iRobot Roomba 530 Robotic Vacuum

Pros: improved model, tells you exactly what is wrong, long battery life
Cons: expensive, questionable durability

We have been big fans of the iRobot line of robotic cleaning products for a year and a half now. We've bought the Roomba and Scooba for our home and have given the Roomba and Looj as gifts. We order Scooba cleaning solution, extra batteries, and robot ...

Pros: Reasonable price when on sale, interesting technology, cleans fairly well
Cons: Doesn't sense all obstacles before collision, batteries for virtual walls not included.

My wife is a neat freak. She comes home from work and the first thing she does (practically) is grab the broom and dustpan and SWEEPS. A couple of years back I got the idea that I would buy one of these robotic vacuums to hopefully get her to stop doing ...

Pros: Vacuums by itself, what's cooler than that? Small size takes up little space.
Cons: I have to clean before I can let it vacuum. Small canister size.

My husband has a history of giving me gifts before the actual day of celebration. He gives obvious hints as to what the Christmas gift will be, he hands over the birthday gift the day he buys it. This year, though, he had me stumped. He told me he ...

Pros: Cleans well, avoids stairs, saves time. Good stuff!
Cons: Really should include spare brushes with the package

I've been interested in the Roomba since it first came out, but back then, I felt like it was probably a good idea to wait and see how it did for a while before buying one. I'm glad I waited, because this 5th. generation Roomba 530 seems to have ironed ...

Pros: Cleans amazingly well. Great customer support, perfect for disabled or elderly.
Cons: Can get stuck under objects. May have problems with side brush. Small dust bin.

I am not new to the world of iRobot. I have owned one since 2004. When my Roomba Discovery died, I knew I couldn't do without one and immediately went to iRobot's website to order a new one. Luckily, I noticed there was a new 500 series out and ...

Pros: Ease of use right out of box. Perfect for anyone who needs a cleaning timesaver!
Cons: The motor is just a little loud, but other than that, nothing!

I love this machine! It cleans the daily dust throughout my kitchen, living room, family room and dining room. I bought this product because a friend of mine loved hers so much that I just had to have it too. I don't have a dog right now so I can't ...

Pros: Thorough vacuum, great programming with over 90 minutes per charge
Cons: Question long term durability of cleaning components & moving parts.

To be honest, my expectations were not that high to begin with. I was expecting a high tech toy more than a good vacuum cleaner. I was impressed by iRobots online demonstration and the unique programming more than anything else. What I got was ...

Pros: cool, cleans well, gets under furniture
Cons: does not replace regular vacuum cleaner, somewhat expensive

I had my doubts whether it works first and now I can say - yes it does. Beware - in the beginning it will be very entertaining to watch Roomba clean so be prepared. Now... to the practical observations - for the most part it does what it claims to ...

Pros: Very intelligent, thorough, long charge Simple buttons for operation. Voice explanations instead of uh-oh beeps.
Cons: Have to order replacement brushes.

Oh, this Roomba is wonderful. My mother has one of the earlier models, and one of the best improvements of the 500 series is that instead of deciphering "uh-oh" beeps to know what the Roomba needs, it speaks! "Please clean the brushes," it says, great ...

Pros: Automatic vacuuming.
Cons: Not a deep clean

It seems iRobot has delivered on its promise of convenience. We have a dog who sheds constantly, but we simply didn't have time to vacuum as often as we'd like to keep up with all the dog hair.
Our roomba cleans about as well as most upright vacuums. We also have a Rainbow vacuum, which I feel does a much deeper clean, but requires my time and energy to do the vacuuming. The roomba allows me to press a button and have a decent maintenance job done in one or two rooms in the house everyday.
It's real value is that it cleans by itself, allowing me and my family to do other things instead of vacuuming.
While it doesn't produce a deep clean, it maintains an acceptable level of daily clean which might eliminate the need for a deeper cleaning.

Pros: Picks up a lot of dust and hair WHEN IT WORKS.
Cons: Requires constant attention to reattach side brush unit.

I've owned the 530 for 3 days now. Within 20 minutes of first use, the side brush unit fell off. I reattached twice more and even changed rooms. Even in a small room with no obstacles and a hardwood floor, the side brush continued to fall off. There is nothing about this in the manual. Only by registering for their online forum and searching it can you find suggested solutions to this problem. I also called customer service and was connected to someone in India. There were many layers of voice menus before I actually got a live person. Because of telephony issues and language differences, the call took a very long time. Basically, iRobot is aware of the problem and is redesigning the side brush unit. They will be sending out the new side brush at some unspecified date in the future. In the meantime, they are mailing another side brush unit to me (not sure how that will help if it is the same design). I'm very disappointed that a $300 item does not work properly when brand new. The concept is appealing to me and I wanted it to work.

Pros: V.Easy setup. Works as promised Carpets & floors. Easy to clean dirt cup.
Cons: Hair causes a tangled mess Somewhat poor suction. Poor edge cleaning. No HEPA filter.

I bought this with great enthusiasm. I am a techie myself, and was very interested in giving this product a shot to prove itself. Unfortunately it falls short for my purposes.

My primary reason for returning this item was the tangled mess that had been created near the bush bearings by hair. I spent about half-an-hour with a pair of scissors trying to get the hair out, and couldn't. This was very frustrating. Removing hair from the carpets and floor along with food particles were my primary reasons for getting this. I need the place vacuumed every day to remove all the particles.

The lack of a HEPA filter was disturbing (...allergies), but I decided to give it a try anyway. The filter on the Roomba looks quite flimsy and porous.

The edge brush does not really get debris out from the edges and into the Roomba's path.