A friend had a robo vacuum and a young puppy. Unfortunately the two don't go well together when the puppy left a present behind and the robo tried to pick it up.

Nay, still have to have a manual vac to do corners, edges against skirting boards. If auto were less expensive and did a decent job they would be ok for in between vacs.

yes, we still use a big vac for detailed cleaning but the robo is excellent for in between

Have had a cheap brand that was quite useless really but I would be most interested if any Houzzers could recommend some great brands

our Robo Roomba brand was about $750 when we bought the first one for Grandma at least 10 years ago and hers is still going strong...ours lasted about 8 years (our house is much much dirtier than Granny's and we'll get a replacement and they're cheaper now ...Good Guys has an online add for $599) but think of them as an automatic carpet sweeper as they can't do what a human pushing a vacuum cleaner can do using all the different attachments but they're great for a quick whip around

I have had the Roombas for about 7 years. On my second one now. I love it! I have inside animals and the vacuum copes with hair, dust and renovation mess. I have hard floor and mats. I use it nearly every day.

Lol Brian! Glad my roomba has done that!

You do need to make sure cords, throws, curtains etc are not resting on the floor. My mother has folowed my lead and bought one too. She has carpet and is very happy with hers too.

thinking about the puppy's present and checking my Roomba it would be very easy (unpleasant) but still easy to clean the dogdoo out of the Roomba as there's only a small contained storage area and small removable brush that should be easy to clean with an old toothbrush and soapy water

Our LG didn't do a good job. Was fine at first but as soon as it got a bit of lint in the tiny wheels it wouldn't go over low rugs anymore no matter how many times I tried to clean them. The dust bin was too small too. Will never buy again. The Electrolux handheld does a much better job.

I bought the robot vacuum from Aldi, it is great for getting under the bed and does a great job wherever it manages to get to. It can’t get into corners, gets stuck on my floor heating vents and tangled in my sheer curtains and electric leads. The battery really only does two small bedrooms before running out and you must clean out the bin tray, filter and brushes after every use as it’s bin is tiny, the brushes and wheels get covered in fluff and hair restricting its ability. But I still love it.

I’d like one that can get around dining room chairs as long as it doesn’t need an internet connection and full audio visual capture to run :)
Seriously, I understand we are supposed to sweep, vacuum and clean carpets and floors every day and any autonomous mechanical gadget that helps with that is a ‘good thing’ - I can’t justify one in a small apartment, they were around $1,000 last time I looked and as mentioned in another post - they don’t complete the job.

have a iRobot Roomba. Love it, but it needs a new battery, but at $154 ... is it worth it?? They say only to use genuine brand. Why? Do the other cheaper ones wreck the cleaner?

I always thought it'd be amazing to have one until an acquaintance was telling me a story well horror story about them. She has a friend whom has a one which would turn on and clean the house whilst she was at work, she also has a dog who stays inside whilst she is at work. Her dog had an accident (diarrhea) inside while she was at work. Yeah I think you can imagine. So I'm good haha with manual vacuuming as I have pets, but can see the benefits of them.

spmm, I only have a roomba, no other sort of vacuum cleaner so it has to do a complete job. It will get around chairs although I find some with narrower leg spacings are better off being pulled out, at least sometimes. Harvey Norman has its cheapest model on sale atm for $589. My roomba 4 to 5 rooms before running out of charge. I have a very dusty old house and an extremely hairy largish dog, I still have plenty of space in the dust bin. I swear by roombas! ☺

My daughter has one from Aldi (only $150) and she loves it. She has polished wooden floors and they need to be vacuumed daily as she also has pets. Her cleaning lady does the floors more thoroughly once a week, so she loves hers.

Yes!! We have a roomba pretty basic one... works for me because i am a busy mum of a baby and have a dog.. you still need to get a good deep vacuum here and then.

In my experience they're great for keeping floors neat in between vacuums, though I still need to vacuum regularly by hand for a thorough clean. Robot vacuum cleaners don't do stairs and aren't great at corners. They also make a very loud racket. It's similar to a normal vacuum cleaner, but somehow the sound is less irritating when you're the one making the noise by pushing a hand-held vacuum cleaner, opposed to a robot zooming over your floors. I happily forgive mine, however, because it keeps the place presentable while I tackle other tasks.

I have an iRobot Roomba and love it. I have two young boys who are bringing grass, dirt, sand etc into the house on a daily basis. They also drop food on the floor at meal times. I turn the iRobot on as I walk out the door and come home and the floor looks beautiful - and the Roomba has taken itself back to its base. We are building a new house and Im going to get another one so that we have one on each floor. The only negative is that it can't get itself up onto one of our thick rugs (but can get on to one of the thinner ones). But honestly, if that is all I have to vacuum every now and again Im pretty happy.

I have a Xiaomi Mi Robot vacuum and I love it! Only about $320 but was recommended by a friend. Does a great job around corners and good on both carpet and wooden floors. We have a huge house and it does pretty much all of downstairs all on one charge but would need the bin emptied during that time as it’s quite small. If it still has some to do it goes back, recharges then comes out to complete. Great for spot cleaning too!

No longer own one. Had 2 accidents with it jumping off the landing. Was supposed to do to the edge & back off which it mostly did... Second accident left a hole in the downstairs wall below so we put it into retirement. Eventually gave it to a friend with a one level apartment. Hope it works for them. Wouldn't clean around/under tables & chairs without moving them & had difficulty with floor rugs. An expensive experiment. NAY!!

