iRobot Roomba 3000 Robotic Cleaner

Thought this would be a great way to get out of pulling out the big vacuum. Well no such luck. However, it is great to just let run around and pick up the small stuff on a daily basis. Not too mention your friends will think it's out of a George Jetson cartoon.

It's not ment for the heavy cleaning but good for the small stuff.

While this is a cute little toy, and a great conversation piece, it's usefulness in real world applications is very limited. If you only have a couple of scraps of something on the surface of the floor, it will do the job. However, it isn't strong enough to get a good, deep-down cleaning. Also, a big part of the effectiveness of a regular vacuum comes from the weight of the vacuum on the brush heads, combined with the amount of power going to the actual vacuum part. This doesn't have enough weight to make the brushes very effective.
My other huge concern is the capacity of this little toy. While it can pick up some scraps, it won't hold nearly as much as your average vacuum, and could easily end up clogging.
Finally, you will find that you need to have this little thing running around for about 3 times as long (or more) as it would take you to do the room with a normal vacuum. Sure, you aren't pushing the thing around, but this thing would still be getting in the way and making noise until it's done.
With that said, if you want a cute little toy, and something for visitors to talk about, go for it. However, don't throw out your regular vacuum as you will find yourself going back to it regularly.

I liked mine so much i bought a scooba mopping robot (and it is even easier)and I am now looking to buy a second one for a very large house. I have two cats that shed and it still does the job. I also have oriental rugs with tassles. Sometimes the tassles do present a problem for R1C1 (my robot's name) but I have solved that one by rolling up the edges (thus also cleaning under the rug) and by using the virtual wall to kee R1 off the tassles. I frequently clean R1's brushes and that does give back some of the time I save over using the vacuum cleaner. Also, I clean in cornors that R1 cannot get to. However, I still dedicate less time than before to vacuuming, tend to vacuum more, and the time i spend is relatively efortless. One day, I mowed the lawn while I vacuumed and mopped inside. Today, I vacuumed 3 floors and mopped one at the same time that I worked on responding to e-mail messages for my employment, looking in on my roomba and my scooba, every now and again to make sure they were fine. I am super impressed. In fact, I am going to buy shares in the company's stock, because the future is here. If you have questions e-mail: mailms@yahoo.com.

This little guy is just fun to use! It does a decent job of cleaning on the carpets, and it does a great job of keeping the wood and tile floors clean. The thing is fun to watch, but it is better to start it as you walk out the door because the noise is more than you want to listen to if you are trying to concentrate while it is running. The remote is worthwhile because you can help him along in some of the confusing spots such as under the couch (our couches are at a height where he can get under about 3/4 of the area but the clearance isn't enough to get the rest). The spot clean feature is great for when the kids knock a planter or box of cereal over. The best thing is that you can just hit a button and only check in on it once in a while to see if it's stuck (not a common problem). The invisible walls come in very handy for making his cleaning pattern more efficient and for keeping him in an area of the house that is relatively clutter-free. The battery life on ours has been more than sufficient for our occasional use (it normally lasts about 1 to 1.5 hours of constant running, and I've seen it go 2 hours on wood and tile).

I WANTED TO BELIEVE THEY WORKED!

Burn me once, I try again! Burn me twice, I feel stupid, but would not give up! Burn me three times, and I am mad! I still can’t believe I bought three of these “toys.”

I have MS. I thought it would be great to be able to vacuum my own floor without feeling so fatigued for a whole day afterwards. It sure sounded like a great idea!

I admit, the first one was a lot of fun. We watched the dog going crazy chasing it. She needs the exercise. She's 14 and lazy. We watched it hit a wall and turn around, come back, and hit the wall again, and again, and again… We watched it getting stuck in the corner and it was almost as if it shook it’s head and backed up and tried again, and again, and again… We did get to see it pick up a few tiny bits of lint off the carpet after the 3rd or 4th rounds. YEA! It Worked!

