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Dimas December 30, 2011 at 1:39 pm

I’ve had my roomba 535 for a couple years now. I have 2 criticisms.

1.The performance went down considerably, so I bought new brushes. They didn’t seem to fit although they were the correct model, so I called customer service. I was told I needed another cage for $50. I had already spent $70 on parts. This seems like too much money to spend on such a new (2 year old) machine. No offer to take back the brushes or give me some sort of discount or credit.

2. The time it takes moving furniture and cleaning the brushes each time is almost as much as I spend vacuuming, with considerably poorer results. I’ve given up and gotten a Shark Navigator (regular bagless upright) which cleans soo much better!Shark Navigator Never Loses Suction Upright

McQueen December 31, 2011 at 1:06 am

SUMMARY:
if you have more than a 1 bedroom apartment and more than 1 person living there, do not expect to this purchase to last you very long.

Details:
My husband bought this product and used it for a year in his hardly-lived-in-week-day apartment ( he works 18 hour days on the weekdays and he lives with me and our two cats on the weekends). He was very please with the roomba performance during that year. When we decided to try it out in my apartment, the troubles started immediately. The “dirt tank” was very small, and for an apartment with 2 people and 2 cats, it needed to be emptied more frequently than i would have preferred. The brushed were ALWAYS getting tangled with hair and carpet fibers, requiring constant cleaning.
I could have withstood the above mentioned issues, if not for this final “straw that broke the camels back”. Literally, the DAY after the warranty expired, i began getting a #9 alarm from our roomba. Which dictates an error with the bumper bar. I followed the websites instructions exactly (the website was very helpful, which was a plus) and when that failed, called customer service. To make an already long story short: they basically told me “your warranty has run out, and you are outta luck.” I was more than a little angry at the lack of customer support! not to mention the large object in the middle of my floor that is no longer any more useful than a very large doorstop!
I understand that the expiration of my warranty no longer entitles me to replacement support from the company. However, i would have liked to have some other options at my disposal. For instance: replacement of a sensor or bumper section of my roomba, even if i had to purchase the parts myself- we are both engineers, we could have figured out how to put it back together
As stated in the summary, anyone anticipating more than mild use of this product should stick to their standard vacuum.

Levay December 31, 2011 at 1:43 pm

I’ve used roomba for about 5 years (Discovery series), it cleans fine as advertised. It’s pretty cool, but it needs a constant maintenance which defeat the purpose of time saving. My roomba’s 6th battery just died and I’m going back to the good old low maintenance long lasting plug in vacuum cleaner.

Pro
- it really works as it advertises

Con
- it needs to be clean after each use
- dust build up blocks the sensors, which cause it runs in circles (like dog chases its tail)
- Roomba needs to be plug-in to the charger at 24/7 when it’s not being used or it could cause problems with roomba. It’s not only a waste of electricity, but it also shortens battery’s life. That translates into more costs in a long run. My 6 roomba batteries costed about $200+, not to mention 24/7 x 5 years of plug in charger electricity bill. Here’s a quick math

$350 – Roomba
$250 – 6 batteries & filters
$200 – 5 yrs 24/7 plug in electricity(a pure guess)
#@&# – Time spent on maintenance
$800 – Total

I’m definitely going back to the good old vacuum cleaner. Goodbye Roomba.

Garbizo January 1, 2012 at 1:41 am

I have both model 560 and 530. I like roomba a lot as I hate doing vacuuming. Both models works really well that they pick up lots of dust from carpet (not so well on hard wood floor though as they just push the little stuff around). I prefer the 530 model better because it’s easier to clean the brushes. There is this groove on the ends of the brush of the 560 model that keep accummulate my long hair and it’s very hard to clear that even with scissors. And I find myself don’t really do the regular schedule cleaning that 560 model has. Anyways, I love my roombas and highly recommend it!!!!

