iRobot Roomba – Should or Shouldn’t you buy it?

We are living in an age where technology is everywhere, in our house, at work and even in our pocket.

In most cases, technology aims to ease up our day to day lives. One such device comes from the robotic vacuum industry. There is a great variety of companies making these products: iRobot, Neto, LG, Samsung etc. And the reason why there are so many companies is, well, the demand for it rose significantly in the past few years.

iRobot in Action

iRobot 880

I’ve had the iRobot Roomba 880 for the past 3 years and I’ve decided it’s time to write my thoughts about it.

I would like to start with a little summary of the pros and cons I’ve encountered over the years:

Pros

• It’s completely autonomous.

• It vacuums dust and small debris pretty efficiently.

• It can be programed for specific time and day to start working (While you’re at work for example).

• You’ll come back to a home which is dust free (at least on the floor level)

• It’s pet friendly.

• You can use the virtual wall (can be bought separately) to stop it from getting to places in the house.

• It can move on different surfaces – carpet, wooden floor and even small steps.

• It has ledge detector, so it would fall down the stairs.

Cons

• It’s not cheap.

• You’ll need to maintain it, which is also not cheap – replace a battery every couple of years, brushes and filters also needs to be changed.

• It’s prone to stuck under low objects (which are just in the right height of the iRobot)

• While it is autonomous – The floor needs to be clothes free (socks are a good example) tables might need to move, toys need to be cleared etc. So, it needs some prep work on the days it works.

• Every couple of times you need to dump the debris from the tank.

• FAIR WARNING: although some of the model have anti-tangle system, they will destroy cables eventually… so keep those cables out of harm’s way.

• It will not clean dry stuck dirt, that will need some elbow grease.

• Sometimes it can knock-off a broom and get stuck in the room…

• Long hair will tangle on the brushes, some weekly maintenance is needed in order to avoid damaging the robot.

I know it may seem that there are more cons than pros, but who is the iRobot for? As I see it, it’s for several types of people:

• People who might be a bit lazy (Nothing wrong with that =] ).

• People who spend most of the time away from home.

• Homes with pets.

• Small families who needs that vacuum twice a week.

As I see it, the iRobot is for almost everyone. It has its cons, that’s for sure – but as I can see it, it can ease up anyone’s life.

I have several friends who bought it and they are very pleased with it.