Robot Reviews

Okay, so it took so much energy to find a website that wasn't owned and operated by iRobot or run by robotics geeks, now that I am actually here I'm a little tired and not quite as passionate about my Roomba 760 Pet Series!  But, I'll give it a go.

This machine is a pretty damned good product!  It took a while before I got to the point in my new apartment with hardwood floors to remember how much it totally stinks to have to sweep, vacuum and mop them to keep them looking nice.

The inevitable happens with a dog in the house: the fuzz bunnies grow in every corner and combine with little twigs, white pieces of paper from a three hole punch, tiny scraps from ripped up bills, random dirt and big black fur balls from my ever-shedding cocker spaniel.  The fur balls have started to follow me to work.  Seriously.  I find my dogs fur and fur balls on me all of the time at the office.  My office mates think it's funny to pluck them off of me when we're in a serious conversation about sales.  It's frustrating, but it's one of the major reasons I knew I needed the Roomba.

I buckle down and spend $500 on this automatic, robotic, memory based vacuum that I've heard and read good things about online.  I get the (no longer) current model, Roomba 760 Pet Series, which had some extra bells and whistles like telling me when the bin is ready to be emptied (it never goes off because I run it everyday and clean it twice a week) and maybe some scheduling features or the remote I don't remember, but it hasn't mattered.  I was a little stunned I actually bought it, but I was quite excited it was on the way.  Of course, I cleaned, swept, mopped and wax shined before the vacuum came so as not to get it too dirty right off the bat and also to have a fair assessment of how it kept up with the dog.  Also, I wouldn't want it to be anything but shiny and sleek looking, right?  Trust me when I say, don't worry about it!!!  It dirties itself and earns its scratches and scrapes the hard way!! After some charging and assembly I test it hard before the 30 day guarantee is up. I set it to vacuum every day after I go to work.  Everyday (almost) I come home and the floor is barefoot clean.  Overall it's a great product and I've been very, very pleased.  I raved about it so much my cousin, with his three dogs and two birds, has since purchased two and loves both of them!!  

There are a couple of things...

#1) Hey, iRobot, yeah, you guyz, do you read reviews other than the limited allowable ones on your own page?  If you're going to allow us to review your product on the product page don't pigeon hole us into check box answers and drop down menus.  Let us write a review of your product.  I'm sure my review is the exact reason you don't want an open forum, but peer reviews are proven to be more trusted than advertising.  You may want to rethink that part of your plan.  I'm just sayin'.  Plus, I've already sold two vacuums for you, so a little constructive criticism isn't a bad thing.  Take it like men and let the people review freely on your product page!!!  One star lost for that alone.

#2) START SENDING A PIECE OF DOUBLE SIDED TAPE, please?  Am I the only one asking for this small detail?  Double sided tape or something is necessary to keep the charging dock from sliding across hardwood.  If it doesn't come in the box it's just one more thing I have to do I don't have time to do.  I have the base in a "snug fit" charging location and I need that whole laser guided auto dock recharging thing to work and for the base not to move when she's coming home!!  It's been two months and I have been in Walgreen and even in a hardware store, but I always seem to forget.  Could y'all send some in the package with the product?  Cool?  Thanks!

#2 She gets stuck at the same spot under the edge of the sofa every couple of days like she just forgets the spot is there.  That same spot was there the day before and the day before and the day before.  Isn't she supposed to learn?  If I'm not here to un-stick her, Roomba shuts down.  If I am she's screaming "Error!  Error!  Please move Roomba to another part of the room."  If there's no one here to hear, she's dead in the hardwood.

#3 She gets stuck on the legs of the coffee table.  Admittedly, the legs are at a mid-angle incline and made of metal with beveled feet that act like a ramp.  I get why she goes up and gets stuck every few days.  She wants to cross into a new room, but this isn't a new room and it's not a door jam. If she knows that's the location where she shut down (X) times in the last thirty days and it happens every time the wheels leave the ground when she "tried to cross into a new room" then maybe she should learn she shouldn't go up the table leg because it's a table leg and not another room!!  She ain't as smart as she looks.

#4 The sweeper brush could be redesigned.  Smooth plastic on smooth plastic or not when you mix in dirt, long dog hair, time and normal wear and tear that sweeper brush is going to stop spinning.  I clean it and put a little tool oil on it to help the friction, but the dog hair continually finds its way in between the sweeper brush and the base and it stops spinning.  Can y'all fix that, please?

Everything else about this product is pretty damned cool.  She has done a great job and I'm sure as long as I keep her clean she'll work for years to come.  If y'all could work on some of these kinks it would truly make this a better product.  If you're actually reading real reviewm, iRobot Execs and Design Team, nicely done...just take it up a level.

Cheers!