy to use and work well. The cliff sensor is quite impressive, hasn't fallen down the stairs yet. My floors are cleaner than they have ever been. I use the product several times a week (pet free home). It works on tile, hard wood and carpeting. If it gets stuck it sounds a tone to tell you. If you aren't there it will power down. The Roomba has made my life easier. I can go outside, play with the kids, etc. without feeling guilty that I should vacuum the house. I really, really love the Roomba. At times I wish I'd spent the extra money and gotten the model that allows you to program its cleaning times. Overall, we are very happy with our Roomba.
UPDATE!!!!
This is an update to my original review. As can be seen from the above, I LOVED my Roomba, we named it Rosie. Rosie was perfect. She cleaned exactly where I needed and did a fine job. I didn't have to worry about lugging around a hefty upright and do the work myself. She gave me freedom and was wonderful. I loved how it can be taken apart to clean hair, etc. caught in its parts out, really smart and easy. Then, last month, I took Rosie out and put her to work. All Rosie did was go around and around in a circle. I went through the troubleshooting guide and learned that this was a fatal problem. In other words, my Roomba could not be fixed. We called iRobot and got absolutely nowhere with them. This Roomba was purchased in April 2008 and passed away in August 2009. iRobot also indicated it could not be fixed but they could sell us a new one for $299. Here's the problem, I have this old upright that we've had for 20 years. We've had belts changed, etc. but that thing still works - 20 years - and works great. My Roomba lasted 16 months. We decided not to replace Rosie at this time. That is much too high a price to pay for an appliance that cost so much and didn't last very long. If they could guarantee a new Roomba would last almost as long as my old upright I'd spend the money but they can't so neither can I.