So, anyone got an iRobot Roomba or other robot vacuum cleaner?

Brilliant, sounds like it'll be perfect for us then. Our utility door is always shut so that won't be an issue.

My main use is just to keep the wooden floors looking clean from cat/dog hair. It always makes the place look messy.

I still have a weird part of me wanting one of the all in one things which mop too but i think they'd compromise too much on other areas and since the mop element is mainly a wet cloth it'd be rubbish when it hits carpet.
 
Marvt74 said:
Brilliant, sounds like it'll be perfect for us then. Our utility door is always shut so that won't be an issue.

My main use is just to keep the wooden floors looking clean from cat/dog hair. It always makes the place look messy.

I still have a weird part of me wanting one of the all in one things which mop too but i think they'd compromise too much on other areas and since the mop element is mainly a wet cloth it'd be rubbish when it hits carpet.
Click to expand...

I was also interested in a mopping robot as we have wooden floors in the breakfast kitchen and hall, but my understanding is they cant be scheduled and don't return to a charging base due to carrying water.
 
Yeah, it was the bObi one i was looking at

https://www.amazon.co.uk/bObsweep-7...=UTF8&qid=1486133660&sr=8-2&keywords=bobsweep

Gets great reviews (on Amazon, a bit crap on review sites) but seems mainly to be American based.

Have ordered the Neato D85 which should be here tomorrow, it's weird to feel excited about it. It's from the Amazon warehouse so will be interested what condition it comes in. If it looks like it's actually been used for cleaning i'll just send it back and buy new. But felt it was worth giving it a go for the sake of £60.
 
Last edited:
Marvt74 said:
Yeah, it was the bObi one i was looking at

https://www.amazon.co.uk/bObsweep-7...=UTF8&qid=1486133660&sr=8-2&keywords=bobsweep

Gets great reviews (on Amazon, a bit crap on review sites) but seems mainly to be American based.

Have ordered the Neato D85 which should be here tomorrow, it's weird to feel excited about it. It's from the Amazon warehouse so will be interested what condition it comes in. If it looks like it's actually been used for cleaning i'll just send it back and buy new. But felt it was worth giving it a go for the sake of £60.
Click to expand...

Honestly, its the best piece of tech I can remember buying for some time. Absolutely zero regrets.
 
Balls, i was on the Neato D85 page on Amazon and it showed a white version that was cheaper. I went with that thinking it was just a colour difference and it turns out the white version is actually the D75.

Have now ordered a D85 and will return the D75.
 
with these can you stick them up and down stairs on alternate days etc? (neato im thinking)

or does it lose all settings like the time it does stuff if you unploug it all?
 
Got the Neato yesterday and left it charging overnight as recommended.

It's certainly bigger than i realised. Maybe because it's got a square back rather than the round of the other models. Will see how i get on with it but with our house having lots of objects around the place i'm not sure how well it'll get around them. For example, we have a wall, then 30cm from that is a bar stool, then 30cm from that is another bar stool. That whole area wont get cleaned.

It seems quite methodical in it's movement though i'm still left wonder if i should've gone with the Roomba 886!
http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/roomba886/irobot-roomba886-vacuum-cleaner
 
I take it back, it pretty much humps the bar stools so not only gets the floor but does a decent job of getting the base of the stool too.

It even manages to get up and down the 2" drop into our Utility!

EDIT - Although it's just finished and returned to its base, but has missed quite a lot of areas.

EDIT2 - It's also managed to scratch some paint off chair legs when it's got stuck between all 4 legs and needed resetting. Maybe i expected too much from it.
 
Last edited:
Unless you've got absolutely nothing on your wooden floor and absolutely flat rugs how does this actually get around the whole room?

Surely it wouldn't stand a chance of doing under a dining table with 8 sets of chair legs in the way and the actual table legs themselves. Then not to mention a coffee table which is on a thick rug.

Guessing one wouldn't be suitable for us! :p
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Unless you've got absolutely nothing on your wooden floor and absolutely flat rugs how does this actually get around the whole room?

Surely it wouldn't stand a chance of doing under a dining table with 8 sets of chair legs in the way and the actual table legs themselves. Then not to mention a coffee table which is on a thick rug.

Guessing one wouldn't be suitable for us! :p
Click to expand...

I put my chairs up on the table twice a week, only takes 30 seconds. As long as the rug isn't too high or thick, or has too much black on it (triggers the cliff sensors) then it will do fine.
 
Burned_Alive said:
The base is dumb, so doesn't matter if you unplug it. The robot itself maps as it goes each time, so should be fine to operate like that.
Click to expand...

Awesome.



How does the botvac cope with tiled surfaces?


Downstairs living room and hall is csrpet but theres a very large titled kitchen/diner too?
 
R.O.S.S.I;30476617 said:
Unless you've got absolutely nothing on your wooden floor and absolutely flat rugs how does this actually get around the whole room?

Surely it wouldn't stand a chance of doing under a dining table with 8 sets of chair legs in the way and the actual table legs themselves. Then not to mention a coffee table which is on a thick rug.

Guessing one wouldn't be suitable for us! :p
Click to expand...

We have a dining room table with 4 chairs and it navigates between the 20 legs without issue. Only thing we do is put the childs high chair up on the table as it can move that on the wooden floor, which can close its escape route.

Tefal;30477961 said:
Awesome.



How does the botvac cope with tiled surfaces?


Downstairs living room and hall is csrpet but theres a very large titled kitchen/diner too?
Click to expand...

Hard to say as we only have tiles in the downstairs wc which is very small. It picks up all the dust, etc without issue though. It has a wiper blade on the base to aid suction on such surfaces.
 
Is everything under £200 rubbish?

I have a top landing with 4 rooms very close to each other.. would a robot V be able to navigate out of each room into the next or are they best for just one larger room?
 
Well i got fed up with the Neato getting stuck under chairs or humping the base of our barstools and needing replacing. So sent it back and bought the Roomba 886.

Pros
It gets stuck a lot less, maybe because it's round rather than square so a bit more flexible?
Battery seems to last a lot longer

Cons
It can't get down the drop into the utility room like the Neato
the bin seems to need emptying a lot sooner even though it's capacity is 0.6l compared to 0.7l of the Neato. Don't know if the Neato compresses the waste more or this just picks more up

It's so far had no issues making it back to the docking base which was a concern from reviews of the cheaper roombas.
 
I had a Neato XV and had similar issues with dining room tables/chairs, which was annoying as with kids you always get a lot of crumbs. I kept it for a year and then the batteries started to fail and I managed to get a full refund from Amazon as they didn't sell the same model anymore and the new one was more expensive. It was OK but even in the bigger house we live in now (5 bed, 3 receptions) I can do much a better job with a quick 10 minute blast with the upright than the Neato did.

I might look at them again in a year or two.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom