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: Clean Floor Fanatic - Not a gadget - a great vaccum
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this roomba 530 after returning a brand new Dirt Devil cannister vacuum which was awful. I was very sceptical about the Roomba and was preparing myself to be returning it the next day having discovered it wasnt up to the job!
VERY PLEASED to report that this little "gadget" works brilliantly. I have had it a week now, so may revise this review later. But thus far, its working a dream. I was amazed at how much dust and fluff it picks up - its quite staggering really considering I was vacuuming my carpets and mopping my floors weekly - this product is not a "gadget" but an efficient, timesaving aid to my weekly clean and battle against the kids mess.
To address issues raised by other consumers:
PREPARATION WORK: Yes you do have to clear the floor area of cables, cords, pencils, toys, fabric throws/curtains dangling on the floor and other stuff that (and lets face it in order to do the job thoroughly) you should probably clear up anyway even for conventional vacuums). Once thats done - you set it off and, depending upon the size of the room, 40 minutes or so later, you are done! So go off and get a coffee, clean the bathroom, iron some shirts!
MAINTENANCE: I empty it after every use because the dirt catcher is small and it is so efficient that it gets full quickly. You need to remove fluff and hair etc that gets on the roller and brush - no big deal, it takes 2 minutes to do - if I had done this with my upright vacuum, perhaps it would not have broken just outside of the 12m warranty.
CHARGING: As per the instructions, mine sits on the docking station charging all the time its not actually being used - not run out of battery life yet and I have used it every day so far.
PARTS: So, I may have to replace the brushes and filters - so what? They are not extortionately expensive.
So, all in all, for a vacuum that I can basically prep for, set off and leave to get on with the job that I hate whilst I do something infinately more interesting. A+++
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
My Roomba arrived safe and sound as it was double boxed and well packaged. After the initial charge, it went off and running and did 3 rooms before returing to its charger with no glitches whatsoever. I did empty the tray and filter several times, as I was told by a friend that I would need to do. There is no warming that it is full, so you have to play it by ear. It picked up a tremendous amount of dirt and other small things that had fallen into the carpet and on the hard floors. I thought it did a great job. It cleaned under my bed and under serveral sofas and chairs with no problems. It went over cords and cables with barely a hitch. It was able to get itself out of several tight situations. I cleaned the rollers and bearings of stings and long hairs after the intial cleaning. I continue to check the brushes after each use, but there has been little to clean out lately. I was running it every day a couple times, but now I just do it once a day or two. I also run it in the lower level that has short shag carpet, and the second floor that has a flat pile surface. It works equally well on every type of carpet. I even put it out in my screened porch which has astro turn and a hard surface. It cleaned up all the winter debris, including a few leaves. I enjoy hearing the robot run around the house, and I tend to start it off when I go to bed. Sort of like having a night watcman on patrol. There have only been two ocasions when the unit did not make it back to the charger base before it ran out of charge. I think this is one of my best online purchases ever, and I make a lot of them. The price was very good when I bought this one, but when I went to purchase another one last week, the price had increased, but still was less than the competition. I recommend this particular moded. There are several other models, but I think this one, for it length of charge of the batteries, is a good choice. Follow the directions and keep the brushes and bearings clean, and I think you will be very satisfied.Customer Review: Great little robot!
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many others, I did a lot of research before purchasing the Roomba 530. I chose to go with this model rather than the 560 (that I really wanted) because the price was a hundred dollars cheaper. I work full time and have a blue heeler and a long hair white cat that live with my husband and I. They shed everywhere..and the twice weekly vacuuming just wasn't enough. So I decided to get a Roomba.
This thing is amazing...if a bit confusing. It doesn't clean the way people do...which is explained in the instruction manual. But is fascinating to watch. I vacuumed my floors with my upright before I put Rosie (the roomba) to work so I could see if it really does find a lot of stuff that I missed. And boy do I feel like a bad housekeeper! It picked up a great deal of dust and hair that my upright missed. I love that it cleans under the end tables and the bed!
