We have owned many roombas over the years and are ardent roomba fans, even if most of them do die after a year. Bsically, for the price we get them (at woot) and the work they do with two dogs and a cat in the house, we will forever be grateful for our roomba. We have had all kinds of models from the startup to the 500s. W noticed our 500 series was lacking in performance though for the past few months, to the point where we didn’t even bother to turn it on.
We bought the 440 again just a few weeks ago and noticed something - the old adage is true that they don’t make them like they used to. Meaning, the 440 kicks the 500 series’ ass. Yes, there are no bells and whistles, yes it’s noisy but what it’s got is sheer brute force and this mofo cleans the heck out of our floors whereas the 550 is a lot daintier and careful. Yes, it can’t be scheduled but we can press one button on our way out the door and voila.
W may actually just stick with the 440 from now on.
[QUOTE=jpjeffries, post:30, topic:318989]
I AGREE! We have only the lowly Dirt Dog Roomba shop sweeper - no vacuum - and LOVE it. 8 yo daughter gets everything up - cords and other potential entanglements - and we set it to go at night. Whala (sp)? swept floors by morning! (We have only throw rugs, no carpeting)
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Remember: The secret of a clean floor with Roomba is QUANTITY, not QUALITY. Roomba is not going to clean your floors with one run. Instead, run it OFTEN and you’ll be happy.
I have been reading the comments about people with pets. I want to buy a Rhoomba, but have held off because the compartment that holds debris is very small. Yet so many poeple with pets like these makes me tempted to get one.
We have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that were “born to shed!”
I have hardwood floors and large oriental carpets. Living room is about 1500 sqft. Carpets cover about 500sqft of that area.
When I vacuum the carpets, I get enough pet hair to fill at least two good sized vacuum cleaner bags. I am using a Meile Vac recommended by a cleaning service. Does a better job than the Animal Dyson.
This bulk of pet hair would be approximately ten times of the he Rhoomba compartment.
How does the Rhoomba handle that volume of pet hair and other derbies?
Not trying to dis the Rhoomba, trying to decide to buy one and get happier!
Both in this thread and in the last http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=4523568 no one has mentioned a square trade warranty for these lovely robots. If the biggest complaint is that they die within a year, and square trade is for 3 years… help a brother out. What am I missing?
I bought one of these from Woot last month, and so far it’s been great. My cat isn’t terribly thrilled with it, but I’ve been running it when I’m not home, so, y’know, who cares what the cat thinks, quite frankly.
We’ve got wood floors throughout, and it does a great job keeping the dust and pet hair from one long-hair cat and two chinchillas from piling up between regular sweeping/upright vacuuming. It gets way more than I was expecting. Its effectiveness means my wife will let me continue making expensive Woot purchases.
No. The docking station for the 5xx series is completely different from the 4xx series. This model will only work with a dock from a 4xx or 4xxxx model, which includes the Roomba Scheduler and the Roomba Discovery.
I bought the Roomba Sage from Woot back in 2006. Had to replace the battery once but still works fine. They don’t do a deep clean but are great for in between vacuuming with a big vacuum or for quick spot cleans. BTW, google the batteries. You can get some with higher run times cheaper (f you take the plastic case apart yourself; not too difficult with instructions).
The hair does get a bit compressed when it goes into the bin, but it would never hold that amount of hair.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are vacuuming that amount of hair on a weekly basis, you might be able to get by instead by running the Roomba every single day, so that it doesn’t build up to that amount.
The biggest advantage of the Roomba is not that it will totally replace vacuuming, it’s that it makes it so that you need to do a regular vacuuming much less frequently. So, if you had to vacuum once or twice per week, you can probably run the Roomba on a daily schedule, then maybe only do a full vacuum cleaning once or twice per month. (This obviously depends on what your expectations are, but that is exactly how I use them. I keep one on each floor, and it does a good enough job of maintenance for me personally, that I only need to vacuum about once every two weeks. I am not overly finicky though, so other people might not feel the same way.)
Had a Roomba once and had to get rid of it because it scratched my dark, glossy hardwood floors (not with the brushes but with the hard wheel at the front). Will this one scratch also?
Would have loved to buy a couple, but I tried to order by sending these to my in laws at a different address, and my order was denied. No changes in credit card, etc. Any suggestions?
I only see HEPA filter upgrades and replacements available for the 500 series and up.
I’m all for robots doing my chores, but I’ll have to pass on the recommendation of every allergist I’ve ever had. I’ll stick with my stubborn and clunky 6-year-old dyson of doom.
Don’t do it! The Roomba is a toy at best. By the time you do what it takes to make it work, you could have vacuumed your house with a Dyson…a REAL vacuum cleaner. Roombas are for people who already have basically clean floors.
I’ve own THREE Roombas of various models (both newer and older ones than is sold today through woot), and I initially loved them. I later hated them; here’s why:
Two Roombas quit working within 12-18 months due to minor power variances during storms. I indicate “minor” because lights flickered briefly once – my digital clocks didn’t even reset. Nonetheless, that was enough for the Roombas to stop working. One was even on a surge protector power strip!
My third Roomba abruptly quit (displaying the same error series of beeps) with no storms in sight. It’s possible I’m blaming the demise of the other two on storms whereas the actual cause was due to an internal Roomba defect. I’ll never know.
I tried replacing the batteries in each unit, then performing a series of hard resets. Nothing. All three are toast.
Plan to gain about 12-18 months of use (with daily bristle cleanings if you have pets) before replacing the unit. Today’s woot deal is about half what I paid for two; one came through woot. Whatever the selling price, it’s rather expensive for such a temporary convenience.
Roombas do a decent job of picking up “surface” pet hair and dirt (there’s minimal suction, at best). However, they must be plugged in 24/7 when not in use and appear to have extremely sensitive electrical systems.
They’re an awesome concept but have a ways to go for actual use and storage hardiness.
[QUOTE=Kitzira, post:22, topic:318989]
I concur. As many roombas that they sell, they need to do a two for tuesday on roomba batteries, both this version and the 500 series. Perhaps roomba parts as well, brush assembly, ect.
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If you need a battery at a reasonable price, I just bought one of these for my Roomba 530 and it has the run time back to what it was when the Roomba was new:
We have 7 kids and 2 dogs. I sweep the kitchen floor at least 2x day, the patio door’s in there. I also vacuum the living room carpet every other day. Will this model be strong enough for us or should I get a different model?
