Roomba iRobot Red Review

My mother-in-law has the iRobot Roomba Discovery SE model vacuum. It is amazing! The robot vacuum cleans her floors effortlessly. It is fun to watch as it seemingly wanders aimlessly over the floors avoiding any walls and furniture in its path. When it finishes its job you realize that there was a method to the aimless wandering since it sucked up all the dirt in its path.

The Roomba has a built in sensor that allows it avoid furniture without ramming into it. The same sensor also keeps the Roomba from falling down stairs. I have watched the Roomba transition from the carpet in their living room to the tile in their kitchen and back again without any hesitation.

The Roomba's battery remains charged for approximately two hours. If you set its controls on the maximum setting the Roomba with work until its battery is almost dead and then go to its charging dock for a recharge. Otherwise, the Roomba will vacuum until it senses that your floors are clean.

You should empty the Roomba's dust bin after each use. This model has a larger dust bin than previous models so if you aren't doing large areas you can get away with emptying it less frequently. I would do it after each use though since I would forget when it was last done and end up running it three or four times before remembering that it hadn't been emptied.

The Roomba is quieter than a regular vacuum, which is a good thing if you keep it set on maximum. I know that I would not want to listen to a regular vacuum cleaner for up to two hours at a time. Having the Roomba going in the same room does not interfere with conversations, or with my father-in-law taking a nap.

One downfall to a Roomba is that you do have to make sure that the area to be cleaned is free of power cords and clutter. The Roomba works well for my mother-in-law since there is not a lot of clutter in her house from children. I would love to own a Roomba, but I think that I will have to pass until my children are grown and out of the house.