LOL (DBO)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 12:26 (2130 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by stabbim, Wednesday, January 23, 2019, 12:30

I love it. I bought it 10 years ago and I've kept it maintained and occasionally upgraded parts (they're designed to be VERY user-servicable). Mine is an old 560 model, but I have the motor and dustbin (they're one unit) and the brush assembly from a 600 series in it, as well as an upgraded battery. Believe it or not, it actually influenced my house buying decision. I intentionally bought a single-level house so the Roomba could clean everything. I've been here 3 years and I've NEVER run the big vacuum for anything other than individual spills.

There needs to be a fair bit of forethought to really make use of one. You need to make sure that the space it's in is totally free of small objects and wires. That can mean rearranging things so that wires are run behind furniture, or hanging them up off the floor. Also - and this is something that should be obvious, but isn't to some - don't run the Roomba if something has crapped on the floor. If you do that, it's your fault, not the Roomba's. In my case, I schedule the Roomba to run on its own every morning. However, I would NOT recommend doing so with pets. Check the floor out with your eyes, and THEN press the start button.

Also, while the Roomba is automatic, it is not effort free. You need to empty the dustbin occasionally, and clean off the brushes once a month or so - they'll get hairs and strings wound around them after a while. There is apparently a model now that has a dock which can empty the dustbin on its own, but I haven't tried that so I can't say how well it works.