I ordered the scooba I380 from the website today. They list them for
450 and they throw in a roomba 4000 for a bonus. I paid an extra 100 and instead of the roomba 4000, they sent me the roomba with the scheduler. It is supposed to be a much nicer model. Any thoughts or recommendations? Should I have paid the extra 100 dollars? If you have a scooba / roomba, How do you like it? is it worth the money?
My house is about 1700 square feet and I have hard wood floors through out. I dont even have throw rugs. I do have about a 1/2 inch high transition going from the hard wood in the dining room to the linoleum in the kitchen. Will the unit be able to cross that?
I have one and have used it often in the past three years. I have both carpet and tiled floors It can get it's little self up on the throw rugs with no problems. A couple months ago it began running in circles. All the time. I got in touch with the company and they send me a thingy I attached with no problem to reprogram the machine. I mailed it back after a week or so and have no problems since.
LOL...as far as the room transition goes, I can live with it either way. If I need to, I will do each room on different days. The main reason for the post is that I have 30 days to return it for a full refund. So if I hear that there is basically no difference between the old model and the new, I will return it and purchase the old model because it is 200 dollars cheaper.
Keep us posted on how this works for you. I often wondered are these useful devices, or simply a waste. Seems like yo may be happy with it. I have hardwood floors and maybe this would be a reasonable approach to keeping these clean of surface dirt?
I second Jacque's post. Definitely tell us how you like it. I've always sort of wanted one, but have been suspicious that they can't possibly work well enough to justify the price. So report back, if you would. Enquiring minds, and all that. :)
Liz Megerle wrote in news:tASai.311$hp5.163@trndny05:
I have had the discovery, the cheap one, for about a year at this point and for someone adverse to housework it has been great. I do have to de-clutter the room to remove any traps for the robot, things like shoes or bed covers hanging onto the floor. It takes 2 minutes to clear stuff max. and then I can let the vac go. It is kind of like dealing with kids in that you listen with half an ear and if you hear something that you shouldn't you go and investigate, but generally it does a very nice job of cleaning carpets and vinyl floors. It does not have a large dirt cup, but is so easy that I just run it everyday so there is not as much dirt to collect
Since I do not have to actively vacuum, time is not a problem as I do other things while it is running. Overall I would certainly get one again as it was less than an upright vac and does as well at cleaning (making up for lessor deep cleaning by doing it much more often) and since it is very easy to do, I tend not to put it off.
I recently got a Roomba DirtDog robotic sweeper from Fry's for $90, shipping included. Very impressive. Clearly this is an evolutionary product. It's not a vacuum, like other Roombas, more like a mechanical carpet sweeper. It's meant for concrete workshop floors and picking up spilled nuts, screws and nails. It worked so well I took it upstairs to do the hardware floor, kitchen tile and pretty flat carpet. I've got two dogs that love to shred paper and plastic and wood and rope and wire and well you get the idea! The DirtDog picked up after them the way only a powerful vacuum with a beater brush could. And with no effort from me! I'll bet it consumed 1/100 the power of an average powerbrush vacuum as well. Sleek, smart and eco-friendly!
They've got a spinning corner "whip" brush that does an adequate (although not spectacular) job of get stuff of corners. The next version needs at least one on the other side, if not two or three more little. It swept up cloth swatches, peanut shells, bottle caps, tissues, dog kibble, tons of dog hair and other debris without incident. Choked on a whole paper towel, though.
NiMH quick charging battery pack, a much larger bin than the first units I saw, cliff sensors, status beeps, very interestingly designed spring-loaded wheels, each with their own motor. Has a bad tendency to crawl under things and die, though. I had to fish it out from under the bed where it was copulating in one shuddering frenzy with a pair of shorts that it had pushed under the bed. It beeps mournfully when it's in trouble, but eventually it just powers down and you have to hunt it down.
The dogs just love it because it "bumps" them and "runs away" and steals food from them as it sweeps up around their dog bowls. They don't want it when it's lying there, but when the DirtDog goes after the spillage, they assert their ownership!
