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So here's my problem with them: large product line, large variation in features and prices, no idea which is the simplest machine that will clean my living room

So here's my problem with them: large product line, large variation in features and prices, no idea which is the simplest machine that will clean my living room. I don't want to buy the most expensive and then keep exchanging down to the simplest one that works. Seriously, I don't know anyone who has this implemented across most of their house. They get one as a gift or experiment, and maybes it works. I'd love to have these all over my house doing the work, but I have no idea what that actually requires.

woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
The simplest machine that will clean your living room? That'd be the 675. It's currently $219.99 on their website--it can easily clean one room. But you also mention having them "all over [your] house." In that case, I'd recommend the i7 or s9. I've got the i7 and I think it's fantastic. There are a few factors to consider, but it's not complicated. Do you have mostly carpet or hard flooring? Any kids or pets? Do you want it to clean the whole house or just one room?
- kapilvt 7y ago
  also do you want to clean with the lights out, in regular patterns... in which case botvac is worth a gander (lidar, square face [corners]). I dig irobot backend (camera recog) but eod consumer tech has one judge, does it work? and under what conditions. ps. newer models of irobot are exploring the lidar space pss. military applications are under a different irobot spin out/brand.
  - woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
    Yes, cleaning with/without lights is another consideration, but an easy one to overcome no matter your preference. I went all in and have smart lighting that comes on when the Roomba runs at night, but it doesn't need much light, and the same thing could be accomplished with a cheap Hue bulb or even a "dumb" timer.
- wenc 7y ago
  Second the 675. Best Buy had it in-store for $199 so I got one before my state's stay-at-home order and love it. It's not the smartest Roomba ever (it bumps around a lot to learn its environment--I don't think its sensor suite is that advanced) but it does the job just fine. I just let it run while I'm working. There's a psychological benefit to having clean floors, especially when one is home a lot these days.
malandrew 7y ago
My suggestion is to get the basic one suggested by the Wirecutter (model 675, $220) then get a top of the line Dyson vacuum (V11 Animal). They are good for lazy surface cleaning but given the form factor, they’ll never have the cleaning power of the Dyson.
- ghaff 7y ago
  The obvious area in my house for an iRobot is the kitchen/dining room area which is what actually gets crumbs etc. on a pretty regular basis. I don't have pets/kids so the rest of the house doesn't actually need vacuuming all that often. (And normally I have a monthly housekeeper.) But the kitchen/dining area also has cords, chairs, and (under normal circumstances) various things being packed/unpacked in various corners. My compromise a couple years ago was to get a Dyson which is super-quick to whip out and spend a few minutes doing a rough vacuum. MUCH easier than to haul out my old canister vac. And probably less effort than keeping things iRobot ready and emptying it.
  - woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
    It sounds like you found a good solution for your situation. I have both kids and a dog, so the daily cleaning my Roomba does is a game changer. No more piles of fur or crumbs accumulating in the corners. I have to empty the bin every other day, but it takes me less time to do that than it would to manually vacuum the main traffic areas in the house once or twice a week. Personally, I like the fact that the Roomba forces me to keep wires and other stuff of the floor. I think it makes my house appear less cluttered overall, but it's a matter of opinion. I actually have a cordless Dyson too, which I think complements the Roomba well. I use it to occasionally deep clean a couple of area rugs.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      I can definitely see that a Roomba would be handy if I otherwise had to vacuum living areas every day or two. (And, under the circumstances of children or pets, I'd probably need to avoid having "packing piles" and wires laying around in any case.)
oh_sigh 7y ago
Looking at their site, there are two robot vacuums that are $599.99 - the i7 and the 960. When you do a comparison on the site, they list the only difference as the i7 has more suction, more features, and more compatibility with other iRobot offerings. So why do they even offer the 960? I can imagine anyone who buys that would be disappointed to find out that they could have had the i7 for the same exact price with better features.
pfranz 7y ago
In cases like that (where they also span across brands) I usually check out which single one Costco sells or what something like Wirecutter recommends as the "base." My specific needs may vary, but it's a start. If you can afford it and are willing to spend the money, the robot vacuum and handheld combination @malandrew mentioned is a pairing that has worked for our house for the past few years now.
dvcrn 7y ago
Yes I agree, I had EXACTLY the same problem a couple of weeks ago when I decided to get a Roomba. The website told me "e series", "600 series", "i series", "s series", "900 series" - then even though they are called "series", most of them have only one product in them. I wanted something mid-range to get started and the product picker tool they have recommended me the e5 because I have a pet. I went through dozens of reviews to finally learn that it doesn't have a camera and vSlam, so it just slams into everything and doesn't map my place over time. I went with the next higher model that has a camera, the 960 and it has been doing a good job. As a techie I was a bit disappointed that I picked a model from 2016 and that they kept the smarter features like keep-out zones for the higher ones. Eventually returned it and got an i7 for a similar price and it's a pretty fantastic product, though I ended up paying much more for my experiment than I anticipated... The product comparison page ([0]) is doing an ok job but I wish they'd make product selection a bit easier. [0]: https://www.irobot.com/roomba/compare-products https://www.irobot.com/roomba/compare-products
- woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
  The 600 series is actually a relatively mature product line; there are only two models in this series currently, but there were many before them. The 900 series used to have the 980 and 985 in addition to the 960, but iRobot shifted its focus to the "e", "i", and "s" series. These are all brand new product lines, and I don't doubt that the e5, i7 and s9 won't be the last models in each one. Furthermore, I suspect the 600 and 900 series will be discontinued altogether in the next year or two. You just happened to be shopping for a Roomba while iRobot was changing their product naming scheme.
- sytelus 7y ago
  When you are faced with tons of badly named products page without any good comparison tool, its sign of internal disorganization and specifically that CEO is memely a fiannce/account guy. In such companies, you will have marketting department which is clueless about products, PR department which is clueless about marketting, sales department which only functions because of personal relationships with few thousand ton gorillas. For reference, check out virtually any computer manufacturer's website except Apple.
- 7y ago
wpietri 7y ago
Wirecutter has a good guide: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-robot-vacuum/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-robot-vacuum/ But honestly, actual needs are going vary by what your house is like, who lives in it, how they live, and what their standards are. And on how your habits and preferences adjust as you get used to what they can do for you. At the end of the day, none of these are as good as manual vacuuming. But they're way better than not vacuuming. I'm sure it's frustrating to have to just try one and see, but I honestly don't think there's a better approach.
- woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
  In my opinion, it's a totally different approach that accomplishes roughly the same thing. I agree that manually vacuuming is better, but you probably don't have the wherewithal to do it daily. The average amount of dirt on your floors after manually cleaning once or twice a week is probably the same, or more, as what a Roomba leaves on the floors after cleaning daily. That's really where it shines: relentlessly cleaning every day.
  - jetrink 7y ago
    Also, a robot vacuum scoots under the couch, bed and other furniture, cleaning places every day that I used to get to once a month (at best).
TeMPOraL 7y ago
> I don't want to buy the most expensive and then keep exchanging down to the simplest one that works. You can do that in O(log n) number of steps if you start with a mid-tier model and binary-search through their product line :).

