Reply With QuoteWe've had a roomba for years. Its been great although the battery has died now and I've never got round to fixing it
Worked on carpets and wooden floors no problem.
Thinking of getting one to keep the ground floor of the house clean during the week, the ones i was looking at were:
The latest version of the Xiaomi robot vaccum at £332 delivered (EU warehouse from ebay) or
Eufy 11c at £260 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eufy-RoboVa...3A20000-33500) or the neato d301 for £260 amazon warehouse ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neato-Robot...keywords=d301)
this is to cover a ground floor mostly wooden with some rugs say 800 sq feet.
any one with any experience or recommendations?
We've had a roomba for years. Its been great although the battery has died now and I've never got round to fixing it
Worked on carpets and wooden floors no problem.
Cheap and probably not cheerful:
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/vil...r-2999-2976987
I am using for a week the simple eufy model from amazon and is amazing
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I ordered one of those last night. For £30 I couldn't resist.Originally Posted by David_D
thats what im wondering, is that all i really need,
does it bash off the walls, leave marks on skirting etc or no?
I've had a Roomba (650) for almost 5 years and haven't had any major issues. Spare parts are easily sourceable and it's relatively easy to fix if anything breaks (motors, battery, brushes). I've replaced the battery and brush motor for less than 30 pounds after 4 years and the Roomba is still going strong.
Apart from that, my only recommendation would be to get a model that supports scheduling since it's very convenient to have it vacuum everyday when you're at work without having the need to explicitly turn it on every time.
Tempted to buy one of these as gift after I do some research. Just hopeful that having a very irregular floor and furniture layout won't render it less effective.
HUKD costs me a fortune!
Anyway, here's my tip - don't buy a Roomba if you have a dog that isn't 100% house trained.
Have a Roomba and love it. I turn it on when I leave the house and have a spotlessly clean home when I return. Worth every penny.
Nothing so far
A few marks but they can easy go away
Not marking furniture etc
It has a pressure sensor so it moves away fast from obstacles
Cleaning of it is also easy
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I have a Eufy and its probably one of the best things ive ever bought.
bought a Eufy from Amazon
brilliant piece of kit
however it died on Monday at 8 months old
issue is common 4 bleeps then solid red light means the central roller is broken / inop
contacted customer services which is open from 6am - 11am ??
they asked for a video of it doing it and will apparently send out a new one ....fingers crossed all goes well
Looking at the hotukdeals thread it seems the Eufy RoboVac 11c is one that is recommended at around £230.
Another poster suggested the more watts it has the better the job it will do.
Interested myself but wondering if i should wait for the alexa enabled eufy to come down in price before i jump.
Any opinions on if the voice control is of any use? or if you have the scheduling there is not much point.
LOL
Fas est ab hoste doceri
I've got a Roomba and he has been in dutiful service for about 5-6 years. Battery has been changed once and the brushes more regularly. Whatever you buy, make sure spare parts are easily obtainable.
As other have said, one with a program that allows you to schedule it is essential because they are relatively noisy whilst they are running, so having them vacuum whilst you are out is ideal.
If you have tile floors and animals, they are very worthwhile - especially during shedding season(s).
Great review comments
Another Roomba owner. Been working for years with a battery change (not Roomba's as they are too expensive). Gets the carpet really clean. You can notice the difference. It does a weird pattern but in a test I saw years ago it was the best for picking up dirt. My only problem is that if there is something that it can just get under it can get stuck.
Another Roomba owner. Been working for years with a battery change (not Roomba's as they are too expensive). Gets the carpet really clean. You can notice the difference. It does a weird pattern but in a test I saw years ago it was the best for picking up dirt. My only problem is that if there is something that it can just get under it can get stuck.
I own Xiaomi robot for three months now. I bought it from geabest EU warehouse.
For now I’m very satisfied. If any question please ask.
Another Roomba owner, it’s now 5 year’s old and is a bit like Trigger’s broom!
New battery, side brush, main brushes, filters and front wheel assembly, mostly Roomba parts under warranty, but the battery and side brush assembly were Amazon specials!
Wood floor and a Birman cat makes it an essential tool, it runs every weekday from 10, and in our little flat it goes non-stop for over an hour, with the new battery it’s now, on occasion 2 hrs.
well worth the money.
I've got an LG Hom-Bot (Roboking), but so far haven't been able to use it.
