With a dog that sheds constantly and big doors and windows that are always open and letting in dust vacuuming is a constant chore around our house.
After looking at the specs of the Roomba I decided to give it a try. After trying it out at our house for a few weeks the Roomba works very well.|
Roomba sells several different models which include different items. The basic Roomba comes with a rechargeable battery, a battery charger and a “Virtual Wall”. Other models come with additional “Virtual Walls”, a remote control, and a wall mount.
The Roomba uses a NiMh battery that lasts for up to 60 minutes on carpeted floors and up to 90 minutes on hard surfaces such as wood, tile and linoleum. The battery of the Roomba lasts for about three average sized rooms. One of the disadvantages of this machine is that it takes all night for it to recharge. An optional quick charger allows you recharge the batteries in 2 hours. If you want to use the Roomba heavily an additional battery would be a wise purchase.
The Virtual Wall (which needs you to supply two D-cell batteries) acts as an electronic boundary for the Roomba to keep it out of a specific room or area. You can purchase additional Virtual Walls to block multiple doorways. With an open plan house like ours you’ll need more than one Virtual Wall. In fact, I think we need three. Each wall can block an area up to 20-feet long. Roomba also has an internal detector to keep it from falling down stairs or other drop-offs.
To be honest I have not used the remote control for the Roomba yet. The marketing materials says you can use it to direct Roomba towards dirt but I like the start it and forget about it method better. The unit I bought didn’t come with a wall mount but it does look useful for putting the cleaner neatly out of the way.
The Roomba works like a sweeper/vacuum. It sweeps up the big stuff and vacuums the dust. Its light weight makes it easy to carry up and down stairs. While it works best on hard floors, it seems to do a more than adequate job on low pile carpet like Berber. You do have to “Roombify” a room before using it by tucking away anything that could get caught in the machine such as fringes on carpets, low hanging drapes, and wires. When it gets stuck for some reason, it will chirp for your help. So far, the only room that I haven’t been able to setup to clean with the Roomba is the kitchen. The gap underneath the cabinets is just the wrong height
The first few times you use the Roomba it might not save you any time. It is fun to watch it use sweep the room bumping its way around obstacles. Its low profile and sharp turning capabilities allow it to go places your average vacuum cleaner is not able, under couches, beds and dressers.
Operating Roomba is very easy. There are three buttons on top labeled ‘S’, ‘M’ and ‘L’ and ‘Max”. Each setting corresponds to a specific room size: S is for rooms measuring 10’ by 12’, M for 14’ by 16’ and L for 15’ by 20’. In the Max mode, it keeps cleaning till it runs out of batteries. You put the robot in the center of the room, press the button for the area you want cleaned and Roomba starts the proper cleaning program. When Roomba’s cleaning program is done, it turns itself off (if the battery hasn’t given out before that).
The two negatives of the Roomba are the long recharging times on the battery and a small lint bin. The company recommends cleaning the house often so there’s less to pick up—easy to do. The long battery recharge time makes an additional battery a must.
Overall this gadget worked much better than expected. While it won’t replace the vacuum cleaner at our house, it certainly reduces the number of times I have to drag that big, heavy beast out. I have a feeling this is going to be one of the few gadgets that stays around. For more information the Roomba go to www.roombavac.com.
