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FYI: Cheap Roombas seem better than expensive ones. I have a random one which bangs around the house for a long time, and the house ends up clean. Push a button

by blagie 3y ago

FYI: Cheap Roombas seem better than expensive ones. I have a random one which bangs around the house for a long time, and the house ends up clean. Push a button, come back an hour later, and you're done. I like the simplicity.

nyjah 3y ago
I agree with this that they are better, but actually before the expensive roomba I had a cheap roomba and it worked terribly. Insisted on shoving itself right under the perfect height furniture. My house is pretty basic. But my brother had similar roomba and I know he had better luck than me, but now has a shark.
faeriechangling 3y ago
I had one and it got trapped and strangled itself regularly and ran over things and was totally useless. I pretty much wouldn't recommend those basic robot vacuums.
- blagie 3y ago
  The "run over things" is almost a feature for me. I run the Roomba a few times a week, and I need to tidy up before. Mess never builds up. It means I keep my floors clean! The "gets stuck under furniture" is a bug. However, I don't have much furniture at Roomba height. If I did, it'd make the device useless.
Semaphor 3y ago
I have a cheap (well, also old, there wasn’t too much else back then, it’s 10 years old) iRobot Roomba 620 and am very happy with it. Extremely repairable, which is not something I read about modern ones of any manufacturer.
- blagie 3y ago
  I have a successor, almost identical, but perhaps two generations newer. Upgrades: - Bigger, better dust bin - Slightly less dust makes it into the HEPA filter - Slightly better / cheaper roller design ... and similar details. A friend gave me their smarter vacuum (which they didn't use), and I hated it: 1) It tried to overthink things and was pretty demanding. 2) It didn't clean as well. My Roomba has a pretty anaemic vacuum, but cleans very well by virtue of going over every place many times in random directions as it bumps along for 30+ minutes. The smart vacuum plotted a course which covered everything once, finished up in record time, and nothing was actually clean. What's odd is that even now, 2+ decades after launch, so little has improved. What I really want is "cyclone operation," as in any modern dumb vacuum, so most of the dust doesn't make it to the HEPA filter. The design is stupid simple: - Air comes into a circular container from a hole in the side, so the air spins. - Suction comes out a hole in the top at a half-way point in the radius of the dust container, while most of the dust wants to stay at the inside or outside - If you're even more clever, you put the suction at half height, because dust naturally goes to the bottom. The annoying thing is cleaning or replacing filters.

by blagie 3y ago

nyjah 3y ago

I agree with this that they are better, but actually before the expensive roomba I had a cheap roomba and it worked terribly. Insisted on shoving itself right under the perfect height furniture. My house is pretty basic. But my brother had similar roomba and I know he had better luck than me, but now has a shark.

faeriechangling 3y ago

I had one and it got trapped and strangled itself regularly and ran over things and was totally useless. I pretty much wouldn't recommend those basic robot vacuums.

blagie 3y ago
The "run over things" is almost a feature for me. I run the Roomba a few times a week, and I need to tidy up before. Mess never builds up. It means I keep my floors clean! The "gets stuck under furniture" is a bug. However, I don't have much furniture at Roomba height. If I did, it'd make the device useless.

Semaphor 3y ago

I have a cheap (well, also old, there wasn’t too much else back then, it’s 10 years old) iRobot Roomba 620 and am very happy with it. Extremely repairable, which is not something I read about modern ones of any manufacturer.

blagie 3y ago
I have a successor, almost identical, but perhaps two generations newer. Upgrades: - Bigger, better dust bin - Slightly less dust makes it into the HEPA filter - Slightly better / cheaper roller design ... and similar details. A friend gave me their smarter vacuum (which they didn't use), and I hated it: 1) It tried to overthink things and was pretty demanding. 2) It didn't clean as well. My Roomba has a pretty anaemic vacuum, but cleans very well by virtue of going over every place many times in random directions as it bumps along for 30+ minutes. The smart vacuum plotted a course which covered everything once, finished up in record time, and nothing was actually clean. What's odd is that even now, 2+ decades after launch, so little has improved. What I really want is "cyclone operation," as in any modern dumb vacuum, so most of the dust doesn't make it to the HEPA filter. The design is stupid simple: - Air comes into a circular container from a hole in the side, so the air spins. - Suction comes out a hole in the top at a half-way point in the radius of the dust container, while most of the dust wants to stay at the inside or outside - If you're even more clever, you put the suction at half height, because dust naturally goes to the bottom. The annoying thing is cleaning or replacing filters.