iRobot Roomba Discovery SE Robotic Cleaner

I love my Roomba! The vacuuming ability is actually a lot better than I had expected, and the little brush that sweeps along the walls to push dirt into the Roomba's path makes the edgework superior to that of most standard vacuums. The stair-detection feature does not seem to work, and so Roomba has taken a few tumbles down our stairs. He then beeps plaintively, just as he does when he get stuck under the bed. Also, make sure that fishing line is not available for his ingestion, or you will spend quite a while unwinding a mile of it from his brushes.
Neither my husband nor I like to vacuum, but using roomba is easy and fun, so our house is a lot cleaner than it was before. Besides, roomba is cute, easy to use, and more durable than expected (i.e. weathers tumbles down the stairs without breaking). I don't think it's a good idea to leave him to work unattended, as he does get stuck occasionally and sometimes finds things that one would prefer he not suck in (like fishing line, electric cords, loose papers, corners of rugs, clothes). He also knows how to get stuck in the bathroom, and he really appreciates it when someone opens the door that he has inadvertently closed to let him out. I have been recommending Roomba to everyone I know. The only reason I give him a rating of 4 instead of 5 is because he tumbles down the stairs - a problem easily solved by placing a case of beer on the top step so that he has something to bump into before tumbling. of course I could also use the invisible wall, but I haven't unpacked that yet, because placing a physical barrier in his way does the same thing.

We purchased this for our new home, we live in PR and our floor is tile, it does a great job, battery life is ok (we have a scooba and it lasts longer) in the scale from 1 - 10 I would give to the Roomba a 8.5; we are amazed with all the dirt it picks up, if Lola (that's the name my wife gave to the roomba) gets stuck, it will work out the way to get out by itself, we purchased the scheduler remote & the charging base and now it does the work by itself. the only thing we do is cleaning the bin every two or three times a week. but as the promotion says we checked out of the things to do vacumming & mopping. It was a great addition to our cleaning tools.

I really like my Roomba Discovery 4211 by iRobot! (Also my 4107 Sage model too!) It is regular maintenance though, like cleaning the brushes EVERY time, and empty the dust bin, brush out the little filter, and of course you have to charge the battery . . . and of course if you have long hair, it will get tangled up in the brushes, but what vacuum doesn't?

It will clean by itself for 75 - 90 min; it will clean under things you would not normally clean, like bed & couch (providing it can fit under there!) Sometimes you have to blow out the cliff sensors, as they accumulate dust, but it depends on the environment that the work in.

I also have an iRobot Scooba model that mops the floor! Love that too!

These 4XXX series models and the newer 4XX models are more reliable than the 5XX models that they are coming out with!

Once your warrantee is up, I recommend that you take the covers off and clean out the dust accumulation under there. The iRobot site has an owner’s forum and there also is a good site called roombareview, both are excellent sites with lots of help. I buy used ones, preferably non working and I fix them (usually just needs a good cleaning!) and I'm good to go!

I would not be without it.

Shawn

John 3: 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I bought one of these for myself 6 months ago, and I love it.

The thing is really well made and does a great job picking up the small stuff on carpet, hardwood, and tile.

I then got this one for my dad as a fathers day present. It is a great time saver, and an excellent motivator to clean up the wire piles you would otherwise just go around with a normall vacuum.

We now both use our regularly, I have upgraded mine with the "Scheduler" option which lets it run while I am at work.

Pros:
*My house is vaccumed every day before I get home from work!!!
*Very interesting to watch,
*Does a great job cleaning all of my flooring types,
*A lot of well thought out engineering went into this product,
*This model also has an interface port which you can interface with a computer or micro-controller to have direct access to all sensors and functions (Great nerd toy),
*Virtual walls work amazing well,
*Stops what its doing and parks itself and recharges when the batteries are running low,
*First few times it ran it was amazing to see how much my old vaccum was leaving behind.
*With the smart bin upgrade, it requires even less checking in on, it automaticly tells you when the bin needs to be emptied.

Cons:
*This will destroy power supply and phone line cables you have drapped across the floor. Pick them up and keep them neat, and this solves itself.
*The basic remote does not include the schedualing option, this is a very worth while upgrade.
*Mine came with a standard bin, which ment I had to check and empty it every day, the upgrade to a smart bin is nice because now I typically only empty it once a week when it tells me the bin is full.


I love my roomba, my dad loves his too.
Awsome product for about what you would spend on a new manual vaccum cleaner.

I spent about 6 months reading pros and cons re: iRobot's Roomba. When my husband suggested that we purchase one, I jumped on it. That was 2 years ago. I bought the first one from a company that offers a lifetime return guarantee, and considering the complexity of the machine/computer/robot, I decided that bargain basement shopping was not the way to go. Received the Roomba Discovery and love it. A year later I purchased the next generation, the Scheduler, for my daughter and hated it--pieces fell off with each cleaning (a little yellow doo-hickey on the brushes) and her pets' hair clogged it, as did her very long hair. Exchanged it for a Scooba. Great choice for her. My husband and I purchased a second home, got a second Roomba Discovery SE. The Discovery model was no longer available from my 'source' so I bought it from eBay at a discount (though still pricey). The caveat: iRobot will not cover any guarantee because it was purchased from eBay, what they term a 'third party seller'. Anyway, love the Roomba Discovery. 'I' vacuum every day or two, then once every so often hit the corners and baseboards because Roomba misses them. I have hardwood floors with oriental carpets. Roomba doesn't like fringe; I learned from an old carpet guy to use trusty duct tape and tape the fringe to the back of the carpet! It worked like magic--the fringe is safely tucked and taped on the underside of the rug and Roomba works her magic with no hesitation. An added bonus is that the v-space between the hardwood boards is safely vacuumed and GENTLY brushed (an ordinary vacuum with a brush will beat the hardwoods unmercifully).