I think it managed to examine (you certainly couldn’t call it cleaning), about a 6-foot square area before the battery ran down. All this fun took place in approximately 15 minutes. I re-charged it for 48 hours straight. It ran down again after 15 minutes! I priced a new battery pack… $60.00!!! That was almost as much as I paid for the auction I won!

My daughter has a new baby. I thought she could use one. I just knew the odds were on my side this time. Surely, I could not get two that had bad battery packs! Yea! I won another auction and had it sent to her. Her Roomba’s battery runs down in approximately 15 minutes too! BUMMER!

In the meantime, I won an auction for a Sweeper. I wanted it as gift for a friend who has a huge house with wood floors. We sat and watched as “Silver” just pushed the dirt around on the floor. ahhh! I had an idea to spray something on the pad to make it pick up better. Well, that was a bad idea! Enough said! She gave it back to me.

Forget it!
I’ll stick to my old Dirt Devil and wish all of you good luck with your Roomba’s. I wouldn't even try to re-sell mine without a battery pack! It's in the closet, gathering dust along with my friend's Sweeper.

Mindframe877
http://stores.ebay.com/Gails-Frame-Of-Mind
http://shops.half.ebay.com/mindframe877

I BOUGHT THIS UNIT KNOWING THAT IT WAS A OLDER MODEL. I WANTED TO CHECK OUT ALL THE HYPE BEFORE I SPENT THE $260+ THEY WANT FOR A NEW MODEL. I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE UNIT. AFTER USING IT FOR A WHILE, WE GAVE IT TO MY WIFES GRANDMOTHER TO TRY AND SHE ALSO WAS SO IMPRESSED THAT SHE BOUGHT THE NEW MODEL. NOW IT'S GOING ON DOWN THE LINE.

My husband and I have had this vacuum for several months, and it is now sitting in the corner. Tell you something? Although it may appeal to your ego and/or your desire to live like The Jetsons, the ability of this small robot to pick up any real dirt is pure fiction. If you watch it being demonstrated on the shopping channels, you'd think that all your vacuuming days were over. Think again! If it looks too good to be true, it probably is, and this little money waster supports that statement. Put your money towards a Dyson. Now there's a product that lives up to its claims!

This is great I haven't pushed a vac in months still loving the roomba, just plug it in and let it go, under my bed has never been so clean, it keeps my wood floors perfect

whole household loves it,so easy to use and a great time save!!!!!!!!! best 150 i ever spent!!!!!!!!!!!everybody that comes over is amazed at how well it works,my sister even went and bought one herself!!!

I use this vacuum every day. I do one room at a time and it works great. All I have to do is pick up lamp cords or move a rug here and there and it does the rest. I turn it on while I am washing dishes, dusting, getting ready for work in the morning, etc. I'm so busy that I don't have time to vacuum every day and now my can. I love it that my floors always look and feel clean. I have a cat and a dog so they shed quite a bit of hair and the Roomba cleans up all that hair. One other thing that I really like about the Roomba is that it goes under my bed. It has never been so clean under there! It gets where I can't normally reach.

This thing is OK.

It's good because you have more free time because you don't need to walk around and clean your rugs because this does it for you, well kind of.
The problem with this, is it does not clean very well and it misses a lot of areas. I don't think people should buy it.

The "irobot" company has a long and distinguished history of advanced commerical robots, and its Roomba line was an enthusiastic ploy into the realm of household marketing. I have thoroughly enjoyed the use of my Roomba, it providing not only hygiene, but also entertainment. Though not the best vacuum for its price range, the Roomba is an efficient cleaner, and if you are in the market for a vacuum not requiring much supervision, I strongly reccommend the Roomba.

Although it actually does a decent job of collecting debris, my experience with this device led me to send it in for service 2 times. After the second time, I put the repaired unit up for auction. For both incidences, the problem I had was that it would continously go around in circles after a few usages. I had opened and cleaned every possible filter, container, and brush that is accessible to the user yet somewhere there was something prohibiting it from working properly. The other negative factor is that there is no way of vacuuming stairs with this unit. Either way you still have to pull out the regular vacuum to complete the job so why bother ? Like others have said, it's a novelty and a conversation piece.