woriuweflksdncn 7y ago

The simplest machine that will clean your living room? That'd be the 675. It's currently $219.99 on their website--it can easily clean one room. But you also mention having them "all over [your] house." In that case, I'd recommend the i7 or s9. I've got the i7 and I think it's fantastic. There are a few factors to consider, but it's not complicated. Do you have mostly carpet or hard flooring? Any kids or pets? Do you want it to clean the whole house or just one room?

kapilvt 7y ago
also do you want to clean with the lights out, in regular patterns... in which case botvac is worth a gander (lidar, square face [corners]). I dig irobot backend (camera recog) but eod consumer tech has one judge, does it work? and under what conditions. ps. newer models of irobot are exploring the lidar space pss. military applications are under a different irobot spin out/brand.
- woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
  Yes, cleaning with/without lights is another consideration, but an easy one to overcome no matter your preference. I went all in and have smart lighting that comes on when the Roomba runs at night, but it doesn't need much light, and the same thing could be accomplished with a cheap Hue bulb or even a "dumb" timer.
wenc 7y ago
Second the 675. Best Buy had it in-store for $199 so I got one before my state's stay-at-home order and love it. It's not the smartest Roomba ever (it bumps around a lot to learn its environment--I don't think its sensor suite is that advanced) but it does the job just fine. I just let it run while I'm working. There's a psychological benefit to having clean floors, especially when one is home a lot these days.

malandrew 7y ago

My suggestion is to get the basic one suggested by the Wirecutter (model 675, $220) then get a top of the line Dyson vacuum (V11 Animal). They are good for lazy surface cleaning but given the form factor, they’ll never have the cleaning power of the Dyson.

