Electrolux Trilobite on clearance at Sam's Club!

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robotreviews
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Electrolux Trilobite on clearance at Sam's Club!

Post by robotreviews »

The website has the Electrolux Trilobite on clearance for $497, but it's been reported that in-store the price is as low as $200!

At it's MSRP of $1,699, it's definitely not worth the additional cost when compared to the latest Roomba models, but if you can find it for $200, then it's seriously worth considering!

Sam's Club Link

Regards,
Craig
geekgranny
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Post by geekgranny »

I ordered one online this week. The closest store to me that has them in store is several hundred miles away. Bummer... I thought I could just walk into store and pick one up. When service desk, at my Sam's, did a search they got the "online only" info too. I'm hoping that this is a great deal.

I've been very happy and completely satisfied with my, very expensive at the time, Electrolux, silver canister that I purchased in 1980 except for the very stiff hose. I purchased a second, similar one, used, for the upstairs, a few years back with all the attachments, on eBay, $125US plus shipping. It had a much more flexible hose. House cleaners/keepers I've employed over the years report that my Electroluxes are the best vacuums they have ever used; very powerful suction AND they surely have held up!! They are rarely used now but do come in handy for some out of the ordinary tasks. In my environment the bags fill up really fast and lose a lot of suction power when they get about 1/3 full of my extremely fine dust (has similar characteristics to DE including sucking moisture right out of your skin). Needless to say, I have always purchased bags in bulk, 100 at a time. The last bulk bag purchase should last many years now, since 'Bots have taken over 99% of the work.

I'm hoping the Trilobite will be as relitvely tough and able to handle the very fine dust on the medium carpets upstairs... I'll probably go through filters, purchase item, faster than normal though. If the filters are paper type then I don't see any hope of washing them.

Sam's indicated it may be weeks before shipment. Wondering if they ship from Sweden??

geekgranny=alice
Bunch 4xx's(2002 on), 2-530, 2-535, 2-550, 1-570, 1-536, 7 Scoobas, 9 Dirtdogs, QQ-2, 3 Trilobites, 3 Pool Cleaners (vac/pressure/robot), SolarBreeze Pool Skimmer ver. 2 beta, SpotBot, CREATE, ROVIO, FURMANATORS = 1 MASTIFF, 2 LABRADOODLES
BikerGar
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Post by BikerGar »

In store 369.81

BG
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Post by geekgranny »

BikerGar wrote:In store 369.81

BG
Yikes that's over $100 less than online price. Where are you located BikerGar? Have you actually seen them in your store?

geekgranny=alice
Bunch 4xx's(2002 on), 2-530, 2-535, 2-550, 1-570, 1-536, 7 Scoobas, 9 Dirtdogs, QQ-2, 3 Trilobites, 3 Pool Cleaners (vac/pressure/robot), SolarBreeze Pool Skimmer ver. 2 beta, SpotBot, CREATE, ROVIO, FURMANATORS = 1 MASTIFF, 2 LABRADOODLES
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Post by BikerGar »

GG

Right now I am in the Tampa Bay Area (on vacation :D ). Bought 2 of them this morning at that price.

BG
newmom
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Post by newmom »

This seems too good to be true, Any one have any clue why these are selling at this price?
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Post by newmom »

I was checking our local Sam's and they apparently don't have this, BUMMER. While researching where I might find this, I found this link which shows that someone lucky person got one of these for 299 last month. http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/702726/
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COMPARE THE ELECTROLUX AND ROOMBA

Post by newmom »

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geekgranny
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Post by geekgranny »

My Triolbite is on its way from Sam's Club. I thought is was going to take longer to ship but obviously not. YEAH!!

geekgranny=alice
Bunch 4xx's(2002 on), 2-530, 2-535, 2-550, 1-570, 1-536, 7 Scoobas, 9 Dirtdogs, QQ-2, 3 Trilobites, 3 Pool Cleaners (vac/pressure/robot), SolarBreeze Pool Skimmer ver. 2 beta, SpotBot, CREATE, ROVIO, FURMANATORS = 1 MASTIFF, 2 LABRADOODLES
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Post by BikerGar »

Since the thread has been started I'll give my quick first impression of "The Tril" and try to post a detailed report in the proper area when I get home.

I am currently traveling in a moterhome, tried the wall mapping, it's useless in here :( . Will try it again when I get home. Great quality, looks good and sounds better :D . It really needs a remote and virtual walls :( . It climbs the higher throw rugs with ease :D . Two internal batteries, it stops when one gets tired, changes automatically then continues on its way :D . unfortunately they only seem to last about 45 minutes combined :( . The rugs look better after Roomba gets done with them, I believe, due to the rotating brush :( , but I also believe it is probably cleaner after "Tril" due to the superior vacuum :D , with the exceptions of the edges for it does not due them :( . It is menu driven and a bit confusing at first :( . I just checked the dust bin (does not have to be emptied every time :D ) and this thing picks up some serious dust and cat hair :D .

