Anyone ever used a Roomba?

[Dave Gray]

They're those little vacuuming robots.

I've always been curious about them and my house is set up in a way that brings a lot of dirt in -- poor grass, gaps under doors, kids, pets, etc.

Do they work?  Are they worth it or just a gimmick?

[pondwater]

Parents gave me a used one about 4 years ago. Didn't have much sucking power and it didn't do a good job of covering the whole floor unless you let it run for a good while. Needless to say, it wound up in the trash. Not sure how much they cost but it seems that you can get a really good vacuum cleaner for less money. And I know you can do a more effective job in less time the old fashioned way.

[Phishfan]

I've never used one because I am skeptical about the points Hoodie brought up.

[Dave Gray]

I was thinking I'd set it to run while I was at work.  I wasn't really thinking that it would be a replacement for a regular cleaning, but that it would help stop sand that accumulating from foot traffic in my walking areas.

I will have to wait for a while, since I think it would really freak out my dog who is old and blind.

[Buddhagirl]

I'm so sick of all the sand and shit in my house, I have to sweep daily and it still is just ridiculous. I've been curious about the Roomba, too.

[mboss]

I had one for a couple years...we have all tile floors and a few rugs. It worked well since we have a couple animals, but it only lasted for about 2 years before the battery started to go. And the replacement battery is really expensive $75-$100. They have cheaper knock off batteries but in my experience they don't hold their charge either.

We had the Roomba scheduler model and would schedule the Roomba to come on while we were at work. It was useful, but a little bit of a pain to clean the actual unit(since it doesn't hold much dirt). It was a fun toy to have but for the money you would spend on one you could get a regular vac that will last 3X as long.