iRobot Roomba 4296 Remote Scheduler Robotic Vacuum

i bought 3 remanufactured roombas in november, and i’ve had to send them all back to irobot at least once, paying about $10 for shipping each time one goes out. it has now been over 90 days, and the warranties have expired. now i have a roomba that is a replacement from irobot that isn’t working right. but there’s not a warranty for it anymore. if i had to do it over again, i would never buy remanufactured roombas.

I maybe mistaken but last week was only 89.99 @ buy.com
Still a must for those who vaccum while they sleep.

But, it’s in blue! That’s great right there!

Seriously, for those who own these already, do they really stand up to the challenge?

The Woot Roomba FAQ!

Whats Remanufactured mean? Isnt it just a refurb?

As I understand it, and I could be wrong(It wouldnt be the first time), remanufactured is a complete replacement of all vital components. So they take an old shell and fill it up with a soul. While a refurb would just be a replacement of what ever part was broken.

Does it really work!?

Yes! It does. I own one(At the time of this post I have 4 more coming, one as a gift for someone else), and I love it.

Will it work with hard wood/carpet/throw rugs/tile/the ceiling?

It works on most surfaces, though, unless you have suction cup wheels for it, I dont think it will do much for the ceiling. In my experience it works the best on wood floors. I do not have any tile in my current house, but I would imagine it would work about the same as it does on wood. It works great on carpet, but isnt a ‘deep’ cleaner like a upright vacuum. I have some throw rugs and the only one I have problems with is one that has an under mat under it. If you have rugs with tassels, be sure to tuck them under or it will try to eat them causing damage to either the carpet, the roomba, or both. The new 500 series that IRobot has now released has a feature that is meant to prevent this. I have not been able to get a 500 series yet, so I can not say if it works or not. Dont run it on high pile carpet either, thats just something that isn’t good for it.

Can I just let it run forever and ever and never have to worry about emptying a bin, or cleaning filters? Its a robot right? It cleans its self?

While this is a robot and we all like to envision robots with lasers that disintegrate things, this robot lacks that feature(You might be able to get one of the laser robots they make for industry and attach it to the roomba, but it might go terminator on you and take over your house). You will still need to empty the bin and clean the filter. At first I would do this after each time it runs until you notice its not picking up as much, then every other run. If the filter gets really dirty you can clean it with warm water(I havnt tried soap as I dont know what it might do to the filter) or a can of compressed air. You also need to make sure the brushes are cleaned on a regular basis. If you have pets, or someone with longer hair in the house check the brushes after each run, they will get alot on them.

All that sounds like alot of work! It would take me just as long to just vacuum myself at that rate!

Yes, you could, but this will vacuum for you, and when you need to clean it, sit down in front of the TV and watch a thirty minute show while you clean it! I bet you cant watch TV that easy while you vacuum!

So is there anything else I should make sure is cleaned?

Once a month or so you should take a can of compressed air to the entire thing and get any dust thats sitting in the little bits out. I suggest doing this outside so the dust isnt put back into your house.

How long does it normally run for?

The specs list 120 minutes max, but your mileage may vary. Different surfaces will change how long it runs as well as how dirty the floors are. I have mine running on my first floor which is about half wood half carpet and it runs for about an hour and a half. I have heard that running it only on wood it lasts the longest. It will also venture out into other rooms unless blocked off by an object or a virtual wall. The bigger an area that you run it in, the less rounds it can do.

What if I want to run it on a upper floor, will it tumble down the stairs?

Only when its ex-wife shows up and ‘accidentally’ pushes it over. Otherwise its cliff sensors can see there is a drop and it will jerk back. They fear heights you know.

Do I have to pick up before it goes and vacuums?

Do you have to pick up when you go and vacuum? Or do you vacuum over all the junk on the floor? Its still a vacuum and you will need to pick up large objects and make sure cords are out of the way. It will eat cords just like it eats rug tassels. Mine ate a cord not to long ago and limped back to its home base, didnt quite make it, but when I turned it back on it sounded sick. It still runs though. There are some items that you dont want to use the roomba to pick up as well. Glass and other small sharp objects are one thing you wouldnt want to pick up, as well as other larger objects. IRobot has another product called the Dirtdog that would do a much better job for these items.

Does that include chairs and bigger things?

You dont have to move chairs and other large items, but if the legs arnt wide enough for it to fit through it will not vacuum under them. Also be careful of chairs that are just big enough for it to get in. It can take them a long time to get back out if that happens.

Will it mark up my walls when it finds a wall?

While I have not had it mark anything myself, they like to ram into the wall as fast as possible. If you are really worried about it marking up your wall glue some foam on the bumper of it so the foam hits rather then the plastic. The newer 500 series have sensors in the bumper that sense when its getting close to a wall and slow down so it only taps it.

Will it play nice with my pets/my kids/Godzilla?

Some pets may be afraid of it and run for the hills when its doing its thing, others might find it fun and play with it. But it will play nice with the pets, playfully bumping into them if they wander into its path. And if your pet is big enough to flip it over it will play dead(Auto Shut down feature)!

I dont have any kids of my own, but some of the other wooters here have mentioned that their kids love it and have learned to turn it on, and off, and on, and off… Once again, it may playfully bump into your children if they find their way into its path.

Godzilla eats roombas for snacks. If you have Godzilla in your home, roomba may not be for you.

IS THIS THING LOUD?!

You can take those ear plugs out. This wont damage your hearing. On a scale of 1-10 a ten being a shop vac, and a 1 being a dust devil. Its about a 3 or a 4. It does have some noise to it, but its nothing to scream over. Carpet does muffle the sound a bit, while hard floors will echo the sound a bit. Hey, it could be worse. You can hook a couple leakfrogs to the inside of your unbalanced washing machine?