ghaff 7y ago
The obvious area in my house for an iRobot is the kitchen/dining room area which is what actually gets crumbs etc. on a pretty regular basis. I don't have pets/kids so the rest of the house doesn't actually need vacuuming all that often. (And normally I have a monthly housekeeper.) But the kitchen/dining area also has cords, chairs, and (under normal circumstances) various things being packed/unpacked in various corners. My compromise a couple years ago was to get a Dyson which is super-quick to whip out and spend a few minutes doing a rough vacuum. MUCH easier than to haul out my old canister vac. And probably less effort than keeping things iRobot ready and emptying it.
- woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
  It sounds like you found a good solution for your situation. I have both kids and a dog, so the daily cleaning my Roomba does is a game changer. No more piles of fur or crumbs accumulating in the corners. I have to empty the bin every other day, but it takes me less time to do that than it would to manually vacuum the main traffic areas in the house once or twice a week. Personally, I like the fact that the Roomba forces me to keep wires and other stuff of the floor. I think it makes my house appear less cluttered overall, but it's a matter of opinion. I actually have a cordless Dyson too, which I think complements the Roomba well. I use it to occasionally deep clean a couple of area rugs.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    I can definitely see that a Roomba would be handy if I otherwise had to vacuum living areas every day or two. (And, under the circumstances of children or pets, I'd probably need to avoid having "packing piles" and wires laying around in any case.)

oh_sigh 7y ago

Looking at their site, there are two robot vacuums that are $599.99 - the i7 and the 960. When you do a comparison on the site, they list the only difference as the i7 has more suction, more features, and more compatibility with other iRobot offerings. So why do they even offer the 960? I can imagine anyone who buys that would be disappointed to find out that they could have had the i7 for the same exact price with better features.

pfranz 7y ago

In cases like that (where they also span across brands) I usually check out which single one Costco sells or what something like Wirecutter recommends as the "base." My specific needs may vary, but it's a start. If you can afford it and are willing to spend the money, the robot vacuum and handheld combination @malandrew mentioned is a pairing that has worked for our house for the past few years now.

dvcrn 7y ago

Yes I agree, I had EXACTLY the same problem a couple of weeks ago when I decided to get a Roomba. The website told me "e series", "600 series", "i series", "s series", "900 series" - then even though they are called "series", most of them have only one product in them. I wanted something mid-range to get started and the product picker tool they have recommended me the e5 because I have a pet. I went through dozens of reviews to finally learn that it doesn't have a camera and vSlam, so it just slams into everything and doesn't map my place over time. I went with the next higher model that has a camera, the 960 and it has been doing a good job. As a techie I was a bit disappointed that I picked a model from 2016 and that they kept the smarter features like keep-out zones for the higher ones. Eventually returned it and got an i7 for a similar price and it's a pretty fantastic product, though I ended up paying much more for my experiment than I anticipated... The product comparison page ([0]) is doing an ok job but I wish they'd make product selection a bit easier. [0]: https://www.irobot.com/roomba/compare-products https://www.irobot.com/roomba/compare-products

woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
The 600 series is actually a relatively mature product line; there are only two models in this series currently, but there were many before them. The 900 series used to have the 980 and 985 in addition to the 960, but iRobot shifted its focus to the "e", "i", and "s" series. These are all brand new product lines, and I don't doubt that the e5, i7 and s9 won't be the last models in each one. Furthermore, I suspect the 600 and 900 series will be discontinued altogether in the next year or two. You just happened to be shopping for a Roomba while iRobot was changing their product naming scheme.
sytelus 7y ago
When you are faced with tons of badly named products page without any good comparison tool, its sign of internal disorganization and specifically that CEO is memely a fiannce/account guy. In such companies, you will have marketting department which is clueless about products, PR department which is clueless about marketting, sales department which only functions because of personal relationships with few thousand ton gorillas. For reference, check out virtually any computer manufacturer's website except Apple.
7y ago

wpietri 7y ago

Wirecutter has a good guide: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-robot-vacuum/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-robot-vacuum/ But honestly, actual needs are going vary by what your house is like, who lives in it, how they live, and what their standards are. And on how your habits and preferences adjust as you get used to what they can do for you. At the end of the day, none of these are as good as manual vacuuming. But they're way better than not vacuuming. I'm sure it's frustrating to have to just try one and see, but I honestly don't think there's a better approach.

woriuweflksdncn 7y ago
In my opinion, it's a totally different approach that accomplishes roughly the same thing. I agree that manually vacuuming is better, but you probably don't have the wherewithal to do it daily. The average amount of dirt on your floors after manually cleaning once or twice a week is probably the same, or more, as what a Roomba leaves on the floors after cleaning daily. That's really where it shines: relentlessly cleaning every day.
- jetrink 7y ago
  Also, a robot vacuum scoots under the couch, bed and other furniture, cleaning places every day that I used to get to once a month (at best).

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> I don't want to buy the most expensive and then keep exchanging down to the simplest one that works. You can do that in O(log n) number of steps if you start with a mid-tier model and binary-search through their product line :).