Robotic vacuums...

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vacuumfreeeke

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Hey guys, I know we've talked about Roomba a little in the past but I realized that Samsung and LG also make robotic vacs and I've never seen anything about those here..... How do they compare?

I'm thinking about buying one just for a toy and I'm not sure which one to get! I know I want a remote control with whichever one I get.... and it's understood and acknowledged that they are not designed for deep cleaning!
 
I have a Roomba I bought for the toy factor as well but found out it doesn't like long pet hair at all. Our dogs are long haired and within 5 or 10 minutes of the Roomba going about its business all the wheels are jammed tight because it wraps around them, especially the little front castor. It shuts down and beeps necessitating pulling and cutting all the hair off.. a royal pain, so I gave up on it.
 
The silver lining . . .

The bad news . . .

There are lots of nice ideas going around as regards robotic vacs but there won't be much to compare until the day one can clean with all the oomph of a full-size vac or at least give you a lift home from work. However, think . . . carpet sweeper. There's your good news.

Since robotic vacuums, as they stand, serve best as supplements it's still a win. If a robotic vac's programmed to do a tour of duty at least every other day or so, it should not only get stuff off bare floors but also sweep up a lot of stuff that might otherwise get trod down into carpeting.

Hypothetically, sweeping up fresh-landed soil while it's still on the top of carpeting, unembedded and easier to remove is the ounce of prevention that saves the pound of cure. Deep cleaning worries -- and need -- would not be eliminated but lessened.

What I really like is that word's come that there are some robot vac models that are automatically cleaned out when they return to their charging stations.
 
To me, robotic "vacuums" (most are basically autonomous carpet sweepers, not vacuum cleaners) are just a fad, like clear cola, 3D cinema (both current and ye olde Red & Green specs versions), flashing mobile phone aerials and other things that nobody bothers with today, until someone makes a proper upright vacuum cleaner into a robotic cleaner, then, they're not worth bothering with, and I don't think it'll happen in this day and age...
 
For bare floors...?

I always thought these were a joke, nothing more than glorified carpet sweepers, until I read a short review in Cook's Illustrated magazine. They tested them on bare floor, and I thought, of course, they would probably work very well on bare floors. They tested it in conjunction with a Scooba floor washer and both performed very well, giving a very clean bare floor. Highly recommended in that test.

I never thought about getting one when I had carpets. Now that I live in a house that has bare floor, I'm keeping an eye out for good deals on a Roomba and a Scooba.

Incidentally, Electrolux made one called the Trilobite. I don't know too much about them but they seemed pretty cool.
 
The Electrolux was very good compared with roomba and others but they are not a proper vacuum, just take any bag less vacuum and go over the carpet and you will see what the robotics leave behind, however on wooden floors they are fantastic,
 
robot history

RCA Whirlpool built a kitchen of the future about 1958 with a robot vac that parked itself under the cabinets.Overall shape was similar to the deluxe RCA Whirlpool canister without, of course, the hose.There was a picture in Life magazine.
 
call me old fashioned but I prefer an actual vacuum in my hands, just like i prefer to mow my own lawn and wash my car. Its one of the reasons I hardly ever use my central vac. I understand and really appreciate central vacs and there values but for me I hate the long hoses and its just as much work lugging the hose and pn around as it is a normal upright vacuum, for me that is
 
@gsheen . . .

Hi gsheen . . .

I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood me. The link is to a self-emptying robotic vac model shown at Las Vegas's CES gathering earlier this year. What I meant to convey was that if this specific item was able to dock at a central vac outlet dedicated to accept it for emptying, need for hands-on contact would be less. None I've seen appear to have much dirt capacity and likely need frequent emptying.

Personally, I too like to vacuum myself but these devices do have a consumer following and are doing well on the market. Though I don't credit them for much more than hitting a fair lick at topsoil, there are folks who swear by them. Much to my surprise, what I'd thought would be just a passing fancy when I heard of them -- robot vac forums -- are going strong.

As I've said prior, I anticipate no cleaning miracles out of these machines and wouldn't want one as a sole cleaning device. Nonetheless, were I a person with a busy schedule but no one to help with housework I'd certainly consider employing some such thing, either daily or every other day, to help keep up the appearance of flooring and possibly decrease the frequency of serious vacuuming.

Best,

Venson
 
@venson

no didn't misunderstand you just adding my 2 cents worth. They are a novelty we get a few as trade inns every month in the shop, I have the electolux one myself apart fom all he ones traded in, roomba's and samsungs mainly. they do work a treat on wooden floors but as I have 11 cats they get jammed up with pet hair in seconds ( we vacuum at least 4 or 5 times day. I have vacuums stationed all over ready for use. I love my cats but hate pet hair on anything, my wifes friends think its grand that a man can use a vacuum. :)
 
This Much I Know....

....If you want to freak a cat out BUT GOOD, a Roomba will do the trick!

My cat saw one only once, and was a nervous wreck for three days....
 
@gsheen . . .

Thanks, gsheen, I got it. It's most interesting that they're accepted as trade-ins. I haven't heard of that happening here. Do you clean them up and re-sell them or do they get junked?
 
They do freak a cat out ,
@ venson
yes I fix them up and sell them again but only as a second vacuum to do daily clean-ups, My kids love to play robot wars with them on the patio
 

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