One of my friends recently purchased an iRobot Roomba, and he let me test it out while he was out of town. I thoroughly tested out my friend’s Roomba, and was amazed that it was able to do just as good of a job as my existing vacuum at cleaning. The Roomba also has a key advantage over my upright vacuum cleaner in that it could wander under couches, beds and dressers to get dust and debree that had made its way there. I was also overjoyed when I found out that once I pushed the CLEAN button on the Roomba, it would begin vacuuming the room with no manual intervention.
These things made me realize that a Roomba was in my future, and I ordered one once my friend returned. My Roomba is now operational, and I have it programmed to vacuum my carpets every other day. The price tag for the unit was a bit high, but the following benefits quickly made me realize that this was the right things for me:
- Vacuming an entire room is one button push away
- Cleaning the Roomba is extremely easy
- I have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of dust
- It can get under couches, beds and dressers than normal vacuums can’t
- The anti-tangle technology works extremely well
Having now owned my Roomba for two months, I have only found two downsides. First, the replacement parts (brushes, filters, etc.) are not exactly cheap, and the time it takes to get them is somewhat lengthy. But even when I factor in the upkeep costs, this has to be one of the best purchased I have EVER made! Long live the Roomba (and Chris, you sparked my interest in the Scooba)!
February 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
dude, we have a roomba too. it rocks. it really helps out a lot with the cat fur.
the dorks out there have gotten creative with it as well..
http://hackingroomba.com/
Build a serial interface tether
Set up a Bluetooth® interface
Drive Roomba
Play with sensors
Make it sing
Create a Roomba painter
Use your Roomba as a mouse
Connect Roomba to the Net
Wi-Fi your Roomba
Replace Roomba’s brain
Build the RoombaRoach
Install Roomba-cam
Put Linux® on Roomba
March 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I also love that the design of it’s interface was so good. How can you not help the little thing when it’s making it’s sad beep? I find myself talking to it way too often…