I did a lot of research and the Hom-Bot is probably the best out there. Got it a couple of years ago. AFAIK, it hasn't been surpassed yet, but I haven't seen how the Dyson & other latest models compare. They are made primarily for the Korean market though, so used to be impossible to get in the UK. I got mine from myrobotcenter.co.uk who have been importing them for a few years now and selling them online with a proper warranty.
Unlike the Roomba which moves around randomly, the LG maps the rooms as it goes and can do a whole floor. If it misses a spot it comes back to try later. When its battery gets low it goes back to its base station to charge, then picks up where it left off.
Trouble is, I got it just before moving and in my current flat I don't have the required 2 metres of unobstructed wall space for the base station :(
Roombas IMO are overpriced and are based on AI technology that was advanced at the time, but is now at least 10 years out of date. They have been milking the name (to most people Roomba and robot vac are synonymous). They haven't moved on or really innovated at all. The most expensive high-end models are only a small increment above the base models. Others like the LG are far more advanced.
Beyond that it's mostly a tradeoff between vacuum power and noise, although some of the cheaper ones are prone to issues like the early Roombas, like getting trapped on wires, curtains or under beds. I believe even the top end Roombas still have occasional issues with this because they only have the most basic hazard avoidance systems, which are essentially hacks on top of the basic "insect" random-path AI (IIRC this was the founder's PhD project) in response to all the early customer complaints about them getting stuck all the time.
Do all robot vacs need 2 metres of unobstructed wall space?
The Eufy 11 (not the 11c) is going to be on offer today for prime day at 3.34.
Cats love them.
The 11c is reduced to £179
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eufy-RoboVa...LandingS_NA_NA
I read that as the LG horn bot which sounds like a robot for an entirely different purpose!
Another Roomba owner here (got 2) - had to change the batteries, but otherwise all good.
The only downside is the amount of fiddling to clean them after a few runs - they take more service/maintenance than an ordinary vacuum (in my experience).
Best place/price for a Roomba battery? Amazon?
yeah, I just went for an aftermarket one on Amazon - about 6 months old & fine so far.
I've found that the quality of the aftermarket batteries varies; however, most are 1/3 to 1/4 the price of OEM, so changing them sooner still works out cheaper.
The Dyson one looks impressive and built like a tank... literally as it runs on tracks.
However, the price!!!
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Plus it’s way too tall, won’t fit under any furniture in our flat!
No, one advantage of Roombas is they just bounce around with no real intelligence and die when their battery runs out, so they don’t need to return to a base station. I think any other one intelligent enough to return to its own base station will need some clear space around it. It probably doesn’t need to be completely clear, but it’s so it can always find its way back when its battery gets low.
Just to say that the Neato D5 connected & D7 connected are currently on offer as part of Prime day. The D5 looks like a steal at £299...
Sorry Rob but that isn’t the case with my Roomba (which is about five years old). The model I have returns, automatically, to the base station when it needs to charge and it isn’t on a 2m length of wall. In fact, I have it on a length less than 1m, so that the base station is hidden out of the way.
I thought I might have been wrong about that, it’s ben a couple of years since I last looked at these. They use lighthouses to stop them falling downstairs and stuff like that, don’t they? What’s the model number? I’m curious about how they find their way home, since afaik they still don’t have any room mapping, but in the thesis I mentioned earlier, it’s been matematically proven that the random bouncing around “AI” they use will eventually cover every reachable point. So maybe they just go home when they are close enough to detect it, but there’s still an element of chance involved.
Just got a robo-vac from Amazon, which looks like it had just been delivered today. Double purpose for me - cleaned the floor, plus we've got 2 cats that will happily chase it around...!
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Awesome blog and reviews, having a Labrador in the house is making me want a Roomba! Thanks for the info!
My mother has a Jack Russell Terrier that casts a lot and goes bat s**t mental every time she vacuums her flat. I was thinking that a Robotic vacuum could be programmed to vacuum her flat when she's out walking the dog so the ability to use the Amazon Echo to start the routine just as she's leaving or via her phone would be ideal.
Would this be viable? How much do you need to spend to get one that can cope with pet hair? There is a Neato D301 on Amazon at 245 quid that is compatible with Alexa.
Last edited by doubledee; 10th November 2018 at 05:21.
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