Vacuum Cleaner Reviews

Got the Roomba for Christmas thinking it would be really neat to have. We don't have carpet, so I thought it would do a great job. It did the first couple of times. However, it stopped picking up all the pet hair no matter how often I did the suggested "maintenance" on the vacuum. I find that to be a pain as well, having to unscrew things and try not to lose the tiny screw, etc. etc. It's kind of a gross process anyway. Also, I have now found there's a reason it only comes with a 90 day warranty. Got it in November, and it broke tonight. The rubber tread around one of the little wheels ripped and came off. What a strange piece to break. I don't see a replacement part for that on the iRobot web site, so my husband is trying to glue it back together. I might as well just throw it away. I wish I had asked for something different for Christmas! =(

The Roomba is cool technology, but it wasn't the solution for us. We have two dogs, and mostly carpet.

As soon as it arrived, we fully charged the battery (12hrs) and set it loose in our living room. From our upstairs bedroom, it sounded like somebody was being mugged. eeeeeeeeee.... BOOM! eeeeee.... BOOM! eeeeeee.... BOOM!.

It did a decent job, but not nearly as thorough as a real vacuum. Noticably poor at cleaning border areas... ie, carpet edge meets hardwood, I watched it repeatedly roll over clumps of dog hair in these borders and not pick them up.

Perhaps, since it's battery powered, it doesn't have enough suction to pull hair all the way into the dust bin, so it just wraps it around the brush.

When you add the time spent cleaning the brush, moving chairs so it doesn't get trapped and emptying the smallish dust bin two times per room, you could have used a conventional vacuum and done a much better job.

I would recommend Roomba only for non carpet, no-pet situations. I returned mine, but will not rule out the next generation of these devices.

I put Roomba on my christmas list kind of as a joke cause my boyfriend thought it was stupid. Well, Roomba has certainly proven him wrong! I also recieved the rapid charger, which, if you have a lot of house to clean, charges the battery in 3 hours instead of 12. I've gotten at least an hour out of Roomba's battery each time, many times it will go much longer. I have hardwoord floors in my living room and a low pile carpet in my hallway. I am UTTERLY AMAZED at what Roomba picks up. Sure, its filling the dust bin is one thing, but when you flip the bin over to empty the particle bin, you'll be shocked. It picks up sooo much dust and dirt. This is a blessing for me since I have severe allergies and asthma. It is also fun to watch. (Who can say that about your standard upright?!) It wasn't so hot picking up Christmas tree needles, but then again, I didn't expect it to be. It also liked to drag the fringed tree skirt around and any thin cords that are left on the ground. I'd definitly recommend Roomba for lazy people like me who hate to clean!

I'm now on my second RoombaPro. The first died just under warranty even though I was assiduous about cleaning it between uses. It was cheerfully replaced via mail by IRobot--no questions asked.

That said, I'm a Roomba fan. Since the machine cycles over the floor again and again, it gets things a lot cleaner than I do while vacuuming by hand. It's especially impressive at picking up Golden Retriever fur and dust from our bare floors and berber carpeting. I can vacuum by hand and then immediately get better results with Roomba.

If you have pile carpeting, avoid it, since battery power gives it limited abilities to deal with the greater resistance of deeper piles.

Consumer Reports recently ran a largely negative review that failed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the product. (Typical CR: trash whatever is unusual.) If you're an "early adopter" willing to do the upkeep on the machine, if you're interested in watching the Roomba at work and figuring out its cleaning algorithm, if you'd rather not spend time vacuuming--get a Roomba. If you're not a little "handy," if you have deeper pile rugs, don't bother.

I recommend that any prospective purchaser read all the Amazon reviews before purchasing.

By the way, the Roomba is perfect for cleaning pool tables!

I love this thing! I bought one of these for my husband to give me for my birthday (yep..he's that kind of guy:-) I was a bit concerned as we have an open floor plan with lots of furniture about. I didn't need to worry. This thing goes (and goes, and goes). It has no trouble navigating around any of my furniture, heck it even circles my end table legs to clean under the table. It's also great for getting the kids to pick up their toys (okay guys, I'm setting out the roomba, toys up). If it helps, I've got 5 kids, 2 cats, and 1 dog. We have all laminate and tile flooring. I am NOT a neat freak, so there's definitely stuff for the roomba to pick up. Even the hubby was surprised at how well the roomba picks up.

Two points. It's definitely louder than I thought it would be (maybe a little quieter than a regular vacuum). No talking on the phone or watching TV while the Roomba goes about it's job. We use it at night downstairs, this way everyone's upstairs in bed and the noise is not a factor. It would also be fine if you are using it during the daytime - simply in another area of the house. Shop around for the best price. I was able to get the Roomba Pro with a remote (which makes it operate the same as the Elite model it just doesn't have the pretty useless wall hanger thing), from HSN.com for 149.50 including tax and shipping. The price was $199 - the entertainment coupon book (available nationwide) has a 25% off HSN.com coupon in it, which brought the price down to 149, and there was no tax or shipping. I would also suggest investing in either an additional battery or the rapid charger (an extra battery will be cheaper). I have been able to cover approximately 1000 sq ft on a single battery charge, but the 12 hour wait for charge time with one battery gets real old real fast. Also, don't expect this to take the place of your regular vacuum cleaner (or broom and dustpan). It's great for maintenance cleaning, and you won't have to vacuum nearly as often, but you will still have to vacuum really well every once in a while. I highly recommend the Roomba!