I was very impressed that the cliff sensors really work! It did not nose dive into the laundry room, and it spits out any cords it picks up. The virtual walls work like a charm. I also like how it goes back to it's home base when it tires. The bin is easy to empty and the rollers are surprisingly easy to remove and clean. Just use scissors to cut the hair that gets wrapped around the brush and it takes less than two minutes to clean. I have no problem with the regular maintenance to keep it clean. It takes very little time and works to prolong the life of my little cleaning lady.
I purchased some extra filters and side brushes when I bought Rosie, since I had read reviews that the side brushes break easily. But, I have not had any problems with that so far. Better to be prepared, though.
I highly recommend this iRobot to anyone. It's nice to be able to run the dishwasher and sweep the floors while i'm working on something else. My dog guards his food bowl from it and my cat likes to stalk it, but company loves it as much as we do!
Customer Review: Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was pretty dubious about this product, but picked one up for my disabled in-laws as a gift anyway. Wow! We were all really impressed with it -- it's downright amazing how much dirt it got out of carpets that had recently been shampooed. DH and I picked up a couple more Roombas for home and office right away.
The funniest thing is that we're all absolutely dotty about it. When it's charging it looks like its little heart is beating and it makes cute little cheery noises when you turn it on and happy sighs when it gets to its docking station. It really is like having a little dog, only without all the yapping and ankle-biting and hair. And my floors have never looked better. The kids tend to track in a ton of dust and debris, which all shows up excellently well on wood floors. Short of vacuuming every flipping day (who has time for THAT?) I used to resign myself to living in a bit of a mess; now I can turn Roomba loose every day and all is well.
The only negative is that it won't do the stairs, so I still have to haul out the vacuum cleaner (ugh) occasionally, although not nearly as often as before Roomba was tackling the hallway on a daily basis. It also tended to get hung up on my in-laws' sliding glass door tracks, which are on a slight drop-off. It does extremely well, however, with our various rugs and even spat out the stupid tassles on the Christmas tree skirt with aplomb. One caveat -- clean the filter out every time you empty the dust bowl. I don't know what happens if you don't, but there sure is a lot of stuff in there.
We haven't had Roomba for all that long, so we will see how it does over the long haul. I am slightly concerned about other reviewers' comments about the side brush, but will probably just go ahead and order a couple of spares. Whatever they cost, this little robot is such a delight and a time-saver that it's worth it.
Customer Review: WOW!! I've needed this for a long time!!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, you've GOT to get one of these things!!
I'll keep it simple. Yesterday I received it in the mail. I've got hard wood floors and two short haired dogs that shed like a balding man wearing a cheap wig! I pulled everything out, plugged it in, let it charge (meanwhile reading the instructions) and later on {POOF} she's off! She goes round and round. The volume level is pretty smooth and quiet (50 percent queiter that ANY vacuum), but enough to turn the TV up but a few 5 bars over standard volume levels. The booger is picking things up as she goes!! WOOHOO! I hadn't vacuumed the floor in 4 days JUST so I could see this thing at it's finest! I live on a dirt road so that is considered extreme for our lil' igloo. It cleaned my floor folks!! Yeah, beat that?!
It even docked itself first try and started to re-charge. And it even made a cute little noise (kind of like the 'Charge' anthem at a baseball game). I picked it up, pushed a button, pulled the tray out and dumped it. Clean! I simultaneously pushed two small buttons, pulled the brush out and cleaned it off in just a few seconds! WOW!!! I put it back in, put her back in her dock ... DONE!! It took more time to type this review up than to clean it.
WHAT?! I can't believe this! I inspected the house for any loose debris ... PERFECT rating today guys. I'll have to rate this thing later on as the reliability and such plays a factor, by all means, but the first initial test drive was flawless. Rugs, pet beds, pet bowls, chords, under the furniture and all!! Never touched it once , man! It came with little rubber arms for the corners and I can't see them breaking as it's 100% flexible too. No plastic arms like everyone was complaining about! NICE! I have to admit I was worried about that one. No prob!
Just get one!! For this price it's worth the results even if I have to replace it once a year!!