Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program We have had pretty much every generation of Roomba since they first came out. In my opinion, the 500 series that came out a few years ago was a dramatic improvement over all the previous generations, and was the first model that had a modular design that allowed for easy cleaning, servicing, and parts replacement of the robot. Its ease of use and performance was a tremendous improvement over the Discovery and other series of Roombas.
Not long ago, Roomba made the AeroVac available as an accessory on the 500 series and came out with a new improved brush system on the 700 series. I bought an AeroVac for my 560 and found the improvement to be remarkable. The improved brush system was not available as an accessory (as far as know), so I wasn't able to experience that improvement until now.
The 600 series (including the one on this page), takes the incredible performance of the 500 series and adds the AeroVac and the new brush system. Both are a huge improvement, especially the new brush system. Between long human hair and pet fur, we used to have a terrible time cleaning the brushes on our 500 series Roomba. That huge issue has pretty much gone away.
Roomba is NOW truly the time saver that it was always supposed to be. The 500 series, especially without the AeroVac, sometimes had so much hair and fur tangled in the brushes that I often wondered if the time and effort removing it was better or worse than just using a traditional vacuum and not having to deal with Roomba's brushes. With that problem solved, there is no longer a downside to Roomba.
I highly recommend you invest in this robot. The time you save because of it will certainly warrant its cost.
You may notice that I have posted this review both on the Model 650 and the Model 630 pages. This is because I was provided both Roombas from the Vine program, and have found them to be identical except for the fact that the 650 can be scheduled to run automatically, 7 times a week, and the 630 cannot. That is the only difference between the two models.
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I don't have to vacuum anymore and my floors have never been so clean. I scheduled it to run every day. It is amazing how much dust and other debris this thing picks up. All it takes is a 5 minute clean up of the Roomba each day-dump the bin, shake out the filter and clean the 2 rollers. It runs just over an hour before going back to base to charge. I have a large house, I run it in the main living area each day, and I move it manually to other parts of my house about 2x a month. My father bought one instanty after seeing how well mine cleaned-he is very critical of everything, but has no complaints about his 650. My 3 year old daughter & I named it Rico-she loves watching daddy's "robot" run around the house. It is much quieter than a conventional vacuum-I can watch TV while it runs, but I schedule it to run after I leave in the morning.
A couple of tips:
Vacuum one time yourself before setting this thing loose-it makes a world of difference in the performance.
Pick up blankets and things that you would normally get off the floor to vacuum.
Confine it it to 2 or 3 rooms at a time.
Make sure you clean the bin and rollers after each run.
Run it as often as possible-schedule it for every day.
Clean it once a month by blowing everything out an air compressor.
Kick back with cold one and enjoy your new found free time...
Update 7/2013-Still running Rico every day except on the weekend, battery life is still good. The vacuum is still cleaning very well, I replaced the side brush once and I swap the filter while I'm cleaning the other one. I don't clean it as often but at least 2 times a week, I do empty the bin and shake out the filter after every run. I'm still very pleased with the peformance. I'm still amazed at how much dust this thing collects. We've had a baby since the first review and I'm very happy that the floor he crawls around on is vacuumed every day-gives me great piece of mind since everything he picks up goes straight to his mouth.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program
We love Roomba! Here is my video review to show you some basics on how Roomba works. I could have gone on and on about how wonderful this product is, but I only get to upload a 10 minute maximum video here, so pardon the editing. All the most important bits that I really wanted to share are here, however. I also compared a bit between this 650 model and the 770 model we've had for much longer.
Feel free to post your questions in the comments section on this review, I'm happy to try and answer any questions you might have! Thanks for watching.
Honest reviews on iRobot Roomba 650 Vacuum Cleaning Robot for Pets
We just got our iRobot Roomba 650 Vacuum Cleaning Robot for Pets. It was simple to setup and charged in about two hours. We have run it once downstairs and upstairs.
THE PLAN
The plan is to run it during the day upstairs and to run it at night downstairs. The first problem we noted is that the schedule only seems to allow one time per day. This is ok since we have to carry it upstairs for the day runs. So, we just start it as we live in the morning. When we return, we put on the charger and let it clean at 2AM downstairs.
OBSERVATIONS
The upstairs (approx. 1000 sqft) is a combination of wood floors, tile in the bathrooms, scatter rugs (bath style and oriental). Roomba did a good job covering an awkward area. We captured a full bin of hair from the dogs. The only problem is that it got caught in the toilet area after it managed to close the door on itself. It found out that it was too short to reach the handle to reopen the door. Roomba was able to clean under the bed and sofa. However, it was unable to get under the night stands and dressers. This was unfortunate because the floor and fur is still very visible. (We will have to consider replacing the furniture that we bought a month ago. I can see it is going to be a pain to clean under whether we have Roomba or not).
The downstairs (approx. 800 sqft) is all tile with scatter rugs (bath, entry and orientals). Roomba was able to get under the counters in the kitchen, under the sofa, the dining room chairs. Once again we captured a full bin of fur. Downstairs we had a few problems. Roomba managed to catch itself on a rug. Roomba announced that it needed help. It was also able to move a very light side table and an empty plastic dog dish. The bin was full of fur and even captured some large dog food nuggets. Roomba was also able to maneuver through electrical cords. We did absolutely no preparations before starting Roomba.
LIMITATIONS
Roomba does not do windows, stairs and areas that are shorter than itself.
