Who has a Roomba and do you love it?

[Holidayshopping]

I really want one-can anyone tell me their thoughts? The Amazon reviews look good, but what are they really like??

Mine arrived this morning. I’ll let you know tomorrow hehe

Oh, exciting! Can I ask which one you went for and where from??

I do.

And yes.

@Bowlofbabelfish

Tell me more!!

I have a Neato Botvac. I love it. It’s so handy when I’ve got people coming, just being able to pop it on while I’m tidying another room and then come back in to a nice clean floor!

You do need to pick things up first or it will get tangled on shoelaces or the cats’ toys etc - I also put all the dining chairs up on the table to give it easy access under the table, but I’d be doing that anyway if I was hoovering.

Mine is quite noisy - I think it may have lost a bearing or something, I’m sure it wasnt that bad when I first got it, but it’s worth putting up with the noise to save me doing it, I just shut the door to keep it in the room it’s cleaning.

Roomba 960 I think. It was the one with the biggest discount. Been debating it for a while but finally gone for it

I love it. Had it for years. Wouldn’t be without it now.

Yes, love it!

I've always wanted one. Do they get clogged up with pet hair?

I had one. Then we got a puppy.

Not a good combo - it turned into a muckspreader.

I've had one for about six years, and after one replacement battery, still going strong.
You need to make sure that the floor is clear or Roomba will complain (it is a talking vacuum cleaner, although conversation is a bit limited).
Drawbacks; it takes quite a while, and the cat is a bit dubious about it and you need to frequently clean the brushes, also rather expensive, but I still get joy from watching it scuttle around picking up debris.

Just putting a diff point of view here. My lovely mil bought me one as a surprise present. V generous of her but I really didn’t like it. Took ages to do a room, didn’t like the way it bumps into and off furniture and often need to clean brushes etc. It broke after 3 years and I’ve replaced it with a cordless dylon which I love so much more.

I have a much older one and I haven't found pet hair a problem. The biggest problems for me - and the reasons I don't use mine much anymore in our new house - are:

1. DS is obsessed with it and constantly turning it on and off. DD hates the noise and cries.

2. DH hates the charging dock and there's no obvious home for it so it lives under a sideboard. He can't be arsed to put it back correctly so often just shoves it under the sideboard and it's never charged when I want to take it out. But worst of all:

3. we have sliding doors the full length of the open plan kitchen/living area, which have tracks that are flush to the ground and the roomba is forever getting stuck in them and it cannot self rescue.

I found it absolutely fine for cat hair tbh, cat hair was short enough not to tangle up the rollers (my own hair on the other hand is the worst!) and it really helped keep the hair down when we had three cats and lived in a flat - I'd leave the doors open and it would do most of the flat in one go.

Crikey, @scarftown they are £900!

I was looking at the £250 one on Amazon . The 671?

I have a eufy and I love it! Does great with cat hair and baby crumbs, much quieter than our regular vacuum. I wouldn’t trust it to go round and clean the whole flat on its own, I tend to tidy a room and then shut it in there while I tidy somewhere else, or I let it Potter around the living room while I’m feeding DD.

Does somewhat remind me of a drunk dalek though

Ok last week they were ALOT cheaper! No way I would have spent £900 maybe o didn’t get the 960. But I spent about £500

Honeywort the Neato one doesn’t bump into things - it can ‘see’ obstacles and drives round them. It does sometimes get wedged in a corner it can’t find its way out of and sits there beeping forlornly until I rescue it, but it’s actually pretty clever at figuring out where it is.

I’ve heard too many stories about them spreading rogue turds around the place - I’d never set it to automatic if I wasn’t there just in case!

How noisy are they?

Also, are you happy to put it on when you are out?

Yes and it's brilliant. I set it off when I'm around but only because it occasionally gets stuck under our low sofa.

I have one of the cheapest models and I love it. It’s pretty basic, no automatic return to charging etc. I just place it in a room and set it off for set time (15/30/60 mins). It covers well, though occasionally ‘gets stuck’ in a small corner, meeping pathetically until I rescue it.
I love how it won’t fall down the stairs when doing the landing!
But, there are just two tidy adults here and no pets.
The carpets get a ‘proper vacuuming about once a month now.

I’ve been reading up on them and some of the more expensive ones have a mapping system whereas the cheaper ones appear random. Does that matter? Do they still pick all the bits up?!

I have a Neato and really love mine. I can clear the downstairs floors in five minutes now, take the dog a walk and come back to each floor clean. Once it has a floorplan it doesn't bump into the furniture either and it sends a notification to my phone when it's finished and when it needs emptying.

@fleshmarketclose Which model Neato do you have?

I've had one for about 8 years. I still use it and never had to replace anything. I find it easy to take apart and fix (unblock hair).

You have to empty after each use really.

I had two great big dogs and it helped keep the dusting down massively.

I can set it to go off and different points in the day. The new ones link to Alexa.

I used to love waking up to a clean floor or coming in from work and it being done. I haven't sorted the timers since we've moved.

It did however knock my floor lamp over last week. Smashed the fitting. So it's in my bad books at the moment.