Daniels January 1, 2012 at 1:28 pm

Do I “love” new Roomba brushes? Not really, but this kit made my Roomba perform almost like new. In fact, the brush seems much better designed than the original. The original had a pair of plastic plates and the rotating knob on the end that would fall off during cleaning, and broke. I fixed them a few times, and then decided to buy this kit. The new parts are much better.

Bickers January 2, 2012 at 1:50 am

Official replacement parts are great. Just note that the filters are yellow – the old style filters. Most new roombas come with the Blue Aerovac filters. They are completely different.

Edgington January 2, 2012 at 1:08 pm

We ordered this for our older 500 series, and the brushes actually fit better than the original brushes it came with. Amazon’s service was great too. Everything made it, and our roomba is back to cleaning our place for us!

Leatherberry January 3, 2012 at 1:44 am

This set is a must have for any aging Roomba! The new large brush seems to work better than the original. Still wondering about the side brush…older (orange)model has several arms and new (yellow/white) one has 3. Set is a little expensive but overall a great buy! Would recommend!

Latt January 3, 2012 at 1:50 pm

OK, I love my Roomba.

My biggest complaint is its lazy! It will run for maybe an 1.5 hrs & then need to be charged. I think it should last longer than that. As most ppl said the other pain is I wish it held more dirt. I have 2 dogs that shed nonstop so it requires frequent cleaning. Its not that terrible but too bad there isnt a better solution.

I dont set up walls either, I just let it go & clean my entire downstairs. It would probably be even better if I just left it to do a single room at a time.

My dogs who are freaks dont even care about it.

Nimmrich January 4, 2012 at 1:13 am

I love, love, love this Rumba! I have a Lab and a Husky so you can imagine the pet hair. This Rumba really does the trick. I have another Rumba and love it. Everyone should have a Rumba!!!!

Nobles January 4, 2012 at 1:02 pm

This is just an initial review of this exciting investment. Yes…an investment; in time, comfort,
expedience and satisfaction. I just received my iRobot Roomba 532 yesterday, July 31, 2010. Althought it
is premature to write a review of its reliability–in the long term–I can atest to my purchase
satisfaction. There is no initial buyer’s remorse…yet! Ha-ha.
I have three Shih Tzu dogs. One is a senior and the other two are just pups–13 moonths and 9-weeks
old. I put the iRobot on charge as soon as I unpacked it. The packaging was excellent!
Today I put it–the Roomba–to the test. I must admit, it is quite amazing! The test area: Family
Room. That’s where dirt gets heavy–porcelain tiles, a round center rug, puppy crate, and virtually
everyone’s play ground.
If you have had, or have, puppies–you know how scared, or excited at all the noises and people in
their surroundings. Well, my 9-week-old puppy was never intimitated or surprised by the iRobot. That was
great! This is iRobot is so quiet! And it runs smoothly! This iRobot is so quiet and it’s efficient! What
a pleasant and satisfying experience!
The iRobot performed to standard, as advertised, and lived up to all the hype to boot! My family room
is 18-ft by 16-ft. Using the Virtual Walls that come with the system was fantastic. They worked just
great. The Roomba went back to Home Base–smoothly. It’s charging now, took approximately 1-hr to
complete, and ready for its next room–the kitchen–I will say…the iRobot Roomba is everything it’s made
out to be.
For a disabled person this would be a great investment. But, research the other models, because they
could have the features you really need. I could have purchased another model with added features, like
iRobot Roomba Pet Series 532 Vacuum Cleaning Robotremote control. The next purchase is the Scooba! Use it to mop the floors, and the Dirt Dog next.

Carrillo January 5, 2012 at 1:43 am

After reading all the reviews and adjusting my expectations accordingly, we finally took the plunge and bought one of these. We have 3 cats, 2 of which are very long-haired and shed EVERYWHERE. We were pretty much looking for a “maintenance” solution between thorough vacuumings. I have to say that this does the trick in every way possible. It’s a pet hair magnet! Our big area rug looks great after daily uses, and the hardwoods look clean and dust-free as well.

