How long have you looked at one of these stupid things and wondered if it’s even remotely worth the price tag. Cool factor aside, is this thing any good at all at what it claims? Even more puzzling, what does it actually claim do? What it actually does depends on a few things, not the least of which is how much money you have to spend. The iRobot Roomba is a little bit more than just cool, there is definitely some substance here, but it might not be what you expect from a device called a “robot vacuum”. Let me explain.

I purchased one of the more modest versions of their newest 500-series model line, the Roomba 530. They offer several variations of the 500 series alone in addition to some older 400 series models still for sale. Since this is my first robot, we’ll concentrate of the 500 series as this is all I know.

Model Overview

All models in the new 500-series offer the exact same cleaning system. Some of the new features over the older models are:

• Dirt Detection, where the robot concentrates on areas of “extra soil”.
• Spot Clean mode, where you can direct the robot to clean a single area, then shut off automatically, rather than clean an entire room.
• Light-touch Bumpers, where the robot will actually slow down as it approaches objects before bumping into them.
• Anti-Tangle technology, where the brushes will actually detect, slow, and/or stop when tangled around power cords, or rugs.

The most modest version, the Roomba 510, retails for $249.99. It’s basically a great introduction into household robots, but lacks some of the high-end convenience features such as the self-charging home base. It’s cleaning capabilities, however; are exactly the same.

The version I bought, the Roomba 530, retails for $299.99. It adds the most impressive feature, in my eyes, a self-charging base that the robot returns to automatically after a hard day cleaning. To top it off, once it successfully docks, it lets out an almost-human sounding tone of triumph as if to exclaim, “Victory!”. It also comes packaged with an extra filter, and 2 “virtual walls”, which are used to keep the robot from entering rooms, going down hallways, or just generally avoiding objects.

The next model up, the Roomba 560, adds scheduling capabilities to allow the robot to automatically wake up, clean, and return home on it’s own time. It also comes equipped with a 4-room battery (almost 2 hours) as opposed to the usual 3-room battery (about 90 minutes) found in the 510 and 530 models. Finally, it includes “lighthouses” instead of virtual walls which, in addition to keeping Roomba out of rooms, also work to keep Roomba in certain rooms (larger rooms, and high-traffic areas) longer. They also help Roomba find it’s way home when it’s crept too far away from the base. Where the 530 can sometimes get stuck 2 or 3 rooms away from the base and cry for help, the 560 will always find it’s way back using lighthouses.

Finally, the newest offerings are the $399.99 Roomba 570 and $499.99 Roomba 580. These are the ultimate in lazy, as they include a wireless remote to go with the scheduling features. The 570 also comes with extra brushes. The 580 comes with 11 brushes and 7 filters, so you can get your lazy on even when it’s time to order replacement parts. Both offer the same extended battery and lighthouse functions of the 560.

My Robot

My robot has been cleaning my home for about 2 months now. There are several things that make my installation a bit unique so lets get this out of the way right now.

• I have all wood floors. There is one area rug, but for the most part I can’t comment too much on rug performance.
• I don’t have any pets. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the 500-series and pet hair, but I can’t (yet) comment on this as I don’t have my new cat just yet.
• I don’t have any kids. This is a big one, probably 75% less dirt in my house compared to one with little ones.
• My house is one-story, and modest. The robot doesn’t have a ton of work to do, and it only has to keep 4 small rooms clean. So while my setup is pretty much ideal for a single robot you may have much different results with a larger home or with multiple stories.

I have read the Roomba “won’t replace your regular vacuum cleaner”. I whole-heatedly disagree, but you must consider the fact that I don’t have pets and kids.  What I can tell you with confidence is if you vacuum once a day right now, you’ll vacuum once a week if you get Roomba. If you vacuum once a week now, you’ll vacuum once a month with Roomba.

And finally, if you’re like me and NEVER vacuum, and don’t even own a vacuum, you won’t need one once Roomba is cleaning up for you. Basically I pick a day of the week, or whenever I notice the floors getting dirty, or after company leaves and I’ll move the kitchen chairs out a bit so it can get around them and I set it off on it’s way. That’s it! And it works great, too. You empty it every 2 or 3 cleanings (or when it cries about being full) and you’ll need to keep the brushes clean underneath, but that’s essentially it. Not too bad at all right?

There are a few caveats, of course. It is an entirely different approach to vacuuming, and until you get used to it you’ll have to make some adjustments. They are easy, though, I promise.

First, it takes “forever” to clean a room. Remember, this is not some room-learning, military grade, laser-guided system here. It won’t methodically go back and forth working it’s way around furniture. Instead, it will spin, zig-zag, bump into things, turn around and do it all again. And it will do this, over and over, for about 30-45 minutes a room. Somehow it will know when it’s done, though, and based on the results it’s pretty accurate, too.

About the only methodical thing it will do is when it finds a wall, it will follow right along side it, knocking dirt from the edges into its suction path. I bet that’s cleaning you never do, right? Even better is when it disappears under the couch for 10 minutes and comes back out leaving nothing but clean behind. Now I know you haven’t cleaned there in years.

Finally, low-hanging cords are Roomba’s nemesis. Yes, it has anti-tangle technology, but it does it by shutting down all it’s brushes until it’s “free”. Rather than compromise clean, I’ve tied up all my cords so they are always off the floor. I get great results all the time now.  All the basic stuff that Roombas have always done work well (“cliff protection” to keep it from careening down stairs, and huge all-terrain looking wheels let it go seamlessly from carpet, to floor, and back again).

The only real issue I’ve run into (and it’s partly my fault) is my house is undergoing some renovations.  One of the things we did was remove a wall. Well, Roomba happily attempted to clean this part of the floor and unfortunately it cost me the side-cleaning brush once or twice. The screw that holds the brush on is connected to some pretty weak plastic, so the brush will pop right off if things get too extreme for it. Roomba will then glady suck that screw right up into the basket, too. I’ve since come up with a solution to fix the brush and I now use a virtual wall in that area to keep Roomba completely away from there.  All is well again.

The other minor issue I’ve found is while it will gladly cruise under beds and couches, I do have one TV cabinet that is basically the exact same height as my robot and it will go under, get stuck, try to get out then eventually give up (sort of like a U-Haul on Storrow Drive in Cambridge). When it gives up, though, it does that same cute human-like tone, which makes it impossible to get mad at it.

If you’ve been on the sidelines wondering what the robot vacuum thing is all about, I say go for it. It’s easy for me to do that with your money, though, so I’d suggest you find a store with a liberal return polic, and no restockign fee, if you’re at all skeptical.

In addition to their Robot Vacuums and Floor Cleaners, iRobot also offers Pool Cleaning Robots, and Gutter Cleaning Robots.

Check their website for Web Only Specials and Great Savings when you buy 2 Robot Vacuums.