Ok, what if the floor is wet when it goes over it?

Roombas are a type of creature that dont require water, in fact, like the aliens in that movie, and the wicked witch in the wizard of oz, they are severally allergic to water. But their distant relative the Scooba loves water! I wont go into detail about the scooba here, but it is the mopping version of the roomba.

Well Im really thinking about buying one now, but some of em have some features the others dont. Whats spot and max?

Spot mode is for quick cleanups of spills. Say you drop a bag of chips and it makes a mess of a small area, grab your roomba, set it in the middle of the mess and hit spot. It will slowly circle its way outward, then back in to clean up just that area.

Max mode is just like clean, but it will run till the battery is completely empty(It will leave a little bit of juice so it can try to make it back to the charge base.)

Does it automatically return to its charger?

If you have the home base and it started out on the base it will make every attempt to return to the base when its time is up. If it didnt start on a base it will play a little song where ever it is when its done and stop. Sometimes it wont be able to make it back to the base for one reason or another. It stopped for donuts, ran out of battery, or its GPS broke down(It got lost). Many models dont come with a homebase. Though many times the ones here on woot do.

What about this Scheduling feature thing?

Some models will come with the special remote for it, others wont. But you will need it to set times and send them to the roomba. By its self the remote costs about 40 dollars, though you may be able to find em on ebay for cheaper. You can set up to seven(7) cleaning times, at one cleaning per day. As well as if you want it to be a weekly thing, or a one time clean. I have mine set so that its out and about while Im at work. Without this you would need to press the button on top of the unit to start it each time.

Ok, woot is selling one as remanufactured. How is it packaged? Is it in just a brown box? Or is it in a box that has information on it?

It comes in a IRobot box that will have this sticker(Not easily removed) on it:

http://irbt.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p3080543dt.jpg

Appox size as well

More info on IRobot on all of their products can be found on their homepage here.

  • Do you have a question that you think should be added to this list? Please send me a PM with it! Ill do my best to find an answer for you and add it to the list! I plan on posting this anytime I see a roomba for sale.*

Just got mine from the Woot Off. Works great. Almost as entertaining to watch as those virtual fish tank DVDs! But honestly, it does seem to live up to the hype.

Got all excited for nuthin. Can buy anytime elsewhere for 20 bucks more. [[clutching sheckels]]

I am considering getting one, for all of those that have one (particularly the 4296), is this a good deal? Does it work well? Should I wait until the next Roomba or BO.C. and hope I get one?

I have had a Roomba for a few months. They work GREAT on bare floors, getting all the dog hair and bird seed and feathers. They are really good under beds in the bedroom. No more hassle with dust bunnies or dog hair bunnies there. However, they are poor on carpets. For that, my Bissel or Dyson is unbeatable. Don’t expect this dust sweeper action to do a good job on carpet. It is what it is. A bare floor machine that is adequate if it has the space to move around. I have the scheduler, barriers, and automatic docking, but none of them are worth much to me. What is nice is setting it loose in ONE room, leaving, and returning later to empty it and have a clean floor. Must empty every use, clean brushes regularly. Good for those not expecting a miracle. Very good price here. Keep in mind, this is a noisy machine, too.

Total population of the United States:
301,139,947

Total # of ROOMBAS Manufacutured:
501,666,987

This is a great Woot to save me time and money.

I can save time because I know nothing about these, can’t use them in my place, so I will save time since I can’t contribute to the discussion.

And I will save money since I can’t buy this.

Bonus Comment: I did see these at CostCo today. I don’t know the models and how to tell which is which, but the ones at CostCo were super expensive. So this Woot appears a good deal.

Well, see you tomorrow night.

Oh… can’t forget the standard, worn out joke:

WILL THIS WORK WITH MY MAC?

Final, final comment: Don’t post “Another Roomba?” “What’s with all the Roombas?” Woot is for some reason Roomba central. They either have a standing deal with the manufacturer to take all refurbs off their hands and/or Woot must sell one hell of a lot of these [at a good profit] because yes, they show up about every three weeks.

Woo hoo…Roomba! \o/ Will this work with my Mac?

Too bad it’s “Remanufactured”…I might buy one if it was a “Refurb”… :wink:

I have a Roomba, not this model but one similar, and we leave it for our slate floors. We have two dogs that shed so the daily maintenance is nice. I would get one if you hate vacuuming and want it done when you are at work.

Never again on ANY refurbed Roomba. What a nightmare!

I got one of this. While it is good for small job and under the bed cleaning, it can not replace the real vacumn . Also, the bin is very small. You have to empty it after each use.

That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear! Are they really good for keeping the dog hair under control?

No, it’s just been on woot 4296 times.

Actually, I’m seriously considering getting one now that I have a bigger apartment, but I’ve had bad luck with every refurb product I’ve purchased from woot, so I might wait 'til tomorrow and see if they have a new one for sale.

the devil rays are no longer the devil rays woot
they are now just the rays

Got one of these the last time it was up and we love it. It does a better job than the manual vacuum on the lil’ balls o’ kitteh fur. Plus it’s so cute–when its battery gets low it goes home to its charger and plugs itself in.

They will work on hard floors . I have 2 but different models

Got this deal last time it was up and LOVE LOVE LOVE my roomba. Small house, so I don’t need a second one, but love the one I have. I’ll be sure to mention this to some people at work though that loved my roomba when I brought mine in for show and tell.

This is really a good deal. You can find just the referb’d roomba close to this price some places (buy.com has them about $120 every day). But this package with a roomba, scheduler and two scheduler walls is really a great package.

Anyone debating on getting this, question no more! It’s great. Mine has pretty much retired my old vacuum (except for the stairs). The scheduler is a huge plus for those with a busy schedule too…