That being said, I was hoping we’d be able to tell it to clean as we were on the way out the door for work in the morning, but that’s proven not to be a possiblity given our area rug. We intentionally avoided as many dark colors as possible when we bought the rug because of our light-colored cats, but there are a few dark spots on it that after awhile will cause the ‘bot to stop and ask to be moved elsewhere. It only takes a second to move it, but we’ve just taken to using it while we’re at home doing other things so we can keep an eye on it and keep it on task.

As I’ve read elsewhere and found to be true, it’s to be considered an 80/20 device…it will do 80% of the work for you, which is more than enough for day to day cleaning. We’re basically down to running the vacuum once a week just to get the few dark spots on the rug and in the tight spaces where even the ‘bot can’t get. Other than that, we clean it after every cycle (dustbin and brushes) and clean the caster wheel once or twice a week. Takes less than 5 minutes and it’s all ready for the next use.

All in all, worth every penny for the time it saves us. Still waiting for one of our cats to take it for a “test drive”, though.

Earhart January 5, 2012 at 1:51 pm

This little robot is wonderful for tile and linoleum floors! We have cats and dogs and are always fighting the build up of hairs. The hairs always seem everywhere. This product took care of that problem pronto! We run it about every 2 days and it picks up all the hairs, sweeping under the legs on tables and chairs with its rotating brush and picks up everything! It’s just great!

Have you ever wondered where those dust bunnies under your bed come from? Wonder no more! This robot will get all of them by just going right under your beds and sweeping them all up!

I wish I had known about this long ago because I am really pleased. The robot lets you know when it is running out of power and since we bought the recharger station, he goes back to his little house to be recharged. (Did you notice I said he? He is a dirt dog!) I would recommend this to anyone with uncarpeted floors as a way to pick up all that dust, dirt, hair, and anything else you might have around your house.

It’s very easy to clean after using it and only takes me about 5-8 minutes to empty the collected material and clean the rollers about every 2 times we run it. There is even a tool to cut any hairs or strings that get wound around the rollers. It’s a wonderful product!

Now I wish they made a robot for cleaning the furniture!

Ferry January 6, 2012 at 1:46 am

I purchased the Dirt Dog because I have a cat that sheds like crazy. Between her hair and mine, I opted for the “heavy duty” robot. It’s been the best $160 i’ve ever spent. It really works =D …if it could dust and mop all at the sametime, i’d marry it !!!!! I higly recommend the irobot, this one works for me. I’m sure either one of the models will work for you as well !!!!! =)

Janes January 6, 2012 at 1:11 pm

I got this soley for cleaning up my dogs’ hair, and so I don’t have to sweep the floors anymore. I was having to sweep every other day. Now I don’t sweep ever, thanks to Stan (I named it). He does a really great job at cleaning up all the dog hair, dust, and dirt, and gets everything off the floor. He’s a bit loud, but for the super clean floor he leaves behind that is something I overlook. I’ve been using him for several weeks now on the hardwood floors. I’m able to do my bedroom, long hallway, and living/dining room space all in one clean without recharging him. He does require a recharging after all that for several hours. Overall I am extremely happy and pleased with this purchase – life is so much easier for cleaning!!

Centeno January 7, 2012 at 1:52 am

This worked good, but didn’t last too long It gets stuck alot, so you have to be watching it, so it kind of defeats the purpose. I find it a lot quicker just to use a regular vacuum.

Lankford January 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm

I have to admit, I had my doubts after reading some of the reviews but after having my iRobot 560 for about 3 weeks now, my floors are spotless and I’m a very happy customer. I have it scheduled to clean daily when I’m not home and clean out the bin every few days (which only takes just a few seconds – they made it very simple). Just hoping it lasts over a year since the warranty ends at that time.