My Roomba 770 has finally started die after 5 years of hard work (5 days scheduled vacuum per week), Myer has the best price by far on the 880 right now. iRobot sells this for $699 USD direct.
Is also available on their eBay page: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm//231843297236
Wasn't available for me in store but their eBay does free delivery.
I owned a coffee table for about 6 months that was just the right height for the roomba to only hit the IR sensor (The raised disk on top) which caused the roomba to repeatedly bash the sensor against the table. The sensor obviously broke after a while and i've since opened the roomba a few times and repaired it with very subpar soldering skills. The IR Sensor hasn't been great since though.
It started vacuuming at midday today and was looking for the dock 15 mins later, didn't find the charging dock for another 30 mins so I'm assuming the battery is on the way out and some sensors are probably dying as well.
I don't think the Roomba does as good a job compared to a traditional vacuum on a single pass but the difference is that I can make the Roomba vacuum 5 days a week which I certainly won't do manually and that's where the Roomba wins. The scheduling function is definitely worth it. It vacuums when nobody is home so we don't need to worry about the noise. We just find it on it's dock when we get home or in the bathroom after it closed the door on itself :)
A Roombas effectiveness depends on your house though. You need to make sure it won't get stuck on anything and can maneuver around freely. I don't suggest it to anyone that has a lot of clutter or cables on the floor or multi storey homes.
I pretty much concur, however I am wondering what makes this Roomba 5 to 10 times better than the Aldi vac that was 139? TBH it's been great so far, as a sceptic I would highly recommend one as long as people do clear the floor as you say
The Aldi one has a hepa filter, is random, 3 yr warranty, remote control, scheduler, and IR barrier, has a sensor and a bumper around the front, has a mode for spot cleaning, will find its way back to the charger (most of the time) and the distributor has all the spares for sale (and if you search here you can find the deal)
I think the principal is the same with any robot vacuum cleaner. I only have experience with roomba which is why i use it as an example.
If you can have the robotic vacuum clean more times than you would by hand, you will typically have cleaner floors. :)
I had the Aldi vac for a while after the gears in my Roomba died (bad initial design of the gear box).
The two do not compare. The Roomba seems to have some logic in the way it goes about things. The Aldi one is completely random. The Roomba can sense when it is stuck (as it's front black/white wheel stops turning) and then tries to free itself. The Aldi one just sits there turning the wheels to the point that it actually wore 2 wheel sized holes in my carpet.
In the end I returned the Aldi and bought a new gearbox. Was working as good as new - but lately the battery is a little sad, so just got a new one off ebay.
The Roomba is a great Robot vac. I am hanging out for the Dyson version though.
I have a Roomba 790 and when the Aldi was on sale I bought it just out of curiosity with the plan to use one upstairs and the other one downstairs. I returned the Aldi within a week. Here are the main reasons
The durability of the Aldi did not look good. Within the first use the bristles on the spinning brush already started to warp out of shape. I've had my Roomba for 4-6 months and the bristles are in the same original shape.
The bin design of the Aldi is really inferior to the Roomba in the way it holds debris in and also how much easier it is to empty the Roomba. It was weird to have the one and only filter in the Aldi unit right next to where the bulk of the debris is collected. The roomba filters are in a different chamber and only dust gets there, not the bulk of the debris…if you know what I mean…
The Aldi kept getting stuck and could not run more than 15-20 mins on its own before I could hear it beeping for help. I admit I have a cluttered house, but the Roomba never got stuck in the same places.
So all those 3 points combined made be return the Aldi for a refund. You get what you pay for.
@MrMaxwell: I think they are using Japan as a "beta test". Not sure when "rest of the world" will get their hands on it.
If you can solder why not pull it apart and look at the battery.
I did this with my iStubble when the battery died after 2 years (cooked it by overcharging) and found the 3V battery looked like 2xaaa joined together.
I found one like that for $3(ish) inc postage from China, still using my iStubble a further 2 years later.
Just saying that's a bargain compared with the $100+ (in your case many hundreds) to get a new.
(He/She) Who solders and has those funny screw drivers wins!
PS I did think of soldering 2x eneloops (I have a drawer full) together only buying a new one avoided risk of heating battery
PPS
My Soldering station was $10 from Hobby King (thanks OZB).
I could probably bring my 770 back to life but I like new toys :) A 5 Year service life is probably pretty good for a vacuum that runs 5 days a week too.
The IR sensor breaking was when it started going downhill, often struggled to find the dock or couldn't see it at all. I've caught the roomba just going back and forwards a lot (Not spot cleaning) I think it's because repairing the sensor unit made the bumper more sensitive and it was triggering the bumper by itself.
The Roomba isn't really a "proper" vacuum cleaner. It's not going to beat out your cylinder vacuum or fancy upright. But it does a lot better than most of the other cheap robotic cleaners, which are basically just glorified carpet sweepers.
The Roomba has a series of brushes that kick up dirt, which is then sucked up by the (low-powered) vacuum.
So imagine an autonomous stick vac with extra agitators. It won't work on deep-pile carpet, it just doesn't have the suction. But for hard floors or low-pile carpet, it will do the job just fine (although it will take about ten times as long as doing it yourself).
Do these things still just drive around randomly until they bump into something? If so I think Neato is far better value.
They do but I've never found that an issue. Multiple passes over the same area means a better clean and my current 770 never had issues doing every room in my 3 bedroom house on one charge.
I think a lot of people don't like the Roomba going around randomly because it takes longer to cover the same area a Neato would. It can be annoying listening to it vacuum for 2 hours when you are home. If you use the schedule function and schedule it when nobody is home the time it takes to cover the house shouldn't be a problem.
