Getting things done around the house without being home - ROBOTS (experience/review)

When I first saw the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner I was pretty skeptical. Then my dad got one as a gift and I soon realized what a great thing this was. I bought one on clearance at Sears for an absurdly low price when we bought our house. Seeing what it picked up was pretty gross and impressive.

Over the last 5 years it has been pretty good to us, but did have some reliability issues. Our original model 560 was replaced with another 560 in the first month under warranty with brush transmission issues. The first battery pack lasted about two years, and then we had another major failure with the bump sensors as cause for another warranty replacement. They sent an upgrade this time: a 580 pet model! They never did figure out the brush gearing and we got the click of death again.

Watching the deal sites, a similar product from a company called Neato popped up. It was a refurb and was cheap enough to give a try. HOLY SMOKES! While the new robot cannot get to the edges and corners of the rooms, it makes up for that shortcoming with laser guidance and straight lines. It returns home to charge during its cleaning cycle and then goes back to work. To make it even better, the amount it picks up has been disgusting.

What to do with the old robot? I wanted to fix the old roomba and put it in the finished basement on a schedule. I found that irobot has an upgraded brush system that they sell reasonably, but with a few google searches found that the brush housings still have problems. I ended up finding some tutorials on fixing the problems once and for all. $10 in sealed bearings and a few globs of expoxy and I'm back in business!

So we love both machines, but the Neato seems to be the better robot with its more modern guidance. The Roomba wanders around pretty aimlessly and the wheel marks it leaves aren't great. The Neato on the other hand cleans in sections and in nice straight lines. The way a good cleaning lady would.

So, if you've been curious about these try to find a Neato. They pop up on woot. com frequently and I found mine on meh. com. Amazon also has a pretty good price on the refurbs too.

PS: your wife will love it!

Yeah, they're great until the dog poops in the corner of the dining room. Then the E36 M3 quite literally hits the fan. Not only does it make a mess, it makes a mess everywhere in the damn house.

By the way, I came very close to sinking you as a canoe.

I love our Neato. It is amazing the E36 M3 it will pick up even after I've just vacuumed. Ours doesn't have the side brush so it does miss some things. Initially it was getting stuck under the couch edge so I added a strip of 1x3 MDF so the bumper would strike as it went under the couch. No more problems. Occasionally it'll get stuck or suck something up that jams the brush. My kids are always leaving obstacles out and it generally works around them.

TL:DR Neato works like a champ. Sort of like having a teenager vacuum your house, you're still going to need to do it yourself once a week or so.

Hmmm. Watching with interest. Not much vacuuming getting done around here right now.

I love my Roombas. I'm using a 700 series now, and have no brush tranny issues. It vacuums everyday at noon, while I'm at work, and with 2 big black labs it has its work cut out for it. My only gripe is that the brush gets full of hair in a month or so and needs replaced. I really want to try the 800 series but at $600+ I'll just stick with my 700.

I need a robot to do laundry. Everything else I can handle, but laundry is the bane of my existence.

I'm waiting for this one to go on sale.

https://www.dyson360eye.com/

I thought this is half the reason people had kids, was so they didn't have to do this stuff anymore.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Yeah, they're great until the dog poops in the corner of the dining room. Then the E36 M3 quite literally hits the fan. Not only does it make a mess, it makes a mess everywhere in the damn house. By the way, I came very close to sinking you as a canoe.

I'd be looking to address the root problem. No feces in the house, please!

We've got a 650 Roomba, I think. It has contributed mightily to domestic harmony and relaxation over the past 20 months or so. Haven't had any trouble with it other than a few docking mishaps that cause it to make the base station inaccessible so it wanders off and dies in a corner. She also locked herself in the bathroom one day, which I thought was hilarious.

We're on our second Roomba (500-something, had it so long I can't remember). With our nicely shedding cats it's been godsend, although it's required the usual maintenance - it's on its third battery and third brush case by now. Obviously running it daily doesn't help much.

We actually would need two to cover the whole house but I'm waiting for the Dyson one before buying another one as I'm hoping that one has a bit more suction.