iRobot Roomba Scheduler 4230

Mine was a refurb and I had an issue with the charger but got a new one quickly with no questions asked and I’ve been very happy with their support and how it works… I wouldn’t have owned one if it hadn’t been for here so I really don’t see how spending $95 for the refurb is hurting me.

Also they have a newer line out which is probably why they are getting rid of the 4 series on woot.

Probably drop an e-mail to woot to get it taken care of since the order is already placed… they’re typically easy going like that… at least give a credit for it.

I don’t have this model but I do own an iRobot Roomba 560 model. It’s a great little machine. I’m getting the 4230 for the rooms upstairs. I hope the 4230 will do as well as the 560 model.

I got one of this same model as a $99 refurb (rox0rz!) a few months ago and it’s been great! No problems whatsoever and I get to impress my friends by telling them how cute it is when it gets tired and goes back to its charger to “rest”…we have cats and this does a better job picking up the cat hair than any of our regular vacuums. Yes, you do have to emply it.

We bought this model as a refurb (rox0rz!) almost a year ago and it died (no movement) after 4 months so we were on our own. Being handy I tore it apart and found that hair had gotten into the electric motor. Rebuilt that and it worked. Then did the “sleeve upgrade” on the transmission output which helped some too. About 2 months later had to replace the battery as I was only getting about 15 minutes out of a charge. It has died again, this time moving slow, stopping, and in odd directions. Haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet.

All that said we love the Roomba. Have a dog that sheds A LOT and we ran it every day in our living room. Had to empty and clean it every day and would clean out the internals 2 times a week (and still had these problems). Maybe it’s time to get a new one with the longer warranties…

I got one of these a few months ago and have nothing bad to say about it.

Never used the wall things though.

I don’t have the scheduler model, but I love the Roomba. It was my first Woot purchase (new, from a woot-off). Big house, wood floors, no pets (but lots of human hair), few rugs. Emptying the tray is no big deal, I do it every time I put him back on the base, and have rarely had to empty in the middle of a job. The virtual walls work really well and I haven’t had to change the batteries in them since I bought my unit last November. Be aware that the virtual walls take large batteries (C or D, I don’t remember); we didn’t have any that size in the house when the Roomba arrived and had to run it without the virtual walls until we got around to going out for batteries.

My husband’s initial opinion was, “It’s just as easy to get the regular vacuum out and use it.” My response: “Fine, but you never do.” Now we both actually think Roomba is easier to use (even without scheduler) and in our house Roomba seems to do a better job than the upright vac, gets dust out from the cracks between the floorboards and from under furniture. Dust buffalo under the bed are no match for Roomba.

Plus he’s just damn cute.

The docking station that came with mine is so lightweight that the little guy has a hard time docking–the base tends to scoot around. This is a problem that may have been addressed on other models. In any case, this looks like a great deal–mine was only $15 less, had no scheduler, and lacked several of the other accessories and extras listed.

Have this model and love it; great on hardwood and pet hair. Set it in a room, set a wall and push two buttons: works done (unless the cat plays with the virtual wall and lets Roomba out to wander).
This ‘kit’ has more than refurbs: two filters, two walls and two brushes plus the longer warranty.

We have two scheduler Roombas (Rosie and Hobson) … they work okay on carpets (we still use the big vacuum to clean down deep), but they really excel on hardwoods and other solid surfaces … I’m trying to think of a reason to buy a third, but can’t … in fact, we’re soon moving to a new, slightly smaller house, so I’d better save my cash … y’all enjoy!

Been waiting for a really good deal to show up on these Roombas. Brand new with 1yr warranty, this sounds pretty darn good to me. Looks like my dogs are getting a new friend. :slight_smile:

You can get an attachment for the Roomba that will zap dogs out of existence. Clear your problem right up!

I wonder who sells more roombas, w00t or roomba?

weren’t these like $100 a few weeks back?

I have this same model for my apartment. It recently died (faulty charging unit inside the Roomba) I talked to iRobot, they sent me out a new one ASAP. During the replacement period, my carpet became dirty for the first time in the 3 months since i bought my Roomba. The thought of pulling out my old manual vacuum was laughable, I let the carpets get dirty until the new one arrived and took care of it.

While this wont be as great if you have 6-7 rooms on one level, for small apartments it really does take vacuuming off your list.

That one was refurb w/only a 90 warranty…this one has 1 yr. warranty and I think a few extra items with it.

If you are planning on using it on hard floors then yes, they are pretty good. If you have a carpet that sheds yarn residue when you vacuum (or when you brush on it while trying to clean a spot or something), or if you have a lots of pet hair, then this is not for you. I have a carpet like this, and this thing picks up too much of the yarn residue and the gear box that connects the motor with the brush is not “dirt secured” very well, all the residue and hair tend to get in there. You have to keep cleaning it very well every time you use it or it will choke the gears and the motor. Cleaning it well every time you use it kind of kills the purpose.

Also if you have a big house you will probably need multiple of those since in one charge cycle it can barely do one room at a time.

Hmm. I have a short haired dog and a long haired dog that’s always shedding. I think it’s amazing. We have to empty it about 3 times a week, but it definitely gets into areas I couldn’t get to or wouldn’t think of if I could.

I agree though, it won’t get you out of all of your housework. If only I could get it to dust and do laundry! :slight_smile:

So, how does this thing figure out rooms its already done? Like, if my house was really long and skinny, and the base was in the back, and it cleaned 2 rooms and went back for a charge, how would it know to go to the NEXT rooms even further down after the charge? Does it do this effectively? If so, in for 1 (maybe 2, for each floor?)

Answer to first question: It doesn’t.
Answer to second question: It wouldn’t.

Essentially, the Roomba backs out of the base at the scheduled time, spins and begins cleaning … and when the battery gets too low, it returns to the base and recharges, but it won’t leave the base again until the next scheduled cleaning time … there is some rudimentary “learning”, but it doesn’t really store a layout of the room(s) in its memory, if that’s what you’re hoping for. We have two … Rosie does our family room, kitchen, and main entry every Mon-Wed-Fri at 7:30 am … that area is about 15’ x 30’ (plus about 15’ x 5’ for the entry) and she does a great job … Hobson is for general use in several rooms and we usually just plop him in the middle of the floor and hit the clean button instead of trying to schedule him.

You could put one in the front and one in the back, with virtual walls in the middle to keep them in their respective halves of the house. Or you could try it with just one first and see how it works, then add another if you need it.

I have a Roomba and LOVE it. I have two kids, and before the roomba I had to vacuum every day and it still wasn’t clean. Now I have the roomba set to run every night while my family sleeps, and the floor is cleaner than it ever has been, even in the kitchen. The invisible wall is programmed to come on at the same time, so the roomba doesn’t bump into our doors and wake us up. We don’t have pets, so we only have to empty the junk out once a day. It works better than our regular vacuum at picking up hair, etc. And it’s great waking up to a clean floor. Makes my job as a stay at home mom a LOT easier!