I have two kids, two indoor cats and a dog. "Roombie" is a life saver for me. I run him almost every day. He keeps the fur/hair/crumbs from getting out of control. The house is cleaned every other week with a real vacuum, but Roombie keeps it neat and tidy in between. I will admit that I spent about two weeks "Roomba proofing" my house and figuring out areas that he could clean in one run. I have a lot of Pergo and tile, but my bedrooms and family room are carpet. I did tape under the fringe on two rugs and replace two others with non-fringe rugs. I have three or four items per area that I pick-up before he runs (fragile statues, fringed throw rugs, a very long shag rug, etc,). Once I figured out what caused him problems it was easy. I am constantly amazed at the amount of hair and debris my Roomba picks up. He fits under several sections of the sectional and under beds(where one cat likes to sleep). He gets the corners amazing well. I have been VERY impressed. I start him before I leave for work, then plug him in when I get home. I think one of my cats thinks he's a playmate! We empty him after every cleaning and I clean his large brushes once a week. My only wishes are that 1) on large room setting he run until his battery dies and 2) the little rotating side brushes were replacable (mine are pretty beat up already). I LOVE my Roomba!

Bought based on online reviews. Previously owned a Eureka Boss. it worked great, but my son moved and needed a vacuum so I gave him our Eureka. This Hoover was great disappointment! It's noisier than a motorcycle rally. It's hard to push on any but the deepest pile setting, and the attachment caddy makes the cleaner heavy, awkward and hard to move around. I am returning it as I write this review and will reorder the Eureka Boss 4463AV.

I absolutely HATED my old Eureka (which I paid a lot more for). I decided that this time I'd pay less and if it fell apart - oh, well. I was pleasantly surprised with this vacuum. Assembly wasn't difficult and it's fairly light, especially without the tool rack on. It works great for cleaning stairs and because it doesn't have a wide path it's easy to get into tighter places. The best part about this vacuum is it DOES have good suction. Not a lot of bells & whistles, but adequate tools to do most types of cleaning. The one serious "con" is that the hose is pretty short. I've had this vacuum for about 5 months and so far I think it's an excellent value for the low price.

This would be my 3rd hoover of this type of model and price range.I just bought this one to replace my "roundabout" model that I have been using for 3 years. When I only pay 50-80 dollars for a vacuum, if I get 2-3 years out of it I'm very happy, it's what I expect to get. I use this daily and it gets a workout cleaning in the house and doing the cars. I have been satisfied with the performance. Suction is great, lightweight (important since I have stairs) not an overabundance of attachments that I don't use, and the fact that they are onboard, so I will use them more readily. I use to own a Kirby, anyone who had/has one knows that you don't always feel like taking the head off to clean with the attachments (most I have never used) on a daily basis, not to mention the weight of it alone. I never bought another Kirby again, in fact my Kirby was still working when I decided I had enough of it and decided to get a lighter and more practical vacuum. I went with the Hoover "Roundabout" models. I have never been dissapointed since. I felt that they cleaned better than my Kirby ever did.
What also makes my decision is the compact "feel of it" ,some vacuums are very bulky and ackward, can hardly see the floor in front of you, this Hoover is very easy to use!!

This worked great at first. Then one day, after I applied carpet powder all over my apartment, it just stopped sucking! I am so incredibly disgusted that I won't buy another Hoover again.

The vacuum worked great for the first month. I have one long hair cat (who is brushed twice a day and doesn't shed much), no kids, 4 air purifiers, continually clean the air filter from the furnace, and I live in a condo...with no major heavy vacuuming jobs. So...*hypothetically* I have a home that any vacuum should be able to handle for the long haul/a few years...right? NOPE! After one month this thing could barely pick up typical dust bunnies/fuzzies on the carpet.This sucker broke a belt within 3 or 4 months of normal once a week usage. And after replacing that belt properly per their instructions...another belt from inside the motor (that is not easily accessible for fixing yourself) got off of whatever track it was on and began to melt on the peg that holds the agitator belt in place. It would be cheaper to buy another vacuum than replace that. I am utterly disappointed and angered at how poorly made this vacuum is. To top it off the belts are not easily found since everywhere is sold out!!! The vacuum also doesn't work well and overheats when you use the attachments to clean. And the hose isn't long enough to effectively vacuum UNDER anything with the attachments (the vacuum kept falling over on me...yikes! This vacuum is a big scam! AVOID it at all costs.

I've had the displeasure of owning this vacuum for 2 years, and in that time I've spent more time vacuuming with a dustbuster than this. It gets nothing out of carpet; barely even disrupts the carpet fibers. Thankfully the motor burned out after 2 years, which I take as a blessing. Don't buy this vacuum unless it's a gag gift.