Newest ones (9xx series, not this one) map out the house, so if the battery dies it will go charge, then when full resume where it left off. But unless you have the latest series it just bumps around in some kind of logic.
Thanks just ordered two :)
For knife fights?
Cat transport system
Early festivus gift.
someone bought 10 lol..
You could probably flip these for 1k each with little effort :P
yeah wouldn't be surprised
Broden?
Skynet?
Oh dear…..
I laughed so hard watching that!
I would love one of these but sadly I live in a two story home with lots of steps everywhere.
So what are these like on tiled floors?
Robot Vacuum cleaners definitely work best on hard floors and short carpets.
Bought one thanks, was looking at the 780 model, but this is better and better price.
My wife convinced that this is a novelty useless gadget… While I am convinced this will save our marriage… Not sure if I still should buy however….
She is a clean freak, and she vacuum at least once a week, sometimes twice.
Stop being a messy husband. Marriage saved.
I'll take my consultancy fee in Eneloops. Thanks.
Lol, I'm not messy :P
I had an ex that would follow it around and go "see it missed something" when it would just pick it up in the 2-3 other passes it was going to do.
You mustn't have kids! Daily here!
Too late, just got one…
Guess I missed out on that condom deal.
Coming from a wife. It's just awesome. I love my Roomba. Ours isn't the one you can schedule but just hit the clean button on my way out the door and hey presto! Floors are done..
2 cats = lots of cat fur. Roomba = minimal cat fur dust bunnies
I think I'll give it a shot if it didn't work, I'll put it on Gumtree. Should be minimal loss…
I'd wager you could resell this for more than or equal to $700 as "barely used".
I use a broom
Cool story bro
Its said the filter need to be replaced 6 times a year? How much do these cost? And where to buy?
I probably replaced parts once a year or so. Depends on how much dirt you make I guess. Service manual does state filters should be replaced every 2 months.
Can get non-genuine parts from eBay for cheap. Here's a HEPA filter for $4.00: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281702044604
http://www.irobot.com/~/media/Files/Support/Home/Roomba/800/… (Page 28)
HEPA filters can be reasonably cleaned to extend their life as well.
great price. Hey Cozza38 what ya doing with your old 770 ?
Roomba770 - maybe re-purpose it to be a fighting bot with it in the featherweight division?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FRocO1Ma3U&t=1m1s
I don't have plans for it at the moment. I tend to hand down old tech to the family (I work in IT so gadgets are everywhere in this house), might give it to my mum.
OP has relevant display picture.
RIP DJ Roomba.
Jerry!
Whats the realistic return policy on these? Don't want to be knocked back if its been used for an hour or two
Here's the official iRobot return policy but it is USA based. In this context i'd look at the Myer return policy then go look at fair trading policy on returns? I couldn't see it being any different to any other electrical item.
http://store.irobot.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=returns&s…
I wouldn't buy another Roomba. I've owned two and they are incredibly unsophisticated in the way they just bomb around crashing into things and destroying your skirting boards… and they are loud as hell. Don't let the ads fool you where they seem whisper quiet, they aren't. I'd look at other brands - from what my work colleagues say, their other robot vacuums crap all over my Roomba.
I have a handful of friends with roombas and none of them have complaints. But they aren't for everyone. I don't recommend them to anyone with multiple floors, shaggy carpets, cluttered/unorganised floors or whom aren't out of the house at regular times. I've had my 770 for 5 years now and it's been great but I still steer some friends clear away from robot vacs because their houses just aren't right for them.
I don't think the random vacuum pattern is unsophisticated, it takes longer for Roomba to complete a run than a neato but a roomba will pass over the same spot multiple times from multiple angles which will theoretically give a more thorough clean.
I recommend the Roomba to people that are out of the house at regular times which gives the Roomba the ability to do it's job on a schedule and you don't need to hear it which rules out the loud problem. You literally just go to work and come home to cleaner floor. If I'm at home during the week DJ Roomba doesn't vacuum that day, he'll get it tomorrow.
I suggest bots like a Neato to people that would rather the bot vacuum while they are home (Or can't avoid being home) and want it done quick.
What about alarms - will it set the house alarm off while im away?
Only if you leave your alarm on.
I know some alarm systems are "pet friendly" which will ignore low moving objects on the ground.
If they implement surveillance into the bot, then im all over it.
980 model has a camera on top
"Surveillance cam to bot, you missed a spot."
Beep, Beep!
I wouldn't get one without the house mapping system now a days. So I need a good deal on a Botvac, particularly the new Botvac Connected.
I had one of these iRobots, they are really stupid. I prefer the Botvac, much smarter.
As soon as these roombas can empty themselves into a bigger bin at the base, I will buy one!
Being able to have something automatically vacuum your house for 2 weeks without any emptying would be amazing. Unfortunately these require you to constantly clean the brush and bin out which is annoying.
Anyone who purchased one received it yet? I got an email on the day saying order has been delayed, but nothing since.
I received mine friday last week. The Myer tracking doesn't work and actually still shows "awaiting pickup" from the warehouse in Brisbane.
Auspost was able to track it fine though: http://i.imgur.com/dQbhHkq.png
Ebay has "You paid, but the seller still needs to post your item"
I would get in contact with them.
@Cozza38 you reckon a house (unit) with kids (obviously with toys stowed away) would do good with this ?
I know this deal is expired, but just want to know. Also the 780 is on sale for around $500 - you reckon this is a good price and the model is worthy ?
When you mean die, do you mean the battery has given out? How well does it clean I've never really heard anything from someone that used one so regularly.