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: Great for long-haired dogs!
Summary: 5 Stars
We have owned our Roomba for about 4 months now and love it. We have a Chow mix that is incredibly furry and has very long hair which he sheds all the time. Prior to Roomba, we used to have these little balls of fur that would accumulate all over the house. We simply did not vacuum frequently enough to cover our entire house. Roomba makes things so much easier.
I gave this product 5 stars because I think it does exactly what it should as long as you understand that it isn't completely hassle free. First of all, we almost never run Roomba when we're not at home. With the dog hair, often times one of the sweepers underneath go out of alignment and will make this clicking noise. All that has to be done is to pause it, flip it over, and clean the dog hair out of the spindles (which can be a pain). The first time we ever ran the Roomba, we had to clear out the spindles every 2 minutes but now we only have to clear it out maybe once a run. While this can be a pain, it's still much better to sit at home and do another task and only have to empty the Roomba once in a while. Besides, our regular vacuum is even more difficult to clean dog hair out of the spindles so I really don't mind the Roomba.
One thing I will add, consider getting another lighthouse/virtual wall if you're going to buy one to have a complete set. We only have one and are planning on buying another at some point.
Customer Review: Roomba is my buddy
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my second Roomba. The first did an awesome job, but it didn't survive when we moved. Maybe I should have packed him a little better. Sorry little guy. :(
But got a new one to replace him as soon as possible because I love my little Roomba. 2 cats, plus a wife with long curly hair, means a lot of hair, fur, and litter tracked around, and Roomba takes care of it all without a complaint. And maybe he doesn't do a "perfect" job all the time. So you know what, I just run him more frequently and it comes out great.
We have a pretty good sized condo and he can't do the whole place at once. So I just put him into different rooms different days with the virtual walls. I start him when I leave for work and come home to a clean place. Don't even sweat not having the programmable timer. Just set him off when you go out or when you are doing laundry or something.
The cats don't mind him either. They watch him as he works and sniff him when I have Roomba upside down to clean him ("Oh, of course it's a robot, we knew that all along...").
Still haven't thought of an appropriate name for my little buddy. He's definitely a blue collar kind of guy though. I give him weekends and holidays off, unless it's an emergency. But he is always there for me when I need him, and I do my best to be there for him when he needs me too.
Customer Review: Carpets Squeaky-Clean
Summary: 5 Stars
Got this two months ago on sale at Sears for $279. At the time, I wanted the scheduling ability of the 560, but the price of the 530 was right. I now realize that the scheduling feature would increase the likelihood of the Roomba catching me off guard, vacuuming when I didn't have the cat toys picked up off the floor. Granted, the Roomba would just go around them, but it's nice to have the entire floor clean.
The Roomba is really awesome. I did my annual deep-cleaning of the carpets before buying it, and each time I use it, the carpets have that "just shampooed" squeak to them. It also corners/edges better than my full-sized vacuum and always goes under the furniture. I really enjoy the noises it makes!
Two downsides:
1. No standard HEPA, so I'm going to try the after-market filter in the hopes it doesn't decrease suction.
2. Roomba got confined to smaller rooms like walk-in closets and hallways when I tried to do the whole house on one battery charge. My revised strategy of one room per cleaning cycle/battery charge seems to work better, and sometimes I'll just wall-off the closet or hallway. This means I have to pick up the Roomba and carry it to different parts of the one-story house. Not a big deal, but not 100% automated either.
And finally: My kitten is wary, but not terrified of the Roomba.
Customer Review: Servo...... My Roomba evaluation
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't even know how I ended up looking a Roombas a couple of weeks back, but I am glad I did! Actually the Dirt Dog came up as a "gold Box" sale item and curiosity as to what it was got me to look at it. As it happens, there was a brand new 530 model was being offered as slightly used and a great price, sooooo I bought it.
Glad I did, I love it! We named it "Servo" after a character on Mystery Science Theater TV show. Servo has now been introduced into every room and has done remarkably well. With a Corgi around, we have continual dog fur.
I've seen complaints that is too noisy, but this unit is quieter than my upright vacuum and the dogs are not afraid of it.
I ran it in my "guest" bedroom and it even vacuums under the bed. Nice! Afterwards, I ran my upright in there to see if it measured up. The upright picked up a little more dog hair( maybe a dozen hairs) but all the dust and dirt was already cleaned up.
What's not to love?
Update: I vacuumed the bedroom with "Servo", then decided to shampoo the carpet. I was amazed that when I emptied the shampoo reservoir, there was only dirty water in it and no dog fur!! Woo Hoo! Proof positive that this unit is superior to my upright vacuum cleaner.
Customer Review: Excellent cleaning, finally can deal with fringe!
Summary: 5 Stars
I received my Roomba 530 as a birthday gift and have been very impressed so far. My apartment was quite messy when I turned Roomba loose for the first time. I was astonished by how much dirt it picked up (I had to run it several times, emptying the dirt bin each time). It didn't get stuck on my carpet fringe (the reason I hadn't bought the prior generation Roomba), nor on any of the wires under furniture. The fact that it cleans under the bed and sofa so thoroughly is a big advantage over conventional cleaners.
As for downsides, it cannot efficiently clean multiple rooms in one shot (not a big deal because you can easily move it from room to room). Apparently even the lighthouse technology in the higher end models isn't a total solution to this problem. It can also get stuck in some situations. Mine can get stuck under my dresser, which is just slightly too short, and the Roomba can wedge itself underneath the front edge if it approaches from the correct direction. I plan to add some small shims under the legs to raise it slightly to avoid this.
Overall, it's a pretty amazing piece of technology that performs a useful function very effectively.