iRobot Roomba Pet Series 532 Vacuum Cleaning Robot

Good product but proper care required!
I received my Pet Roomba before Christmas and have been using it since. My house is a real test with 3 very long haired dogs inside most of the day. I run the Roomba every day to keep the hair down to a minimum and we've noticed the floors are much cleaner (even though I used to vacuum alot). However, if you buy this you should know that it requires frequent cleaning of the brushes, particularly the axle area where hair gets easily wrapped (pull off the end cap over the axle). By frequent I mean once or twice during the cleaning cycle. Otherwise, the brushes just stop moving leaving you with a cute robot that just drives around chasing the dogs! So this means you really should only run it when you are at home to keep it clean. I also have already cleaned the front wheel (just pops off - was really full of hair) and the side brush (unscrew the screw). Bottom line, the unit works great so long as it is kept really clean. I've got the cleaning down to a minute so it isn't too big of a...

Updated review - Still loving my Roomba!!
I received my Robot on December 15,2008, an early Christmas Present. Rather than wrapping it, I gave it to the Missus so we could use it so the house would be nice and clean for Christmas day entertaining.

It cleaned beautifully, the carpets looked great! This thing would fill up with crud even after running the old vacuum. How wonderful, one less chore to do.

Until Christmas Day! So much for showing off the new gizmo! The brushes stopped turning that morning, and repeatedly gave a "clean Brushes" error message. After many attempts, and hours on the IRobot tech site, we established that the rollers indeed were not turning.

After the Holiday rush, I found time to do a little more research. After consulting several robot discussion forums, it appears the cleaning head modules have a high failure rate. Apparently IRobot has made a new design of the module about 2 months ago. After getting frustrated with email support, I called IRobot and they say they...

Robots really do work
The iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner is my Christmas present. I wanted it as I've always been fascinated with robots. We've owned several Roombas including the very first one. The first Roomba was an admirable effort but it didn't clean much. It was fun to watch run around the floor though.

The second Roomba was the Discovery model. This one worked a bit better but had a ways to go before successfully cleaning my house.

Finally, we received Gort. Gort is the iRoomba 532 model specifically designed to help clean homes with pets. We have three cats so this seemed like the perfect vac robot for us.

It was. The vacuum really does clean. Gort happily cleaned my low pile carpet. He then moved onto happily cleaning my laminate flooring. While cleaning Gort managed to not eat up the curtains (a problem with the previous models) and he managed to not chew up the power cords (another problem with previous older models).

It looks like Gort is going to...

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iRobot 530 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, Rust

Can't live without it
We have a long-haired cat and shiny hardwood floors, so dustbunnies proliferate without frequent cleaning. This is our 3rd Roomba in 8 years. The 500 series is just perfect for us -- it's a good value for the price, cleans very well and doesn't get tangled in electric cords. The robots usually work only a couple of years without any trouble, so if you can get a 3-year warranty, it's probably worth it. Our last Roomba 510 lasted for 3.5+ years with one repair, which was covered by the warranty.

I was skeptical, but it really works well!
The Roomba 530 is a great invention that makes it fun to keep the house clean!

The Roomba is quite a bit larger and heavier than I imaged it would be. It's about 1 foot in diameter, and weighs a decent amount. Construction quality is high. It feels well made, and all the materials are high quality. The rust colored trim on the top adds some pizzazz. Included with the Roomba is the self docking charging base, two virtual walls, an extra filter, and a brush cleaning tool.

The 530 is very simple to use and has only three buttons on the top plate. First is the clean button, this is the one you'll use when you want the Roomba to do its thing and clean the house automatically. The second is the spot button, this is for when you want the Roomba to stay in one area (3' in diameter) and clean it extra thoroughly. Lastly, there is the dock button. This is used to stop a clean cycle and send the Roomba back to its charging base. There are also two indicator lights...

Surprised
I was a tad worried after the average reviews but really happy so far. We run this Roomba every other day and it picks up a ton of dirt and pet hair. Keeps our hardwood floors looking clean with out the hassel of bringing out the vacum.

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iRobot Roomba 3100 Pro Elite Robotic Floor Vacuum

I Hate to Vacuum
What a great gift. I received a Roomba for a holiday gift and I am so happy with it. I hate to vacuum. I'm a sewer and always seem to drag threads all over the house. No problem when you have a Roomba. Roomba picks up threads, hair, dirt, dust, etc. It goes in places other vacuums could never (under the bed & entertainment center) I have 90% rug (short pile), 10% hard wood in my home, but it works great on both. I set up the virtual walls, so I can keep Roomba in the area I wish to clean, press the button, it plays a song and goes to town. When it's done, it plays another song and shuts itself off. I empty the bin and plug it back in to recharge the battery. That's it... I still use my upright once in a while to get that deep down dirt, but not as often as I used to. It would get the fifth star if I never had to see my upright again.

Roomba Pro Elite is worth the extra money. You need two virtual walls and the spot cleaner. The remote is handy too.

Perhaps the new model is better?
Like many reviewers, I love my Roomba...when it works.

My biggest problem is battery power. My Roomba came with a badly photocopied dire warning that something horrid would happen to the battery if left plugged in more than 6 hours at a time. To fix it, I needed to register the product and they would send me a power adapter.

This was last year.

I now get constant emails from Roomba pushing their latest product, but after 3 follow-up attempts, no power adapter.

If I time it *very* carefully, I get enough charge from my Roomba to clean the floor of one room. If I don't, it'll whine a little then shut down.

I bought it assuming I'd plug it in to charge at night, set it loose in the morning, and rotate between the rooms of my house. Instead, I have to nurse it half a day for an hour's charge, then carefully monitor charge time to ensure it doesn't spend too long plugged in. The charge fades by morning, so I can't just plug it in for...

Putting your Roomba on Automatic
I love my Roomba !!!

But the one feature that was missing for me was the ability for it to clean unattended like when I was at work or asleep.

If you need to put your Roomba on an Automatic Schedule for Cleaning? All Roomba models do not have anyway to start it to clean automatically without manually pressing a button to start it. I thought I would let you know it is now possible to put you Roomba on an unattended clean schedule with the Roomba Timer. You have the ability with this Roomba Timer to set any 3 start times during a 24 Hr period to start its cleaning cycle.

I bought the Roomba Timer 3 months ago and it works great. I set it to start cleaning at 2:00 am in the morning and I wake up to a clean house. I also have it start cleaning at 12:00 noon while I'm at work so I come home to a clean house.

Check this site out if you need more information or would like to order one.

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iRobot 11237 Roomba Main Bristle Brush with Coupling

Delighted
iRobot's Discovery floor cleaner is the best! Partly because one can find fresh brushes like this one for not much money and simply replace them - very easy - no tools needed. This brush cost very little , shipped and arrived quickly and did the job when put to work. Happy customer!

does the job
Arrived in time frame as stated, well packaged. Looks and works like the original. Will be ordering another. Should be set for quite a while.

Pretty bare with the bristles
There are far fewer bristles on this brush compared to the stock version. It didn't seem to pick up dirt as well as my original. I still use the old one.

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