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Original poster

SOOOO after day one of the ROOMBA.......the verdict is.........

181 replies

NotAnOtter · 12/10/2008 20:03

the jury is out....

although i lurve it and it does a REALLY good job afaic

i t CHARGES for longer than it is on..

i am now timing it as i am astounded by how long it takes to charge

it was on for one hour exactly and now it has been docked again for 45 minutes and counting

does his sound right?

OP posts:
jellyshoeswithdiamonds · 16/10/2008 20:07

That sounds a pretty neat package for £40.00 and quick delivery as well. Have you given it a name yet?

Original poster
NotAnOtter · 16/10/2008 21:49

ivegotaheadache

we bought from john lewis as i figure stuff could go wrong with it and after care is good

it is not noisy actually although when underneath a wooden floor it can be

off putting when home alone and he is going about his business

OP posts:
Ivegotaheadache · 16/10/2008 23:17

Not sure I like the thought of spending £200 at the moment (credit crunch, financial crisis...) so am thinking the £40 one sounds good - but is it actually any good?
Or will it be £40 spent on a thing that noisily pootles round the house not actually picking any dirt up?

Chloe have you used yours yet? What's it like?

Ivegotaheadache · 16/10/2008 23:50

Just had a look at the cheaper one and it runs for up to 60 minutes only and has a charge time of 4-5 hours. It also doesn't find its way back to the charging dock and yo can't program it to come on when you're not in.

So I'm not really sure if it's what I need. If I can only put it on when I'm home the baby will wreck it - I like the thought of coming home to clean house.

But then how hard is it to stick it back on the charger? And I only really need it to get the worst of the dog hair and crumbs up.

Don't know what to do!!!!!!!!! Can't understand why I'm becoming obsessed with this, I hadn't even heard of one of these before I came on MN this afternoon!

Chloe, where did you get your £40 one from?

jellyshoeswithdiamonds · 17/10/2008 09:50

headache ~ paddington kindly put a link further down. I'm waiting for chloe to come back and tell us how fab it is, £40 sounds too good to pass up. I have the same problem as you only the dog would get to mine, being a terrier he would probably try to kill it.

chloemegjess · 17/10/2008 11:36

Hello again. Well he has been used but I haven't really had the time to play properly etc. But I know enough to know it did not get on well with the runer in my hallway, so probably won't get on with my other rugs. BUt they are quite thick.

But I took the runner and doormat up and shoved them in the living room to give it a proper try out (other rooms are messy till this weekend when I get rid of loads of stuff! And it did a good job. I put it on and then went out for a bit and came back and I did have a nice clean hallway, which will be nice when it can do all of downstairs.

No, it doesn't have a docking station, it just has a wire to plug it into from the wall, but at least it makes it easier to move it up and downstairs etc. You can't program it but you can put it on and then go out and just put it back on charge when you get in which isn't much effort.

Not as good as the roomba but for £40 what do you expect? I think that even if it just ends up being my upstairs hoover, to save me lifting the dyson up,it will be worth it.

My cats/DD hasn't seen it yet so we will see what they all think! I will give more of an update when I have had more of a chance to use it. He has been on charge all night and i will set it on upstairs when DD wakes up from her nap.

Bought it from ebuyer - there is a link earlier in this thread

bodiddly · 17/10/2008 12:10

chloemegjess ... am thinking of getting one of these ..how long does it run around for on one charge? is it enough to do one room or more? (not very big rooms)

jellyshoeswithdiamonds · 17/10/2008 12:59

chloe ~ Thanks for letting us know, it sounds as if it'll be great to let it pottle around here while I'm out walking the dog = two birds with one stone.

When you ordered yours did batteries come with it? Or do I need to get my own rechargeable ones? It says on the website "rechargeable battery pack spoons" and I'm unsure what that means .

chloemegjess · 17/10/2008 14:36

That confused me too jelly. You don't need batteries for the actual hoover but I think you need them for the virtual wall if you wanted to use it. I haven't used mine yet so not 100%.

It does seem to stop sometimes but then goes again when I switch it off and on. Not sure why it is doing this? I might be doing something wrong.

