So, I let the Roomba loose in my house yesterday just to see if all the hype was really justified. I have to say it’s impressive technology and it certainly entertained my children on a quiet Sunday afternoon, who began to refer to it as their “new dog” for some reason. From a performance standpoint, it picked up an awful lot of dirt in a short period of time and somehow was able to work its way a maze of furniture, carpets, toys and newspapers. To really make the Roomba do a good job, you need to prep your house by moving as many obstacles as possible.
Now the question is whether I’d buy a Roomba – the model I have (Roomba Scheduler) costs about $300. I hate to be wishy-washy but the answer is “maybe”. It works well but can you justify spending the money when you’ve already got a relatively new vacuum cleaner sitting in the closet? If you got a big home with lots of hardwood floors and a few bucks gathering dust in your pocket, I’d say go for it. Otherwise, it’s a tough call but there’s no doubt it’s a device that falls in my “works and works well” category (along with the MacBook and the Blackberry)
Note: One of the things that makes the Roomba an interesting product is the eco-system that has been developed around it such as forums and user groups such as Roomba Community and Roomba Review. By the way, I spoke at the Third Tuesday PR meet-up last week about how companies should be reaching out to bloggers. Roomba is one of the few companies so far that has given me the chance to evaluate their products.
Technorati Tags: Roomba
8 Comments
The question is: do you get to keep it?
No, I have to give it back in two weeks.
I’ve had a Roomba for 3 years and a Scooba for 1 year and I just love them. IMHO, It’s as useful as a dishwasher in a modern home.
It’s an interesting point you bring up the part about companies reaching out to bloggers because I was just thinking how much you would enjoy HIP’s hosted IP PBX service and a Cisco 7960 executive phone on your desk.
Can I borrow it????
Any time, Shaw, any time.
The Roomba looks like a near killing blow to needing a wife.
Let’s face it. We have the dishwasher, clotheswasher, Domino’s, frig near couch, internet porn and a dog to fetch the paper there are few reasons to get an expensive wife.
We’ve had a scooba for about 6 months. My dh got it. So cool! i haven’t mopped since, and our floors are spotless. Hardly a “killing blow to the wife, dallas, more like a wife keeper, less work for her!