Roomba anyone?

[BrigitBigKnickers]

I am thinking of getting a Roomba for Christmas. Are they any good?

We need something that will cope with pet hair and a variety of different floors including carpets, wood floors and tiles.

A few questions:
How often do they need emptying?

Would they fall down the stairs if put up on the landing?

Do they charge themselves up and then go out again?

Can they cope with going over door bars between rooms or do they need moving from room to room?

Thankyou!

I bought one based on the opinions of enthusiastic mumsnetters, and I was disappointed.

I have the same needs as you - carpet, wood, tile, dog.

They need emptying rather frequently. My living room would easily fill it up, without any unreasonable amount of dust/fluff/dog hair. The receptacle is tiny, and the little brushes get clogged very quicky. You have to clean these with your fingernails.

It won't fall down the stairs. It has a 'cliff' sensor, so it will stop after a quick peak over the top stair.

The more expensive model will return to its charging station when its battery is low. I have this feature but the charging station stopped working and now it has to be plugged in directly.

They can climb over door bars, no problem. If you want to keep the roomba in a certain room, you can put light gates in the doorway and they will treat this as a wall.

When I bought my Roomba, DH predicted that it wouldn''t last a year, and he was right.

Thanks- I have seen a WHich review for the most recent Roomba which looks quite a lot better than the original one.

Any more opinions- I really really hate vacuuming and was hoping this might be the answer.