latest roomba just went TU again!

Soundguy · Dec 2, 2007

We upgraded tot he new model of roomba scheduler as our extended warranty was coming to an end and we were going to ahve to buy another warranty since these little pieces of junk break about every 2 months.

We's had the new redesigned one for 2weeks minus 1 day now. Would ahve had it for 2 weeks, except the first one they sent home was 100% DOA... wouldn't do anything.. not even power up or charge... yep.. they sold us a box of useless junk.

I made em prove the 2nd one worked before i left the store.

In any case.. it still sufferes most of the same problems as it's predicessors.. though I see they have made attmepts to mitigate this.. though not real good attempts.

Got home tonight and the little paddle wheel is broken into 3 parts...

heck.. we have tile floors and no carpet at all... this should be the ideal environment for these things.

I keep griping about it.. we had the option of getting our money back or paying a small upgrade fee... I decided to give it a go..

I see that i-robot still makes an inferior and very brittle product.

anyone else have the new looking model? what were your thoughts on it?

Soundguy

Cottonhawk · Dec 2, 2007

Soundguy,
It must be a frustrating experience to have all bad luck with iRobot.
My three year old Roomba started to act up .... does not hold charge and short charging cycles. I bought a new battery from Amazon, dropped it in, charged 72 hours, put the Old Roomba to work yesterday, and it worked as well as new!

Redneck_Randy · Dec 2, 2007

Soundguy said:
anyone else have the new looking model? what were your thoughts on it?

Soundguy

I think you already know what I think about the iRobot Roomba's. Your lucky you have a replacement warranty to fall back on. Think of all those that bought one without a replacement warranty and now have a high dollar door stop.

Randy

MDM · Dec 2, 2007

We bought one about a year ago. After about 3 months, the novelty wore off. We rarely use it in the house now. We have hardwood floors and it is just no match for our 20 year old Kirby. We relegalted the Roomba to our pontoon boat. It works very well and is quite handy for this. We just turn it loose on our way back to the docks and by the time we get there the boat is cleaned up well enough. That said, I won't buy another when this one goes down.

ToadHill · Dec 2, 2007

I bought one for my wife last Christmas, ( one household gift each year along with one personal gift) it lasted for about 3 months and has been down since. I bought her a Dyson Vac for her birthday.

cp1969 · Dec 2, 2007

You're a lucky man.

Many, many moons ago, I bought the then-new wife a vacuum for Christmas because we had none and were borrowing my mom's.

I have never heard the end of it. Women (yours must be the exception or maybe mine is) do not appreciate useful gifts. Either they, or we, don't understand the concept of gift-giving.

reb · Dec 2, 2007

cp1969 said:
You're a lucky man.

Many, many moons ago, I bought the then-new wife a vacuum for Christmas because we had none and were borrowing my mom's.

I have never heard the end of it. Women (yours must be the exception or maybe mine is) do not appreciate useful gifts. Either they, or we, don't understand the concept of gift-giving.

My wife appreciates and frequently asks for practical gifts. The only complaint I have gotten was when I bought a table saw, told her it was hers and wouldn't show her how to use it.

MossRoad · Dec 2, 2007

My dad told me in no uncertain terms....

"Never buy your wife an appliance for her birthday, Christmas or your anniversary." And he had a stone cold look of experience when he said it!

Inspector507 · Dec 2, 2007

My wife has a habit of asking for appliances for Christmas.

ragkar · Dec 3, 2007

Cottonhawk - three years on the original battery is pretty good.
Soundguy - Doesn't that make seven units in two years? Outside of the DOA it would be interesting to read the failure analysis. Are you sure that you aren't abusing it? Are you vacuuming twice a day or more?
I have the top model 570 with the lighthouse technology and scheduler. I've been using it quite a bit for the last ten weeks or so and it's working fine. Right now I carry it from area to area, but when the novelty wears off I'll be using the scheduler to have it working once a week at night.
My criteria for it's efficiency is how much trash is in the compartments. And so far it's doing fine.
I know two other people with earlier models - one for three years and the other a year and a half - and they have no complaints about theirs.