ps0001 wrote:RTC wrote:When I asked about firmware updates on the 980, they said "firmware updates will only be used for bug fixes, never for adding features not already present"
Like jdong said, that doesn't really mesh with what has actually happened: they've released more than one firmware update that added features. Maybe they meant there will be no more updates with added features going forward? I can see why they'd want to do that, but this is the same company that offered an upgrade path to add the AeroVac system to old 500 and 600 series Roombas. It's just very hard to anticipate what they may or may not do, and their customer service reps are either kept in the dark or exceptionally disciplined.
marquesalan wrote:I love how there is 63 - 5 star reviews for all the people that got an advance trial of the product but they do not really tell you much about the robot. It's like they have never had a robotic vacuum in their lives and they are all current Roomba owners. No mention of battery life either. I'm sure it works great but really not one single bad thing to say about the unit? Maybe they got to keep them if they kept their mouth shut. LOL
flat5 wrote:For me the 985 is still the sweet spot for value.
flat5 wrote:Yeah, self emptying is cool, but I'm not sure it's hundreds of dollars cool. I need to get in there and untangle HAIR, wipe the optical PORTS, and blow the dust out of the filter every few days anyway. Dumping out the bin isn't where most of the maintenance work is, IMO.
flat5 wrote:The room by room stuff is interesting, but just not really necessary for me.
flat5 wrote:I will upgrade a few years down the road when the price comes down.
ps0001 wrote:https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/05/irobots-new-roomba-knows-where-its-going/The latest version of the robotic vacuum represents a number of advances over its predecessor, chief among them the ability to know where it’s going and remember where it’s been. It’s a skill Angle has teased for a few years now, including several appearances on TechCrunch — and high atop the list of the line’s most requested features.
...
With the i7+, however, Roomba will be able to recognize different rooms.
I really hope they push a firmware release to enable this feature on the 980's. The article makes it sound like the i7+ can only do this because it's newer processor is so powerful, but if it weren't for dealing with the TCP/IP layer, I could've almost added this feature to a 980 myself using an 8-bit micrcontroller. I really can't imagine that the 980 isn't physically capable of it.
Ducky wrote:I suspect the processor change is because the original one was "end of life"d by the supplier, and the real reason for the mapping difference is due to the amount of RAM and/or flash memory on board. Won't make sense why the 980 doesn't get this feature otherwise, unless it's really due to wanting feature differentiation.
marquesalan wrote:I would think the camera would need to be the same. Also is the iAdapt system part of the firmware or it all based on software? If a simple software update gave you all the new features offered on the i7 then they would not sell any new vacuums. I am thinking some it must be hardware extras. Just guessing here.
justflie wrote:Annoyed that I preordered and it still hasn’t shipped yet.
I've said it over and over: I don't think there's a legitimate technical reason the 980 can't handle Imprint mapping. Perhaps the hardware in the i7 is different, but I'm confident iRobot won't port the feature backwards (at first, at least) for business reasons. And hey, they're a for-profit company--I can't fault them for that--but as an engineer, I obsess over what the hardware can actually handle.
mofan wrote:I'm not so sure about this. I went back and listened to Colin Angle's talk at Tech Crunch's TC Disrupt, and he said that there is an AI algorithm that the i7 is using to figure out the concept of what a "room" is. So basically the i7, after making a few passes of the home, tries to figure out for itself how the house should be segmented into rooms, and gives the end user its best guess in the Irobot app. Angle said that the robot gets it right about 80-90% of the time, and the user can make modifications as needed, and then label the rooms as the user sees fit. I doubt that a chip in the class of that used on the 980 could handle that level of computation.
vic7767 wrote:Pre-orders of the i7 have started shipping.
vic7767 wrote:Pre-orders of the i7 have started shipping.
rotorwash wrote:The bin on the i7 is like 40% smaller doesn't look good even if it empties itself. The Bot will be spending a lot of its time and energy going to dump. One thing I read over and over from reviews was make the bin larger, and they didn't.
rotorwash wrote:I'm curious to see real world reviews compared to the 980. The only thing I see as better is the Navigation and room learning. The battery is smaller the bin is smaller and it doesn't have the Power Boost mode. I do wonder if the 3300 mAh from the 980 will fit in the i7.
rotorwash wrote:Also will the new extractors fit on the 980 for a possible upgrade.
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