Robot vacuums

tmaxx · #1 02-26-2015, 11:02 AM

I'm looking for more information on robot vacuums the roomba or neato which is the best. Which one is better for cleaning? Noise? Which one is better for capacity for bin inside vacuum how many times do you need to empty it? Are they worth buying?

EZM · #2 02-26-2015, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmaxx

I'm looking for more information on robot vacuums the roomba or neato which is the best. Which one is better for cleaning? Noise? Which one is better for capacity for bin inside vacuum how many times do you need to empty it? Are they worth buying?

We got one from my mom for Christmas a couple years ago. A Roomba.

It works fine on hardwood (most of house is hardwood) and it's fine on the short pile carpets at the entry, back boor and etc... but it's still not quite as efficient as I would have expected. It does a decent job, but not spectacular.

It can't pick up anything bigger than a staple, or blade of grass but it is pretty quiet.

Overall I'd say we would rate it as ...... MEH ..... 3/10 stars

We don't use it anymore.

wwbirds · #3 02-26-2015, 11:40 AM

Because consumer rating and capacity was bigger than roomba. Friends who recommended robot vac said Roomba they have had to recharge every 40-45 minutes so couldn't do the whole house at once.
"George" Neato was fun to watch, necessary? probably not, but it got my wife to stop complaining about dog hair every day because George looked after it before she got up on timer schedule early every morning. Depending how many doors were left open he could do most of house in 1.5 hours and on occasion returned to charger in morning and finished last 10 minutes or so of house in afternoon.
Sadly George developed vision problems in only 2 months so according to Neato customer service we should clean his little laser eyes with Q tips. Didn't work and he is on his way back to Costco. Replacement is in transit from Stratford Ontario and should arrive today.
I emptied dirt bin many days and could not believe how much dog hair and debris (crumbs,bits of paper etc) he picked up each day. We were about to change schedule to every second day as one of dogs appears to have stopped dropping coat a week or two ago when he developed his disability.
We will see how George ll lasts on the funny farm but if he develops problems in a couple months he will go back to Costco as well and we will wait for the technology to develop further. They hate water so monitor snow coming in doorways, slopped water from dog bowls, human spills etc
Costco warranty makes it worth trying. We got ours for $349 on sale but have seen the pet and allergy modles like ours go for almost $600 on amazon and other on line stores. not sure how they would be on returns so we stick with Costco on unknown reliability.
.

Pudelpointer · #4 02-26-2015, 03:12 PM

Room a pet series from Costco.

Had ours for 1.5 years. More than happy with it!!! With two full time dogs and frequent visiting pets, I can't imagine not having it.

Before we got it, I would vacuum the whole house once every 7-10 days, including under the couches, where there would be a solid layer of dust-bunnies.

With roomba, I only bring out the big vacuum every couple months to do the corners behind cabinets and such, and to do the stairs. About once per month I flip the couches and let Roomba clean up the handful of bunnies hiding there and the little bit of dust.

We try to empty Roomba every day, but sometimes it goes an extra day or three.

After 1.5 years I notice that battery life is getting shorter, but it still gets it done.

If you are going to get one, make sure it is programmable. Ours begins cleaning at 10am every day, does it's thing, and then puts itself back on the charger. Clean the brushes occasionally (once a week), clean the filter and sensors as required.

Best $350 I have ever spent!

mrks_jnz · #5 02-26-2015, 03:29 PM

Had one of the first Roombas.

The trick to it is to run it in every day. It might not pick up 100% of everything first pass, but the idea is to get 80% each day, and the floor is kept reasonably tidy.

And its best to empty the bin daily. and give it a wipe down with a damp cloth weekly. keeps the sensors clean, and avoids the "circle dance of death".

as for worth, was nice to have as a bachelor, but now... that's what the wife's for!!!!

lakerman · #6 02-26-2015, 03:37 PM

Coworker turned it on in the morning, went to work and had a sick dog with the runs during the day vacuum worked flawlessly spreading it everywhere nice surprise when she got home!

Fisherpeak · #7 02-26-2015, 03:52 PM

I have a redbone cougar dog.She would kill it.

Pudelpointer · #8 02-26-2015, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fisherpeak

I have a redbone cougar dog.She would kill it.

My bird dogs watched it with some concern for the first couple days... now it often runs into them before they will move out of the way.