When I emptied him, he has lots of dirt so is obviously picking up more than I thought.

Where has the other mumsnetter gone who has this? She might be able to help me with my stopping problem!

I think it would charge enough to do more than one small room, but I found it worked better last night if I shut all the doors and left him in the hallway to just do the small space. BUT I am a bit lazy and my carpet was probably dirtier than most

flowerybeanbag · 17/10/2008 14:45

I am now wanting a Roomba. Can anyone tell me what would it do if it encountered my dog under a chair? He likes to snooze under an armchair in the dining room but would the Roomba bump into him or 'sense' him and avoid?

bodiddly · 17/10/2008 15:11

chloemegjess ... have you used it on a wooden/tiled floor? I can't decide whether to go for it or the robomop someone else linked to. I have got wooden and tiled floors downstairs and carpet in two of the three bedrooms upstairs.

GrabShellDude · 17/10/2008 15:15

Flowery, I've found my Roomba bumps into the dogs but it is quite gentle. The one dog soon moves but the other refuses and sleeps through being bumped!

flowerybeanbag · 17/10/2008 15:18

Thanks GBS. I think mine would probably move sharpish, he's a bit of a wuss.

chloemegjess · 17/10/2008 16:35

I have just used him in my bathroom. I set him to go and shut the door. It is lino and he has done a fab job. Better than I could have done as his brushes get right into the edges. Looks good.

Do you think I would be ris damage to it if I set him free in the kitchen when charged which always has spilt dry cat food? My dyson handles it but it is a lot bigger???

NoI just need a robot that will change stinky nappies! lol

Does anybody know if there is a cheap version of the mop one?

Original poster
NotAnOtter · 17/10/2008 21:22

Phillip is exhausted
we really work him hard
good job there is not a robot union...........

OP posts:
jura · 17/10/2008 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
NotAnOtter · 17/10/2008 22:29

yes jura - i do find him a bit rubbish at docking

a new angle on life has been created for me...

  1. go in to hall and prick up ears
  2. realise roomba has stopped
  3. go to rooms that he was last working in
4 HUNT

the under the bed thing means this can take some time

OP posts:
chloemegjess · 17/10/2008 22:31

notanotter - do you have the roomba or the cheaper one? SOrry I have forgot who is who .

I am going to set mine off in the kitchen when I go out there next. I do worry incase it is too loud for the neighbours though. Although I can't hear it when I am in a different room so it can't be that bad.

I am please I got it anyway.

Can't remember if I already asked - how much can you get a mop one for? My floors get dirty quicker than I can keep up with the cleaning.

chloemegjess · 17/10/2008 22:36

sorry cross posted!

Heated · 17/10/2008 22:45

lol at Roomba MIA

Original poster
NotAnOtter · 17/10/2008 22:51

roomba chloe

OP posts:
Suedonim · 18/10/2008 20:27

Just so as you know, I'm blaming you all for making me buy a ROOMBA today.

chloemegjess · 19/10/2008 13:20

Worked out mine does a great job on hard floors, just wish I had one to mop it too!

Think the roomba does look better, but I couldn't pay £200 on one.

chloemegjess · 19/10/2008 21:22

Update. Now I have just him a lot more. I LOVE him! We had too much junk/deliies everywhere before to give it a proper test. I cleared my living room floor though and it did just as good a job as my Dyson would have done and the floor was very dirty to start with!

I think we are going to put the rugs in the loft though which is a shame. Have yet to test him on the rug upstairs, whihc is no where near as thick. But me and DH loved teh fact that our living room was hoovered while I fed DD and he was doing the dishes! I recon that if I was on top of things he could do my upstairs in one go and the downstairs in 1 or 2 goes as downstairs is quite big.

I think if you are home a lot of the day (i work from home) then the cheaper version should be fine as you can pop it back on charge when it is finished and then set it going again a bit later on.

I am very gld I bought this and 90% happy with it.

Suedonim · 20/10/2008 01:43

I've only just got home after a day out but I plan to set Felicity free to roam around in the morning.