It can sweep up 1/4-20 bolts and nuts with ease. The brushes take up the kind of stuff that nothing short of a multi-HP shopvac will retrieve. The bin's too small to suck up mounds of saw dust but it does a pretty good job of clearing wire scraps, nails, staples, screws and nuts. Unlike the brush attachments for the B&D battery powered upright I have, it doesn't get all bogged down on pieces of phone wire or twist'ems. They do get wrapped around the brush drum and it seems after five or six scraps of phone wire it really bogged down, but that's actually pretty good compared to other powered roller brushes I've used that gag on just one scrap of wire.
It does need cleaning almost every time but that's OK since it saves a lot of time otherwise and the small bin encourages me to dump the contents in a small tray to make sure no diamond earrings or other valuables get swept away.
I didn't get the electronic fence or the home base recharger but if it survives more than a month, I think I will. It works on carpet, too, but not anything very deep. I was astounded at how much dog hair it beat out of the living room carpet. The dogs don't know what to make of it, because if they get too close, the little rotating corner whip brush bops them on the nose. It's hysterical because after bouncing back and forth with them for a while, it will appear to take straight off after one of them. It's worth it just for the entertainment value.
It's pretty noisy but that's not a big issue. The weakest part is how it handles the corners. Ten years from now it will come mounted with a robotic vision system that will go after every last bit of dirt but for now, it will do, especially at a price under $100. When they first came out I didn't think they were worth the steep price but this little gem is going to get a brother soon because I want to have one per floor.
It's astounding how much dog hair it beats out of the carpet on each cleaning run. I think it's actually collecting dark matter from a parallel universe because it beats out dirt that the upright Hoover doesn't appear to be able to capture. Each time I empty the bin I ask myself "where is this coming from?" It's a cleaning machine, for sure. I think it's the cleaner to own, and not the vacuum version.
Best part? It cleans under the bed without moving it!!
Worst part? It pushes slippers waaaay under the bed if you don't pick them up beforehand.
No financial interest but I am thinking of opening up a robot store. This might be Roomba's home run. Not many other cleaners, even human guided, can pick up the variety of junk it can capture nor give a *very* short pile carpet the kind of "beating" clean that the DirtDog does. I've paid cleaning services more for just one visit and the floors looked equally clean on each occasion.
I don't understand the popularity of these devices. How do they vacuum ledges, door jambs, skirtings and furnishings? if they only do half a job and one has to resort to other means to clean those areas then one may as well get a vacuum out with attachments in the first place, the floor takes no time at all anyway with a decent vacuum as long as it's a clutter free floor.
This may come as a shock, but a lot of us don't vacuum ledges, jambs, skirtings, and furnishings every time. I agree that you still need another vacuum to do deep cleaning on a regular basis, but it sure is nice having a Roomba to keep the floors nice in the meantime.
They can't. For example, once a month I use the crevice attachment on the baseboards, the staircase, and under the refrigerator. And I use the soft brush attachment in the theater room (chairs, speaker grills, and draperies). What the robot can do, I can do faster with my upright. When a robot can do that and at a reasonable cost, I'll reconsider.
Speaking of electronic gadgets... I splurged this year and bought a Philco Sonic toothbrush (over $130). I considered it a gadget but got it anyway at the recommendation of my dental hygienist and use it three times a day. I still use my Waterpik and alcohol-based mouthwash in addition to this. Phish absolutely hates to floss but makes unusual New-Years resolutions.
I had a Sonic toothbrush but to be quite frank I preferred my Braun. The sonic's replacement heads were a frightful price and also they were too big for my mouth. Perhaps you have a smaller one Phish? I didn't notice any difference after a year of use. Sadly I am without a dentist. Despite paying National Insurance it is nigh on impossible in some areas to get a dentist unless one goes private and that is beyond my means at this present time. Perhaps I should look into this Waterpik? I'm not sure what it is but if it helps....
The Phillips Sonic comes with two heads, one small, one large. I bought mine on Amazon and they also have just the replacement heads. The Waterpik has been around for many years and recently has been upgraded and (thankfully) made less noisy. There are other brands and I'm sure they are good as well and very affordable. You fill the machine with warm water and it pulsates a jet stream of water through a small plastic tube which you move between the teeth and over the gums. It is amazing how much debris is removed after regular brushing. It is not a substitute for the dental cleanings, but certainly help keep your teeth cleaner and help prevent decay. Without insurance, you may be able to get checkups at a dental school for little money and since the student are graded they usually do a better job than regular dental hygienists.
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