Skynet

[G'day Mate]

Anyone got one of those robot vacuum cleaners? I'm thinking of picking one up in the next couple of days but there's too many to choose from ...

[thesameguy]

The little disc ones?

I had a Roomba for years and it was awesome. The house had hardwood floors and we had a dog and a cat and it did awesome. It did tend to get hung up around the dining room table when I had the extra leaf installed - four table legs and 24 chair legs were too much to negotiate. Didn't really matter, because at 9a when I left for work I'd send it off vacuuming and over the course of a few days it would always take care of everything... way better than my previous "once a week if" manual schedule. I stopped using it when we moved as we have some, um, vintage carpet that it didn't do too well on.

I can't really speak as to the state of the art right now - I know they have a lot more features like scheduling and smart phone control. Not sure what value those features actually bring - hitting "go" when I left for work and coming home to find it back on its charger was a-ok.

[TheBenior]

My sister got some Roomba (dunno which one, it was on sale at Costco a few months back) and seems pretty satisfied with it. She likes turning it on when she naps with her twin toddlers.

[G'day Mate]

Well, this certainly adds to the confusion ...

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/insaneogram81/roomba.jpg

[G'day Mate]

I'm also going to need a He Man action figure to ride around on top of it ...

[Random]

Nah, just add one cat (shark suit and duck optional) and stir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of2HU3LGdbo

[Tom Servo]

You just made my night.

[G'day Mate]

That clip is on a recent ad for a local service provider ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BlY5qfRxnQ

[Crazed_Insanity]

I bought couple of 4 or 500 series remanufactured ones from woot for like $100~$150. They won't replace your traditional vacuums because they just don't have the suction power, but they're decent enough... better than nothing. If you have a maid that can do vacuuming for you, nothing can top that. However, if you're lazy like me, having roomba do it for you on a weekly basis should be good enough. Especially when you have them work for you while you're away...

Anyway, like TSG said, on hardwood floor it works great. On carpets however, I can easily still see some cat hair stuck in carpets..., but whenever I clean up roomba's bin and see whole bunch of dirty and hair that it has picked up, I'm happy that at least it cleaned up something! ;)

Oh, some draw back is that you probably need to get roomba friendly furniture. You need to de-clutter stuffs and move away furniture that might cause roomba to climb over and end up getting stuck! For example, this ikea chair I usually remove before I let roomba do its thing: http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/46190_PE142932_S3.JPG

Roomba will often get "beached" by the chair's leg. Ideally you want something tall enough so roomba will turn around, but this thing is just short enough for roomba to climb over and just tall enough that it might get stuck. Anyway, you probably should watch it do its thing initially so you can see what's good and what's not good for it... only when you're sure roomba won't get stuck then you may have it operate without your supervision. This thing isn't that smart... long ways away from skynet.

As for difference between 700 and 800 series, I think it's just better suction and easier cleaning up for you. If they're the same price, why would you get the 700 one? ;)
http://www.irobot.com/For-the-Home/Vacuum-Cleaning/Roomba.aspx

Still at nearly $1000. I don't think I'd buy one at that kind of prices... gee.

[21Kid]

I have a Neato (http://smile.amazon.com/Neato-XV-Signature-Pro-Allergy/dp/B00CBW63QU/ref=dp_ob_title_home). I really like it. :cool::up: The only problem is that because the container is so small, you have to empty them almost every day. But, I love setting the timer so it vacuums every day while I'm at work. It's really nice having a flood that is cleaned every day.

edit: I just noticed there's a $25 off coupon on Amazon right now. :D

[G'day Mate]

Well, got me an LG Roboking. Seemed like a good deal at $300 off.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think the LG one is way more sophisticated than Roombas. Let us know how you like your new pet robot. ;)

[G'day Mate]

The coolest part when I was playing with it last night was when it ran out of batteries (I didn't give it much of a charge) in the loungeroom and it went straight back to its dock to recharge:

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/insaneogram81/robohome.jpg

This is the one:

http://wellbie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/911mTTL1pXL._SL1500_-620x330.jpg

[Crazed_Insanity]

Told you it's smart! ;)

So how much does this one cost?

On Amazon in US it'd set me back around $600~$700!:eek:

[G'day Mate]

Yeah it was not cheap - AU$700, reduced from $1,000.

Looks like I need to make some house-adjustments though - there's two doors it can get in behind and shut, trapping it in those rooms. HAHAHA!!

[Random]

Sounds like our 16-month-old baby. :p

*faint knocking on bedroom door as baby asks politely to be let out of room that he shut himself into* :lol:

[Kchrpm]

Babies and vacuum cleaners are like cat, then.

[TheBenior]

You know, I can remember at least one 911 call of somebody worried about a baby alone and in distress and it turned out to be a cat making noise.

[G'day Mate]

Well the vacuum is doing its thing now as per its daily timer. It's quite mesmerising actually - I just followed it around for half an hour trying to figure out what was going on inside its little robot head. You can tell when it realises its done an area though, which is pretty cool, because it turns around and burns off, back to where it was before and then resumes doing its zig-zag thing.

[G'day Mate]

So I've been following it for pretty much an hour now today while it does the whole house. It seemed to miss two areas - half the main bedroom and half the dining room, which are pretty much opposite corners of the house. Sure enough though, after finishing it's main pattern it made straight for the bedroom and finished off the other half of that, then it took a friggen racing-line all the way through the house to do the dining room! Now it seems to be finishing off other small areas that it thinks its missed, and I reckon it'll be finished and head for home in a few minutes.

[G'day Mate]

HAH! When it got back to its dock it played itself a triumphant little song then announced "Cleaning completed. Charging ..."

[Rare White Ape]

I think you should get a Roboking for outside your window.

[TheBenior]

My Samsung washer and dryer play jaunty tunes when they complete their cycles, maybe it's a general Korean appliance thing.

[Drachen596]

I just finished reading Hitch Hikers Guide again..

TheBenoir's comment reminds me of when Marvin is complaining about the doors and how cheerful they are to open and close for people.

[thesameguy]

And how crazy is it that it came true in Korea first? :D

[Alan P]

My Samsung washer and dryer play jaunty tunes when they complete their cycles, maybe it's a general Korean appliance thing.

I can usually tell when the customer I'm speaking to has a Samsung TV because it plays a wee tune when you turn it on. Seems to be a Samsung thing as I've never known anything Hyundai to play a tune.

[Crazed_Insanity]

My wife's Hyundai Santa Fe plays a tune when you tune it on or off. It has an option to turn it off though. Doesn't really bother me...

[Kchrpm]

How well does it deal with cables on the ground? Would I need to get them out of the way completely?

I probably should anyway...want to come visit, tsg? ;)

[G'day Mate]

It moves cables around a bit. Kiya left her phone charger on the ground and it unplugged the USB cable and dragged it to another room. We haven't had any trouble keeping them out of the way though.