A contractor I use got a Roomba for his office, oh sheesh, years ago when they first came out (he got it at Sharper Image, so maybe that was the launching point?). Anyway, I stopped in one day and he was having a blast with that little thing. Not a bad idea actually, and I know when it was new he paid way more than $99 ! ;)

A friend of ours bought one for his wife for their anniversary. Then Katrina hit. In the midst of all their debris, their Roomba was still working, trying its best to clean up......

After things calmed down, and he had a roof over his head again, and a floor under his feet, he purchased his wife another one. They say it is unbelievable how good it cleans.

I'm thinking of seriously looking at one for my mom for Christmas, who is a young 83 and still living in her own home. She doesn't think she needs a maid, but I know she hates vacuuming as much as I do. I would do it for her, but I live over 3 hours away.

I've had a Roomba for about a year and I love it! It is fascinating to watch it when you first get one. The dogs pretty much ignore it now.

We have one and, not to sound negative, I think it's just okay. Actually, given the price (we paid close to $300), I think it's not okay at all. We have two toddlers, so there are toys everywhere, and the Roomba doesn't know what to do. It sorta spins around and my blood pressure cannot take watching it not effectively vacuum. It doesn't like any obstruction. Not tables, not chair legs, not fringe on a rug.

I think the right path to take is to run it when you're sleeping or not at home (like you said you'd do, when you're at work), so you won't get frustrated watching it take about an hour to vacuum a space you could do in less than five minutes. Seriously. So for now, it sits unplugged, while I just use a lightweight stick vac a few times a day (under the breakfast table).

I guess small kids, or small messy kids (or more accurately, small kids with parents who aren't the tidiest) isn't the right home for a Roomba ... but I sure love the idea!!!

So glad I saw this. I bought my first one on Woot a year ago for $199 and I love it so now I've bought my second one for the upstairs thanks!

I'm with rmkitchen... I got one 2-3 years ago and was so excited about it, but it made me crazy to watch it spin around under my sofa, in corners, etc. And I didn't have that many toys around; it got confused by regular furniture. Maybe they've improved over the years, though!

The randomness might just be the way it figures out its schematic of the area it's in. I don't know exactly how it works but it does look very random, not the way a human would go about vacuuming an area.

Anyway, I do see it eventually figure out chair and table legs and it does a pretty tight turn around those. No, it doesn't like toys, etc. (I pick up all the dog toys and any electrical cords that might be in its path). I haven't really had a problem with rug fringe myself.

It also misses spots but I run it about three times a week so it eventually gets those few areas it misses at first. And, hey, it's not like I'm spending any extra time cleaning! :)

Okay, we just got our Roomba last Friday. So far we love it. We didn't run the sweeper very often, so I figure any amount of cleaning is better than none! We had run the sweeper just a few days before we got the Roomba. After two sweep cycles it was amazing, the little pan was full. I do have to admit there is some novelty to watching it cycle around. It is quite enough to run while watching tv. I have teens who now see the importance of keeping the floor picked up-so Roomba can have free rein!

FYI--roombareview.com has a message board about Roombas. ONe of the threads is about best price on Roombas.

I love it--my kitchen floor is being swept while I surf the Web!

Ditto what sueb20 & rmkitchen said. Mine is .......somewhere! It eats lamp cords and pulls them over. It devours fringe on rugs, it gets stuck partially under some furniture. It does pick up great - it just needs a better brain! I put it away when it ran into an 8' foot ladder leaning against the wall and the ladder slammed to the ground! Could have been a disaster!

Funny story ( only because it wasn't me!): My friend's sister has a skittish little dog that hates the Roomba. They left the house with the thing vacuuming, the little dog poops on the floor - the roomba runs over the poop trying to pick it up & spreads the poop everywhere! They came home to find a huge disgusting mess.

My neighbors love theirs and use it all the time.

The fifth generation roombas can climb right over rugs, fringe, and cords. My 535 just walked right over my throw rug. YMMV

Is the Roomba ok to use on hardwood floor?

Does the Roomba know to stay in one room or does it go through the doorway to the next room?

To be fair, our Roomba is model# 4230 and we purchased it July '07. There is a newer version (#530) and it's supposed to be better with fringe and cords, as rnmomof2 writes. I don't think it has the scheduling feature (I think #560 does), which was something I wanted. I guess I just wish I were neater ....

Lazycook, it is supposed to work well on wood floors. And it is supposed to be able to move from room to room if you tell it to. You can set up virtual walls, supposedly. That's what I'm hoping for. We don't have a lot of stuff on the floor (no kids anymore, boo hoo) but we do have wood floors and area rugs, so we'll see how it does.

Can anyone tell me what its "reach" is under a sofa or other low-to-the-ground pieces of furniture?

I have an earier model, and the amount of time to clean the Roomba decreases the real time savings of having the machine.

I absolutely love mine.

I'm an RE assistant so I'm on the computer constantly unless I'm doing something for the kids or trying to cook a meal, etc. Having things like vacuuming, or washing the floor, weighing heavily on me while I worked stunk. I can't even tell you how nice it is to have the room where the cats hang out, and have their food & litter, be vacuumed for me while I work. The one I have is programmable so it can start without me having to do so. When it is done it returns to its docking station and charges itself up for the next go.

The other rooms don't get as dirty as quickly (no litter), so when I need'm to work in one of them for me, I give him a lift, plop'm down, he goes to work, and I go back to work.

I had ordered the Scooba first because we have so much tile, and the floor scrubbing was much harder on my back than vacuuming (although vacuuming is a close second!) and we were so pleased with it, we went for the Roomba.

No complaints here.

I will say, I don't think it could've handled the heavy duty vacuuming a few days of my cats furry tumble weeds require. So DBF gave the room a good going over with our Dyson first, and now the Roomba does the daily maintenance.

Any furniture I purchase from here on out will be done with my little helpers in mind. I'd love it if they could just zoom right under the couches like they do tables/desks/beds etc.

I ordered my Roomba on the 19th and it came a few days ago. I love it! It's amazing! I ran the vacuum in my sons room and then ran the roomba and couldn't believe how much it picked up! It went under his bed and his sofa. I'm using it on my hardwood now and it's so fun to watch. Now I want the Scooba!

I would love robots to work in my home. I'd prefer one that plans and cooks meals but I digress. A Roomba intrigues me, but I'd like to try it before I buy it. I actually like to vaccuum. I just vaccumed for the second time today.

This is just too funny! I was just telling my husband about this thread, since we'd discussed the possibility of buying a Roomba on numerous occasions, when he responds nonchalantly, "Oh, we have one of those." I'm like, "WHAT are you talking about?!" He said, "C'mere." Well, he leads me to the dining room and lo and behold, there sits a Roomba in the corner ! I was totally aghast! He said he decided to take advantage of the 30-day trial and ordered it last week. It came two days ago and he just took it out of the box last night and plugged it in to charge and forgot all about it until I mentioned this thread. The kids saw it - I was the only one who didn't know about it!

Anyway, it's pretty neat! It's the newest one - the 500 series with the "lighthouses" that keep it from moving out of a room if you choose. If it can pick up the dog and cat hair and the pieces of leaves and grass the dog tracks in, I'll be a very happy camper.

Anyway, just had to share. Men!

My sister has one and raves about it. She has tile and laminate throughout her house. She's bringing it over tomorrow for me to see how it works. I warned her my fur balls are a lot more plentiful than hers!! I can't wait to see it and how the animals react.

Do they hum or make a noise?

Yes, they do make a little noise. At least my model does. It does eat fringe but I haven't had much problem with cords. It does fine on my wood floors but I really have to pull up the throw rugs first. It's worth it just to have it go under some of my armoire's and china cabinets. My mom says it's worth it to her just to do under the beds. I went back to work full time this year and the first time I came home to a vaccuumed house that I had nothing to do with was great! Two cons are it seems to make dust bunnies around my wool rug and I don't like to clean it. My DH does that.

My sisters house gets really clean with the Roomba!! One of her cats learned how to turn it on! :)

KAT