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 his Roomba, and was amazed that it was able to do as good of a job as my existing vacuum cleaner! 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 thing for me:
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 purchasing a Scooba to mop my floors)!