Brutal dog poop story....

wwbirds · #9 02-26-2015, 03:58 PM

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Fisherpeak · #10 02-26-2015, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pudelpointer

My bird dogs watched it with some concern for the first couple days... now it often runs into them before they will move out of the way.

Brutal dog poop story....

Indeed a brutal poop story.My god I can just imagine....Yukko.
But my dog Tick would have that thing in pieces.Or the house smashed all to hell trying.Hound dogs...sigh....

crunchiespg · #11 02-26-2015, 04:04 PM

Im waiting for the dyson robot. Should be out soon.
My sister recently got one of the new battery powered dyson vacuums. She does the whole house with it and it seems just as good as my 120v dyson. Both do an excellent job.
The new dyson robot is basically my sisters one with tank tracks. So should be just as good.

Wild&Free · #12 02-26-2015, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

Im waiting for the dyson robot. Should be out soon.
My sister recently got one of the new battery powered dyson vacuums. She does the whole house with it and it seems just as good as my 120v dyson. Both do an excellent job.
The new dyson robot is basically my sisters one with tank tracks. So should be just as good.

MSRP on that is 130'000 yen, about 1200$ US.

pricey.

Pudelpointer · #13 02-26-2015, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild&Free

MSRP on that is 130'000 yen, about 1200$ US.

pricey.

Wow.... I could buy a Roomba for each floor in the house for that! Unless the Dyson DOES stairs.... then absolutely worth it.

2fast4uRuss · #14 02-26-2015, 05:46 PM

if you do buy one pick up a can or two of computer duster works amazing for cleaning out the filters.

Got Juice? · #15 02-26-2015, 05:51 PM

I love the roombas... they do a decent job of maintaining a clean house in between thorough vacuumings.

Twisted Canuck · #16 08-07-2018, 08:35 AM

Resurrect 3 year old thread, one of several necro threads you bumped I see, got your 20 posts....cool! What's for sale?

Zip · #17 08-07-2018, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twisted Canuck

Resurrect 3 year old thread, one of several necro threads you bumped I see, got your 20 posts....cool! What's for sale?

I was kinda wondering why as well TC...could have picked on a better topic, like anything other than a vacuum...but in any case I'll add that we had Roombas at our farm house..needed one as of course we had more than our share of dogs and cats..loved the robot vacuums, they do help!
Zip

58thecat · #18 08-07-2018, 07:39 PM

Had a roomba for seven years and it finally started having issues other than the battery which we changed out once so got a new one, mid of the line and it works great, throw in a vacuum every third day and the house is clean.
But do not set it on a timer to clean when you are not home if you have pets, well our lab had pork the night before, she got the squirts and sometime between 1-3 pm while we were out roomba turned on and found the pile of liquid...proceeded to spray it all over the kitchen area, stainless appliances from about 6" and down. It did its job not giving up on that area as when we came home the battery was dead and the 2hrs of cleaning up started....happy anniversary sweetheart....yup we were supposed to go out that evening

JonWalter · #19 08-21-2018, 06:56 AM

Quote:

I love the roombas... they do a decent job of maintaining a clean house in between thorough vacuumings.

We've got a bullmastiff, 3 cats. The Roomba does a stellar job on most of our carpet, but most of it is the same consistency. It hardly does anything with the area rug in our living room as it has different lengths and is a firm material.

We go over everything once a week with our Shark vacuumand it gets everything the Roomba misses, but if it weren't for the Roomba we'd need to vacuum every day or 2.

ArrowBow · #20 10-26-2018, 08:59 AM

+1 on the roomba too. It does a decent job keeping our floors clean, not to mention we have a chow. It sheds a lot of fur every second. We just find it a bit noisy though, you definitely cannot run it early in the morning.

Twisted Canuck · #21 10-26-2018, 09:19 AM

What is it with guys bumping a three year old thread about vaccuums to get their first post in? Such a fascinating topic....? I'm stumped, but every time this thread shows up I want to look and see the post count that did it, and yep, #1. Bizarre. Well, we'll be keeping an eye out for further contributions, until you get to 20.....

cleanbore · #22 10-28-2018, 03:47 PM

if your roomba is getting weak, just order a new type lithium replacement battery to upgrade the old original nicad from them and snap on replacement dirt brushes. for a little over a $150 bucks you will have a new machine with 3 times the batt life of the old.- great customer service also.