Quick bottom line, combine the best features of the two for the price I paid for this one and we have a winner. "Tril" is like Roomba on depressants, very slow and very deliberate, really doesn't have a personality. More to follow.

BG
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teachoh
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Post by teachoh »

Several Sam's club have them in store for $299.00. If it isn't in your area you can talk to the General Mgr. and have them do a in store transfer. I got 2 that way. Both were over 100 miles from me but they did the transfer in order for me to get them at that price instead of their online price of 499.00 :o
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Post by newmom »

teachoh wrote:Several Sam's club have them in store for $299.00. If it isn't in your area you can talk to the General Mgr. and have them do a in store transfer. I got 2 that way. Both were over 100 miles from me but they did the transfer in order for me to get them at that price instead of their online price of 499.00 :o
Can you tell me how long ago you got yours and what community you live in? You can email me at [PLEASE PRIVATE MESSAGE THIS USER FOR EMAIL] if you prefer. I really would love to get a deal like you got.

EDITED BY MOD: THX-1138
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Post by BikerGar »

teachoh wrote:Several Sam's club have them in store for $299.00. If it isn't in your area you can talk to the General Mgr. and have them do a in store transfer. I got 2 that way. Both were over 100 miles from me but they did the transfer in order for me to get them at that price instead of their online price of 499.00 :o
Teachoh

If you could post the sale dates and the stores where it was available at the $299 price I would appreciate it. When I bought mine I was told I could get sale rebates for the next 30 days.

Thanks in advance :D .

BG
tim2omaha
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Trilobite

Post by tim2omaha »

Wow! Nice price. BUT, are we buying into a discontinued item or is Sam's just clearing a one time buy?
newmom
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Re: Trilobite

Post by newmom »

tim2omaha wrote:Wow! Nice price. BUT, are we buying into a discontinued item or is Sam's just clearing a one time buy?
I believe that Electrolux has just unveiled their newest robot which includes the ability to schedule use.
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Post by eqwalker »

I believe newmom might be correct, although I can't find any evidence of it on their website. I have one of the new versions (Trilobite 2.0) that I ordered from overseas and have been pleased with it so far. The current US version (red in color) does not have the scheduling capability. I went ahead and picked up 2 of the US versions at my local Sams club for gifts for $369. A real bargain compared to what I had to pay for the version 2 that I got from overseas. I hope that they are planning a version 2 release for the US.
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Re: COMPARE THE ELECTROLUX AND ROOMBA

Post by newmom »

newmom wrote:COMPARE THE ELECTROLUX AND ROOMBA

http://www.everydayrobots.com/index.php ... 14&Itemid=
Another very in depth comparision worth reading.



Roomba















Trilobite 1.0 Why the Trilobite is expensive:
Brian Summers writes:
For background reference, I have a degree in Computer Science specializing in human computer interaction and artificial intelligence and I have designed and built several autonomous and pseudo-autonomous robots.

The main difference in price most likely has to do with the different sensors and mapping techniques that the robots implement. Truth be told the Roomba is really a "dumb" robot which only reacts to situations (i.e. when it bumps into something or detects a IR beam). It will then just randomly turn in another direction. Now given enough time, it will eventually travel over and clean a portion of the room it is in, but it will probably not get everything (given an infinite amount of time it should, but it doesn't have an infinite battery life to do this). This type of design is very simple and easy to make. Bump and IR sensors cost less then $1, and there really is not much processing required, just a simple random number generator to pick a number against a table of different commands (each command most likely being turn right for x amount of time, or turn left for x amount of time). This type of processing can also be created very cheaply, probably under $10 in parts and construction. So in the Roomba's case you are paying for a $180 cord-less vacuum with about $20 worth of "smarts" to it.

