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: How this thing gets less then 4 Stars is beyond me...
Summary: 5 Stars
Seriously. I got this for the wife for Xmas. This is the greatest friggen thing I have purchased this year. And I have bought a butt load of stuff.
Ok, if you are a pig, living in a crap-hole, yeah, you may have broken it after 4 days, or have unreal expectations for it.
I on the other hand, have a clean house, have the children clean up after themselves, and am "normal" with "normal" expectations from a consumer product.
This thing cleans when you don't want to. Christmas Night, for example, we let it loose in the tree room after picking up the boxes and paper. This thing picked up those annoying toy twist ties, the cardboard pieces from the boxes, and paper we missed like they were NOTHING.
After using the Roomba, the room was spotless. Job done.
After Christmas dinner, with 5 children in the house, we moved the chairs out of the way, and Virtual Walled the little puppy in the kitchen area where it then picked up EVERY CRUMB, or piece of ham, salad, whatever that was in there. Even a few toothpicks.
I have run this thing no less then 15 times since Christmas day, and as I stated, I am a CLEAN person, and I am amazed that it is STILL picking up dust. I am actually determined to run this thing until there is no dust.
It's running right now actually, as I type this. It goes for 2 hours, EASY, on a charge. That is good enough for 3 rooms, usually done in this way, my Kitchen, living room (which is a great room), and Foyer. Then the 3 Bedrooms. Sunroom by itself cus it is a lower level, and it doesn't do stairs.
If you got a bad one, give it another chance, this really is a great product. I didn't believe how well it would work until I got one. My house has been dog hairless since Christmas!
Customer Review: Better than I thought it would be
Summary: 5 Stars
I had been looking into getting a Roomba for about 6 months before I finally did. I was hesitant about paying this much when I read a lot of reviews saying it just stopped working one day for a variety of different reasons. A 1 year manufacturers warranty does not exactly show confidence in a product; iRobot should improve the reliability and offer a longer warranty. Instead I bought the Roomba for the same price as on iRobot, though more expensive than Amazon, from another website that offers a 5 year warranty.
I've only had the Roomba for about 3 weeks now, so I can't comment on the reliability, but I'm more than happy with it. It's quiet enough to have a conversation, listen to music, or watch TV with it right next to you. It cleans just as well as most regular vacuums. We have mostly wall to wall carpet and it pulls hair out of it very well. It doesn't get into all areas, for example a small space between a bookcase and couch, but a regular vacuum probably wouldn't either and it gets other places we wouldn't normally get with a regular vacuum such as under the bed or end tables. The self charging feature is very convenient. Because it has gotten stuck a total of 3 times in 2 different places I usually run it while I'm home, but I have turned it on and left for work before to come back and find it finished and charging. I was impressed with the anti-tangle feature, it does not get caught on cords or cables. Because my apartment is only about 400 square feet I don't use the virtual walls or shut doors, except to let the Roomba get behind them. It will do the entire apartment in one charge. The 500 series makes it very easy to take out the bin, filter, and brushes and clean them. I would normally vacuum about once every week or two, but I run the Roomba every other day.
Customer Review: Love my little Roomba 530!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love clean floors but hate to vacuum. So I love this little robot so much! It was delivered by Amazon within 3 days with free shipping--loved that. The box that it comes in was smartly designed for easy opening--loved that too. I was a little intimidated at first b/c I didn't feel the directions were that great but then I discovered that it is so easy to use that I really didn't need directions. There is still some confusion though with the dust bin--it says there are two to choose from but I only see one. I don't really care though because it is plenty big enough, removes and cleans so easily. I and my cat sit in my chair and watch the little guy run around my floors cleaning itself into a frenzy. Under my furniture has never been so clean! And it is so quiet that I can watch TV while it is working. The directions it takes to get the job done is a little odd, but it will cover the whole floor. Cleaning it is so easy that it's not a drudge to do--plus I do it with great reverence, sure to take good care of it so it will last FOREVER. I have mostly carpeting but it does OK with bare floors. There are a couple of things so minor that I wouldn't dream of mentioning them. I don't use the "towers" used to block off rooms because I live in an apartment and all I need do is close the doors to the other rooms and just let it do one room at a time. The directions for the towers I didn't understand fully but I'm fine not using them. It's funny but I keep it charged in it's dock; visible in the living room rather than in a room where it won't be seen. I enjoy keeping it out--sort of like a family friend--I know, a little crazy.
A big thank you to the inventor of this. (Note: I've only used it for three weeks at the time of this post. I'll update if necessary.)
Customer Review: A Great Product Made Even Better
Summary: 5 Stars
With two dogs in the house we could not live without our Roomba. The 530 is a vast improvement from earlier models. It seems to pick up more dirt, the battery life is longer, the fast-charge is about 33% more rapid than its Discovery predecessors and it is generally more quiet.
The new sensors that prevent the robot from "speed-bumping" into furniture are a very nice touch, but beware if the robot is in a tight area, it may appear sluggish -- the sensors are working to continually slow it down. It's a feature I like, but need to get used to.
My only concern with this robot is the high cost of parts. The bot itself is cheaper than earlier models but the components most prone to breakage or wear-out are twice the cost so the lifetime operation costs may be higher. Replacement batteries are nearly $100. Earlier models were $50.
ONE MONTH LATER ....
This is a slight amend to my review above. Having used it for a month a couple points of note:
1) All of the new 5-Series Roombas lack the "Max Mode" that was common on earlier models. I miss this. I can no longer let it go util the battery runs out. It goes until it "thinks" it's finshed. Well, sometimes we disagree. And I'm usually right. It simply doesn't cover as much ground as I need it too in the standard clean mode. I'd have to mark it down a full star for this -- I can't count on it to do the whole house when I'm at work anymore.
2) The folks I know who have these encountered problems with the side cleaning bushes breaking off. After a month's use, I lost all but one. I'm sure this is high on their list of fixes.
Customer Review: Worth every penny!
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend told me about how great the Roomba was and i didn't appreciate it until I got one myself. My husband and I both love it. My only regret was why we didn't buy one years ago. We've had our 530 for about 10 months now and use it regularly and it is just as reliable as the first usage. We keep it charged 24 hours, as is recommended, so not sure if that helps or not, but we haven't noticed any significant decrease in battery life. This is part of irobot's pet series and i don't know what it does differently than the non-pet series ones, but it picks up dog hair SOO much better than my expensive upright vacuums. In fact, the maid brings her vacuum thinking it's the best and i run roomba after she vacuums and it picks up a ton of stuff! My husband and I are simply amazed when we see what it picks up time and time again. I really love how it goes under the couch and beds...try doing that Dyson! My hubbie was constantly vacuuming the house due to the 2 kids and dog and now roomba takes care of all of it for us. I prefer picking everything up i can and putting it on the furniture (stool, dining chairs, end table, etc.) that way it's quicker and more efficient for roomba to clean. I've also noticed a decrease in my dusting time since our carpets are so dust free, less dust to get on the furniture!! My husband has a minor dust allergy, so this is another reason to get a roomba. The automatic self charging is definitely worth the extra $30-40 (which isn't available or compatible with the 510 model). We have hardwood, carpet, tile, and area rugs, and Roomba has no trouble with any of it. I'll never be without one!