iRobot Roomba 385 Vacuum Cleaning Robot

Okay, so the Roomba was designed to vacuum whilst you are out at work or off doing more interesting things. It fails at this - there is no way you'll want to be out of the house when this little beauty is doing its thang! It's far too much fun watching little "roombie" toddle about, working its way around your furniture and belongings and then wandering off into the next room. I think I would have paid £200 for that alone... however, the bonus prize is that Roomba is also a workaholic. As I type he's just taken himself off into the bathroom to clean in there (good luck to him!).

If you're thinking of buying a Roomba you probably have some questions and I'm guessing they're similar to the questions I had:

1) Does it really vacuum?
- The short answer is yes, it really does. Perhaps if you're the sort of person who regularly throws dirt about your home then this might not be for you - but for the rest of us who just have the normal everyday kind of stuff to vacuum up then it's perfect. The suction might not be as great as with some of the heavy duty manual vacuums but the fact that Roomba goes over the same spot a few times in its journey means that so far it has cleaned everything I have asked it to.

2) How thorough is the cleaning?
- I'd say more thorough than you are I ever achieve with a manual vacuum. I've watched Roomba for quite some time and it uses a combination of diving across to the other side of the room, circular motions and following the edge of the room. So far I haven't noticed it missing anywhere. My flat is in 2 halves, joined by a long corridor. I had thought this would confuse Roomba and I'd probably have to do one half one day then move it to the other half manually.... No siree - Roomba works its way back and forth without any trouble whatsoever.

3) Does it get stuck?
- Roomba really knows how to get itself out of a jam! I have a lot of furniture in my flat and Roomba has worked its way in and out of all of it. In particular to get under my dining table and chairs Roomba only really has one or two routes (because of the way I have anything positioned) - every time it's gone under there it has found its way back out again with very little problem.

4) What about cables and other things lying about?
- Every review I read prior to buying Roomba said I would need to move these out of the way. They were all wrong. Yes, cables are a tad confusing for Roomba and sometimes it takes a few seconds to work them out, but every time it has come across one it has managed to climb over it or get itself untangled again in a few seconds, without any intervention from me.

5) Does it damage furniture or knock things over?
- Nope. I see no damage to any of my furniture and despite watching Roomba hurtle into my floor-standing plant pots several times I've yet to see it knock any of them over.

Honestly, Roomba is great. I shall never vacuum again!

Update: a year on and I love Roomba so very much I feel the need to provide a quick update on how it's holding up. A while back my Roomba did develop a fault and the brushes stopped rotating underneath. However, I simply cannot praise iRobot enough and cannot think of a better experience with any other business: I spoke to the most friendly lady who arranged for someone to come and pick Roomba up from work, they had him for about a week and returned him fully working back to my work place at absolutely no cost to me. Sounds simple doesn't it? Shame so many other businesses cannot seem to manage this easy process. Anyway, that was many many months ago and since then Roomba has been on his best behaviour. He hoovers every other day or so and continues to do so beautifully. My floor has never looked so consistently clean and as a result, I now only have to empty Roomba once a week or so. He shows no sign of wear or tear and all my furniture is in one piece. Once in every ten runs or so he gets himself caught somewhere (shuts the door behind him when going into the bedroom, occasionally finds a pair of tights lying around and tries to tidy them up, does have a habit of getting tangled on very thin wires like phone charger wires if I have forgotten to pick them up) but he is so gentle that I have never had him cause any damage to himself or anything else - not even the tights! - when he does so; he just waits patiently for me to find him and help him on his way.

In fact, if there were a fire tonight it would be Roomba I would grab as I fled. My only regret is not arranging some kind of commission with iRobot as several friends/family members have since got Roombies of their own as they were so impressed with mine. Read more ›

Im now the proud owner of a roomba, and its brilliant.
I wasnt too pleased when my husband turned up with it for a 25th anniversary present !!
But now am in love with my roomba.
Seriously - we have a larger than average downstairs area in our house, with quiet a confusing room layout, I was sure i would find roomba laying around dead at some time or other, it tells you in the instructions that it will find its way back to its charging station, i didnt believe it - But it really does. ( wish the kids shoes could do that too!)

Cleaning : with 3 kids, two cats, hubby and me we get quiet a bit of dust and muck through the house each day, I just put roomba to work when i go on the school run and its all clean when i get home, One side effect is that my 3 girls no longer drop jewellry or hairbands on the floor as they know roomba will eat it! no complaints there.

Roomba trundles around, so far its never got stuck or had problems with wires etc. it manages the door bars between rooms easily and even the slight change in floor level from kitchen to hall is no problem.

The Kids love it and still havent tired of following it around, so you could add amusement levels to its list of functions.
The cats hate it - hubby thinks thats a good thing!

The only complaint I have is that i keep leaving the ironing out when i go to school and when i get home its still there!

This gadget really is worth the money - although any husbands reading this. Please please please do get something pretty and gorgeous or tickets to somewhere with a nice beach for you wives present.
You can hide the proper present in the box with roomba if you like a laugh but want to live.
( im still contemplating the ultimate revenge on hubby - any suggestions?)

It was really an impulse buy, but now a few months on, I wonder how I ever did without "Henry". My girlfriend was starting to get jealous, so I bought her one too - "Jeeves".
There is no doubt the Roomba is one of those rare things that you can't see the utility of until you buy it, then it becomes indispensible. I've only recently got into the habit of putting it on as I go to work, previously I would sit and watch it industriously pottering away.... Wasting the time it was saving me!

My carpets have never been cleaner. The cats have got used to it.

There have been some misadventures. Once it ate about 3 yards of tinsel, another time a cat toy on a string. Both times required a bit of disassembly to sort out but none the worse for wear. Henry's best one was to tip over the cats' water bowl in the kitchen and proceed to wash the kitchen floor for a good half hour - every corner was wet. A wet trail from the kitchen to the docking station in the hallway and a soggy and bedraggled Roomba. I had to do quite a bit of drying out and the sludge in the dust trap and filter was particularly gross to clean out.

Whatever - I can not see a future without a Roomba.

This is a fab, must have gadget!
Highly entertaining for our family, and encourages everyone to tidy up in case 'iRob' eats their belongings! (Which any caught objects tend to be easily removed from underneath.)
We have a dog, and it's amazing how much dog hair is emptied from the tray after each use. He generally finds his way back to the hub each time, unless he vacuums behind a door and inadvertantly shuts himself in.
We haven't used the lighthouse gadget yet to enable him to navigate 3 rooms, as we find 3 rooms quite possible without it.
He did try to throw himself down the stairs this morning, but I think that was because I plugged the hub in too close to the edge and he set off at fast pace inches away! (Luckily I caught him.) Usually he susses out where the top step ends. Unless we are overworking him and he wants to do himself in! He won't generally fit very far under the sofas, but does the first few inches under if they are not high enough.
An amazing time-saving device!