iRobot 560 Roomba

Did you ever just fall in love . . . with a piece of well-designed technology? I sure fell for this one. How lovely to have something else take care of one of my least favorite chores!

Why I love this gizmo:

(1) Goes about cleaning the floors quietly (forget the noise of a conventional vacuum cleaner);

(2) Does a better job than I ever could because it can get under the beds fully to get out all the nasty little dust bunnies, and it crawls along the baseboard to pick up the bits that hide on the edges of the room;

(3) Cleans for a predetermined amount of time, and then puts itself to bed (while it recharges itself);

(4) Can be scheduled to run whenever you choose; and,

(5) Does a great job of picking up cat hair (my old vacuum did not).

Problems?

Yes, but mostly they were just getting used to its operation. I had to learn to pick up throw rugs and clear the area of cords. I had to learn the robot's eccentricities and plan for them.

I also discovered that a cat landing on the Roomba in the middle of the night would start it going - so we woke up to clean floors.

Worth it?

You bet!

Five stars, and a big thanks!

UPDATE: October 4, 2007

My Roomba produced an error message that I was unable to clear. So I called (not emailed, but called) the support center. The Roomba needed to be reset, and, with the help of the support person, I accomplished this and we're back in action.

The support was superior, so if you have a problem, just give them a call. If your call is like mine, you'll find them highly responsive and eager to help solve your problem.

UPDATE: November 30, 2007

About four weeks after my initial review, the side brush fell off. The part that holds the brush screw was broken.

I called the company who said they'd send out another part in five days or so. That was followed by an email that said a month. Now it is six weeks later . . . still no replacement part.

While the vacuum still works, the baseboard cleaning is absent without the side brush. And I am in the dark as to when I will receive a replacement. This would cause me to reduce the number of stars I give the Roomba 560, if Amazon would allow me to do so.

I still think this is a good product. It still does an adequate job of cleaning up cat hair and other debris. But, I think the price is too high given the quality of that brush.