iRobot Roomba Red Robotic Floorvac (4100) Robot

Raves for Roomba Red

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jul 9, 2005 | 23 out of 23 found this iRobot Roomba Red Robotic Floorvac (4100) review helpful

Pros: It cleans the floor any time I want and I don't have to stoop, move furniture or inhale the dust

Cons: Dirt container is small and you need to empty it often

We had a friend that got a Roomba and liked it. When we saw a floor model on sale at Home Depot we bought it. We have 2000 sq ft of tile, small rugs and hardwood floors. We have a dog and I have bad allergies. Its basically a Bissell that works like... a RC car. It roams around a room, going from tile to hardwoods and over small rugs with ease. It goes under the beds, under the couch and other furniture. When it touches furniture or a wall it turns and goes a different direction. If it hits a patch of dirt it centers on it till it’s clean. We have a cleaning lady that comes every other week and we started using it right after she had cleaned. We don't expect her to sweep each time under all the furniture but we were shocked to see how much dust, dirt and dog hair Roomba picked up. You have to empty the little cup after each use and clean the rollers but other than that it’s really easy to care for. We did have to pick up very loose style rugs but the kind with rubber on the back presented no problem. If it gets stuck on a cord it backs out. Once it got wedged between the rug and couch and got stuck but it just sits there, quietly beeping till you come pick it up and move it. I put it on a cycle where I had it clean a different area of the house each day, rotating through in a week. Things smelled better, the floor looked great all the time and stayed cleaner. That’s saying a lot with a 130 lbs. Golden Retriever dragging in dirt. The one we got was either a return or a floor model and had clearly been used but the price reflected it. After about 6 weeks it would start and stop. My husband dinked with it and checked the web site and tried what was suggested but to no avail. We called support and they had us send in a small part (that rendered it useless) and sent us a new replacement. I can’t believe how dirty the floor became in the time we were without Roomba. We'll see how well this one performs. I would recommend picking up any cords and loose rugs (or ones with pulls like the ones the dog lays on) and I would not recommend using it when you are not home. If it does get stuck it could chew up the corner of the rug. We are planning on getting one for several family members for Christmas. Read more Less