iRobot Roomba 530 Robotic Vacuum Review

Overall 4.35 of 5 view all 20 reviews

aubreyst
Watertown, MA

I was cleaning while I relaxed.....PERFECT!

neat freak, picking up after pets, messy

Pros

leaves me free to do something else, easy to empty tray and maintain--no bags, picks up cat hair, picks up dirt, fur, cat litter, cleans under the bed, time saver, great for a quick run of the vaccum, independence for disabled

Cons

can get caught up in cords

DEC

2008

I read a lot about roombas and scoobas before making a choice. I haven't gotten a scooba yet - though I intend to - and I picked the Roomba 530 model. I investigated different models, looked at a lot of different websites, read TONS of reviews. I wanted to get the most up-to-date model I could afford and get that one for the cheapest price possible. I used the comparison chart on the irobot site to see what the real differences are, and for the most part with the 500 models, there's no gigantic differences. I was more interested to see a lot of positive reviews for the model of my choice, as I think that's a real testament to how good the product is.

I ordered my roomba from a big box store that is going out of business, so I got it for about $190, which in my opinion was a fantastic price and really swayed me into getting this treat for myself. People were like "you ordered an vacuuming robot? what a waste of money, it's just a toy." Yea, that's what my dad said to me, and my boyfriend just looked at me like a lazy person who throws money out the window. The women seemed to better understand my wanting. I have 2 cats, and they love to 'rumble', and when they do, cat fur flies. and nothing makes me more crazy then dust bunnies the size of Texas drifting across my hardwood floors. I have a dust buster I use to chase them, but can never really keep up. So I thought this was the perfect solution. I live in an apartment, 6 rooms, none very large. They average about 12x12 in size. So this roomba had a sufficient battery for me to do about 2 rooms at a time, and comes with 2 virtual walls, more then I thought I would need, but they're coming in handy and I've been using both of them.

out of the box I charged it for about 2 hours and then the light was green. This model comes with a nice little docking station as well. So as I waited for it to be charged, I had to run to the store to pick up 4 D batteries, which are needed for the virtual walls - 2 batteries each. So if you're expecting a roomba in the mail, go get your batteries now!

As soon as I got back, the light was green so off it went on it's first cleaning mission. One cat is terrified by it, the other is oddly interested and just watches it so far. I did one room at a time, as the manual said this makes it more efficient. Watching it does illicit some unease...I wasn't sure if it was suppose to slam(not really slamming just seems that way when your new 200 dollar baby is going straight at a piece of furniture without slowing down!) into certain thing and was afraid the impact would break it. but I suppose the roombas are suppose to be pretty durable, so I found it easier to plop it in a room and walk away, checking on it occasionally. It happily did all rooms, though in my opinion it runs longer then it needs to, so I have turned it off early a couple times. I LOVE that it fits under most of my furniture, where dust and fur tend to collect. It did under my bed, which is a godsend in itself. It went over a couple wires there and had no problem at all. It's not super noisy, just sounds like a quieter version of a regular vacuum. I'm sure my downstairs neighbor doesn't love it, but its not like it runs constantly or at bad hours.

It's easy to empty the dust bin and I found it's best to clean out the brush/wheels every time, so as to keep the roomba running in top condition. I actually used some tweezers to get into the hard to reach areas and make sure I don't have any mass of fur collecting where it shouldn't.

Some side info I would like to add for those yet to purchase a roomba -- I was just reading on a roomba forum that if you wait a bit, the most recently produced roombas come with an updated cleaning head module and also a better battery(nihm or something instead of a different, less worthy type that it has now, according to the forum). I was dimly aware of this beforehand, and honestly, just didn't want to wait!!

Last edited on Dec 03, 2008