I have a basic Roomba, bought at Harvey Norman when on special. I’m pretty happy with it as a second vac, I kept my Miele barrel vac to do skirting boards, cobwebs etc. I have poodles and live at the beach so I have a sand problem (not too bad with dog hair as minimal shedding). I can vacuum with the Miele and then run the Roomba and it’s amazing what it picks up. The chamber is small but easy to clean, I empty it at least once per session. The brushes are a bit of a pain to clean, but the more maintenance you do the better the result. Don’t leave phone charging cables lying on the floor! Rundle0909, try taking it to BatteryWorld, they have batteries that fit just about anything and if they don’t have one that will fit they will try to make one up that will. I don’t own a franchise lol, but they are usually pretty helpful.

they are more work than a regular vacuum cleaner. Charging, cleaning, preparing the rooms, or being on boring boring stand-by. I have two (there is never enough charge in one) - one gave up the ghost after 3 months.... and the second, I cannot be bothered using it. Free to a good home. A definite 'nay' from me!

I have an LG Roboking and I love it!! It gets into corners fine as it's square. It doesn't mark skirting boards as I do when using my handheld. Had to get a carpet cleaner in not that long ago when oil was tracked in on the carpet and he couldn't believe how well it cleans. - I just do a spring clean every now and again. we have a large house with hard and carpeted floors and it great on both. Sadie, as we call her, is great for getting the kids to pick up lego before she does :) Yes it will get stuck every now and again, yes she will wrap cords around herself too - you can quite easily 'robot proof' your house but with 2 kids ( plus the ones in our street, 2 long haired cats, a labrador and a husband i wouldn't be without her. Have had her for 2 years in July, she goes everyday, and so far I have just replaced the little side sweepers. would most certainly buy again. got her for 799 from harvey norman when a new model came out. ours is the red model.

We have the Neato Botvac and it is great! It certainly doesn’t remove the need for our traditional vacuum but it’s great for the day-to-day run around and to stay on top of things. We then spot clean with our normal vacuum when we need to. When I was looking at reviews, the Neato was better in that it was more of a vacuum than a sweeper like others on the market. As long as you empty the bin and clean it regularly it works really well (empty bin every few days and clean brush once a fortnight/month). It doesn’t love cords or random items on the floor and sometimes we find it gets stuck but more often than not it is okay. The pets tend to stay out of the way and we have had one incident where it tried to clean one of our pets accidents. It was annoying but not the end of the world. We have had it for over 18 months and getting to the point where we need to replace brushes but battery still seems fine to vacuum a 3 bedroom house. I would highly recommend for keeping on top of the day-to-day cleaning but don’t expect it to fully replace a normal vacuum and be prepared to clean it regularly.

We bought a cheap version when they first came out and you get what you pay for but we weren’t ready to give up just yet. We waited until Bosch bought theirs out and yes it cost a lot more but it’s fantastic. It’s called “Toby” and I set it for what ever room I want to be vacuumed each day and let it go. I do wish that the rubbish holder was much bigger because I have to empty it more regularly. it goes under the bed with not problem, and I no longer have stuffy nose when I’m trying to go off to sleep.. highly recommend them for every home.

Rudle 0909 I hope this comment is not too late for you. I have bought several 'non official' Roomba batteries from Ebay and never had a problem. Just check the number of Amps the battery has. There is a small price difference so I usually get the one with more Amps. No idea if it lasts longer though.

We have 2 Roombas and LOVE them. To the person who said they were getting one for each level that was my idea too and how I ended up with 2 but actually I find I don't really need one on each level. But we put the 2 on our main level at once and man does that get it clean.

I also love my iRobot Scooba (mop). They don't make them any more though.

Nay, waste of time in my experience. You still end up cleaning the same amount and it's annoying retrieving them when they get stuck on cords etc

I also have a Xiaomi Mi Robot vacuum and I love it! Costs very little and works really well

Thanks coolaholiga! That's very good to know. I'll get on eBay right away :)

I purchased a Hoover robot vac that was not expensive, and was a complete waste of money. After numerous trips for repairs and replacement parts I was told that they no longer stock the replacement parts. Upgraded to an iRobot Roomba which was about $600 and couldn't be happier. Still have to use a standard vacuum every two weeks, but "Marvin" (our Robot Vac) keeps our family, meals and kitchen floor dust free every three or four days. AI am alaways amazed how much animal hair he picks up from two non-shedding dogs and a cat.

Can also highly recommend the irobot roomba. Purchased about 7 yrs ago. Never missed a beat. Just remember to empty regularly!

My Roomba is about 6 years old. I put it on daily, I make sure they’re are no cords on the floor and do move some furniture so it can easily navigate the room. It fits under all the beds and lounges, as well as cabinets and bedside tables. I do three bedrooms one day and the lounge, study and master the next. It does s fantastic job. I only vacuum by hand once a month now. They battery died and I bought a $30 one online and it is back to working as well as it ever did. Definitely worth the expense.

Bought a $30 replacement battery on line which works fine :)

Mine was a Mothers Day gift from my daughter 's (A little self motivated as they were thinking they'd be vacuuming less for me) We have all timber floors and tiles in the bathroom. I love my Roomba. Put it on daily. It occasionally gets stuck under a few pieces of our furniture but mostly does an awesome job. We get our hand held vacuum out every now and then to do skirting boards and spaces under furniture where the Roomba can't fit.

I did a thorough clean with my big Dyson on Xmas Eve. Xmas day LG Roboking came to live with us. After his first charge, he was sent to look at the bedroom that had had a Dysonning the day before. Robo quickly filled up with dust and whatever. I may have heard him say to the Dyson, ‘Call yourself a top end vacuum??’

Fantastic- I love it-BUT the cheap ones are useless- I threw my $200 one away, you need to get one of the better brands, we have had two roombas and they are fanatstic

On hard wood or hard polished surfaces any problem with scratching?

Not in my experience

i haven't had any issues with scratching to date to my knowledge. I did have a thorough check after your comment sallydreamer :)

I don't have any issues with scratching. Mine seems to help keep the shine.