If you're one of those who collects vacuums as a hobby, then this is a must have for collection. However, for everday extensive professional cleaning, then you will not want this Roomba and instead, purchase a Dyson Vac.

The Roomba is cute and all, but it is very limited of how much dirt it can hold. For its size the motor has to be small therefore it won't have the power like standard upright vacuum cleaners does. And for the price, it's better to find another vacuum that will actually do the job than for looks.

As many others have said the Roomba (model M-388) is fine for a no-effort once-over, within limits. I use it on wood floors. I found it will not transition from floor to area rugs (it will get hung up on the edge of the rug and these rugs do not have a fringe). The vacuum is weak so the brushes are doing most of the work. I use it mostly as an alternative to a dust-mop. I've also found that it gets hung up when it encounters a piece of furniture that has between about 3.5 and 4 inches of clearance (the handle is about half an inch above what the sensors/bumpers "see" so the sensors go under, the handle doesn't and the machine spins its wheels). It is a nice toy and a good concept but could use some more design enhancements.

Was very loud. I have base boards on my floors, and it would not bump and continue on in another direction. It would stop and get hung up. I was expecting it to do a better job is less time. However, I will continue to use the robot and in time may come to find that it helpful. Currently, I would rather use my regular vacuum than the robot.

I own 3 roombas and one scuba, and my husband and i absolutly love them, it picks up everything! Dont waiste your money on a yuppie over priced dyson, i know several people who have bought them and they say its no better than a regular vac. Besides who would rather spend there time vacuuming when you can get a roomba to do the work for you, I LOVE ROOMBA!

I have 4 Roomba's from the basic to the remote control.
They are all wonderful. I have teens and all their friends tracking through my house all day...I put the Roomba's down every morning then jump in the shower while they do the work, they even vacuum under my tables and beds
I have a Hoover a bagless vac that I use for deep cleaning, however for someone like me who has to vacuum everyday, this is perfect...and it works great on my hardwood office floor, goes under desks and everything.
LOVE THEM

This unit was a piece of junk. It looked great but after following all directions and charging for, first, 24 hours and it didn't work. I left it to charge for another 24 hours and it still does nothing.
I will never buy anything from this seller again.

I have two large dogs with coarse hair that tends to stick in the carpet, so this was a real challenge for my new Roomba! I was quite impressed. Roomba picked up around 75% of the hair on it's first use. It does seem to go in a very random pattern, going over the same area time and time again, but it eventually covers the whole area. My front room, 12ft x 12ft, took 45 minutes for Roomba to clean before it turned itself off. It is a bit of a pain to clean the brush, which must be done after every use, otherwise it doesn't clean as efficiently. The little collecting tray fills up fast, but just takes 2 seconds to empty. I don't think the brush will have a long life span, but they are replaceable, though expensive. The Roomba is OK for in between 'proper' cleans with a normal vacuum cleaner, but it could never replace one. On the plus side, it's excellent for picking up dry spills, such as breakfast cereal, when set on to 'spot' clean. I would recommend the Roomba for light cleaning in a household that doesn't get too dirty!

for a used machine it was not all scuffed pretty clean still needs a battery discription very accurate

I don't like that the vaccume does not hold a charge. It will charge all night and still will not operate. It is a poor product.

I purchased this Roomba as a Christmas gift for my Mom. It was filthy when I opened it, and has never worked, despite weeks of very patient attempts. The battery was dead, and the seller admitted to having sold it without trying it out first. Because with the purchase of a new battery I would pay the equivalent to a brand new Roomba, (and have no guarantee that it would work, even then) I've had no choice but to return the item.
I have my own Roomba, which I purchased from an Ebay seller, and absolutely love it. I know they are typically a great product, and highly recommend them to busy housekeepers/moms. If I were to rate the Roomba product-line in general, I would give it an excellent score. However, this particular item, having never worked, deserves a rating of poor.
Thanks, LO