The Trilobite is using a version of radar to actually create a map of its environment. It then uses this map to plot where it currently is located and where it has been in the past. It can use this information to figure out a way to travel efficiently around the entire room and cover all the places that it can get to given its size limitations. I've designed similar robots myself, the purpose of those robots was to be able to tell the robot a destination and have it figure out a way to get there without running into obstacles in its way. This type of system requires a processor and memory to handle the style of programming needed to do these functions. A real-time planning and event based operating programming is used to instruct the robot what to do. It first will take sensor sweeps with its radar/sonar and create a map of the area around it. This map is used to mark obstacles that it detects with the sensors as well as mark where the robot is currently located and where it

was in the past. Rudimentary versions can be built using a processor, memory, and the sensors. In addition to having the bump sensors which I have discussed above, the sonic sensors are a little more complicated. A cheap version can be done by using Polaroid sonar distance sensors (these where created by Polaroid for their camera's to help in auto-focusing by calculating a more precise distance to the target). Even these sensors are not very cheap (around $30). And they have an audible clicking sound as the frequency of the wave is within the human hearing range. The Trilobite is using sensors outside the audible spectrum which will also allow them to be more accurate as background interference will be reduced because it is less likely that there will be other devices creating waves in that same frequency range as the device. This type of mapping will also need to handle "echoes" (reception of the burst from another location at a longer delay then the initial reflection of a

n object would create, thus making it believe that there is an object farther away in the distance when there may be nothing there at all). Echoes are not the only obstacle that needs to be addressed. Room reflections, corner blindness conditions, and close wall blindness are all other obstacles that need to be accounted for.

Take this situation, the sonar/radar is aimed at the corner of a box. The reflection from the box will not be detected because the beam will reflect off the box at a side angle and never return to the robot. The robot would never see the box and thus be blind to it (this is part of the reason why the stealth fighter has such a small radar image, because of all the angles on the plane, the radar beam is reflected away from the plane, but not back at the radar source, thus the radar does not detect it).

Creating a program to properly handle all of these problems correctly is very time consuming and difficult (if it was simple, we would all own cars that drive themselves). It is not 100% correct all the time and it will still have some problems detecting objects with sonar/radar, but the Trilobite will be able to know that it has traveled across all the areas it needs to clean.

The full processing power and sensor network needed to create a decent mapping system will cost around $80 with just one sonar/radar sensor. With more sensors, the price will jump about $30 per sensor until it reaches a point where a more powerful processor is required to interpret all the data being sent by the sensors. I do not have the exact specs on the Trilobite, but let us assume it uses between 2-4 sensors so that will cost around $120-200 in parts alone. Factor in the cost for programmers to develop the software to run the robot and there is probably another $200 per robot in cost. So you are looking at about 20x in price of smarts put into the Trilobite as there are in the Roomba.

Does this justify the almost 20x total cost? I don't know, as I don't own either. But at least it gives the reason for the price difference. Would you rather own a robot which will most likely be able to completely sweep your room and be able to return to its docking station, or a robot which may or may not be able to clean your room, but will probably get to a large portion of it before running out of power? Now that is the question that you need to answer.




http://www.i4u.com/article1634.html
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teachoh
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Post by teachoh »

I was asked where I got mine and it was in Michigan, however they are all gone . But you can find more stores I am sure if you use Sam's click n pull option and then type in what you want and if they have an in store one it will show up. it took me about a 1/2 hr. to keep changing locations to find them. But it was well worth it. Hope that helps!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was last week where we got ours. :D
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Post by newmom »

teachoh wrote:I was asked where I got mine and it was in Michigan, however they are all gone . But you can find more stores I am sure if you use Sam's click n pull option and then type in what you want and if they have an in store one it will show up. it took me about a 1/2 hr. to keep changing locations to find them. But it was well worth it. Hope that helps!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was last week where we got ours. :D
Unfortunately, I had my local manager to a nationwide check and he claims he can not get one anywhere in the USA, that the online price is the only option. If I hadn't bought four irobots in the last six months, I would just forge ahead but my husband already thinks I have lost my mind. :roll:
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Post by geekgranny »

Unfortunately my Tribolite, that I just got all charged up has a problem. Electrolux wants me to send it it but they can't FedEx pickup until late next week. I'm going to try Sam's first for a replacement to see if they can do it faster. Bummer. My fear is that Sam's, online, will run out before I can get it all in motition. Anybody have any advice? Thanks, geekgranny=alice

BTW... What little bit I could get Trib to run... I'm impressed. It picked up a lot on previously Roomba'ed medium carpet (I consider this carpet too high and dense for the Roombas. I'm afraid it will shorten their lives considerably). It is not nearly as loud as my Roombas on tile (they are quiter on carpet) and Tribolite has a very different sound, not annoying though. It surely is pretty and solid. And they have implemented measure to help keep dust out of its innards.
Bunch 4xx's(2002 on), 2-530, 2-535, 2-550, 1-570, 1-536, 7 Scoobas, 9 Dirtdogs, QQ-2, 3 Trilobites, 3 Pool Cleaners (vac/pressure/robot), SolarBreeze Pool Skimmer ver. 2 beta, SpotBot, CREATE, ROVIO, FURMANATORS = 1 MASTIFF, 2 LABRADOODLES
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