INITIAL CONCLUSIONS
We are pleased so far. The machine does a good job collecting fur in open areas and low areas that are taller than Roomba. We will have to consider how to handle the light furniture and lighter carpets. We will also have to determine how to ensure that open doors stay open if we want it to roam unrestricted.
If you are a micro manager, you will have problems with how Roomba gets the job done. If you are results driven manager, you will find that the Roomba does a good job. It gets where it is designed to get, and it does a thorough job. Roomba does its job. Don't worry about how it does it.
ONE WEEK CONCLUSIONS (11/23/2012)
Roomba has been busy. We run it about 8 hours per day. We collect 4 full bins of fur every day! Neither my wife nor I imagined how much fur our dogs generated. We just moved from a home that was primarily carpeted to hard surfaces. It is not like they are big dogs. We regularly strip our dogs (pull fur with a comb). We are more than both pleased by the purchase. Even if we had a maid, we would still run Roomba regularly. I don't think a daily maid service could keep up with Roomba's vacuuming or our dogs fur production. It (or perhaps I should say we) does occasionally make a mistake. It has eaten two usb cords and a couple of loose threads on some oriental carpets.
THIRD MONTH CONCLUSIONS (2/15/2013)
Roomba has not been needed as much. I would guess he gets about three hours of work a day. Once a day downstairs and twice a day upstairs. My wife and I agree that it has been a good purchase. Two unexpected consequences: our HVAC filters stay clean much longer and dusting need not happen as frequently. Roomba looks a little battle worn with superficial scrapes. However, the battery is still going strong. We spend almost no maintenance time. Every time we move Roomba, we empty the bin. We have had to do some major maintenance (more than five minutes) a couple of times. Long hair seems to collect and requires a careful unwinding. (We are all short haired except my daughter who visited at Christmas). The filter requires a little cleaning for optimal efficiency. Sometimes Roomba decides to complete the job under the bed or under a sofa. So, I have to call her. She is about as good as our deaf dog about coming when called. If we confined her to a single room, she would be much easier to find. She is infatuated with bathrooms. She still forgets that she can not reach the handle to open the door after she closes it. We try to remember to close the bathrooms before she begins her work.
FOURTH MONTH Conclusions (3/6/2013)
Roomba has taken a beating over these four months. She has lots of scratches. We have lost our edge second whisker. I bought one of the replacement packs with filters, brushes, rollers. The battery is still going strong. Roomba is getting a little senile. She'll drop her dust bin and keep going. So, she is just sweeping around dust. I think we need to do a thorough cleaning to make sure the latches catch properly. We are still very happy, and our house stays much cleaner.
NINTH MONTH Conclusions (7/31/2013)
Should Roomba die after the end of the warranty period, we would buy one again. I would be disappointed, but we could not live without it. If anything it is more important than ever, one of our dogs has Cushings and loses fur by the handful.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have been wanting one of these for a long and time, that coupled with the pricey $400 cost, I had VERY high expectations. I must say I am a little disappointed. I have 2 young kids and 2 short haired dogs, so there is never a shortage of crumbs or dog hair, and I was getting so tired of sweeping 3-4 times a day, so this seemed like it could be my new best friend (we even named it "Rosie" like the domestic helper in the Jetsons cartoon!).
Set up is easy, and once it charges, you're good to go. You can set a timer to clean whenever you want every day, but it only has one timer, so if you want multiple cleanings a day, you have to manually push the "Clean" button on the unit and then it will go through its entire cleaning cycle and return to the base for charging.
We set the unit to clean at midnight, that way no one would be in the way, but it was SO loud-I was expecting it to be quieter than a normal vacuum since it is smaller, but it is not. We also had a problem with it getting stuck under our table and chairs, it died and the next morning we had to manually carry it back to the dock. That's when we decided to set up the electronic barrier. The barrier takes 2 "C" batteries and you simply place it some place you do not want the iRobot to pass, once we didn't allow it to go into the dining room, it had no problem finding its way back to the base. It was, however, disappointing that we can't use it to vacuum under the table, especially since that's one of the places that is a big pain to sweep!
I was also disappointed with the size of room it is able to do in one cleaning cycle. We have a 1000 sq foot main floor (with a staircase in the middle of the house, so the vacuum has to navigate around that). We have found that it gets too far away from the base (even with placing the base in multiple different central locations)and then dies before it can find its way back to the charging base. We have ended up having to use the barrier to block it off in only our living room (which is about 12X14). It does clean that area well, but every time we try to let it do main floor, it dies on the opposite side of the stair case and doesn't finish the job/return the base for charging.
Overall, it's not really worth the $400-especially considering the average vacuum runs you about $200. Also, it really can only be set to do one room at a time and you have to wait for it to recharge and then manually pick up the unit and place it in the other rooms.
Below I've outlined the basic Pros and Cons I've found in using this vacuum:
PROs:
-It has a timer so it will clean at the same time every day
-It returns to base to recharge after every cleaning
-It sucks up most dirt, pet hair, and crumbs
-You can set a barrier so it will stay in certain areas of the house
-It's easy to empty
-It goes over thresholds (from wood to carpet, tile, etc) with no problems
-It cleans VERY well on carpet
CONs:
-It's loud, so if you set it to clean at night it will wake you up
-You CANNOT use this in a room with a dining table and chairs-it gets confused under the legs of all the chairs, gets stuck and then the battery dies before it can find its way out (this happened every time we tried to let it vacuum the dining room of our house)
-It doesn't pick up fine debris (IE sand, powder, etc.) in the SEAMS/CRACKS of our wood floors
