Set your expectations at a reasonable level

My wife is a neat freak. She comes home from work and the first thing she does (practically) is grab the broom and dustpan and SWEEPS. A couple of years back I got the idea that I would buy one of these robotic vacuums to hopefully get her to stop doing that. I thought she would love the idea. She wasn't particularly interested in it. However, what happened was the neurosis seed was planted in MY brain and I decided that I needed one. Combinations of inertia, reading some poor reviews, expense, etc. stopped me from getting one. However, that seed never dislodged from the back of my brain and this fall the opportunity presented itself to pick up the 5th generation 530 model for a reasonable price, sort-of spur-of-the-moment. My dream was to set up a robotic vacuum that would go to work while my wife and I were away at work and hopefully get my wife to leave the broom in the closet when she gets home. Turns out it didn't quite work that way.

First off, for background info, we own a 2100 sq. ft house, single story, with mostly tiled floors (3 bedrooms have carpet). There are area rugs in all the rooms. We have two cats. They get hair and cat litter all over, which is why my wife can't stop sweeping. We also have a lot of "stuff." Meaning decorations and furniture. Our house is not cluttered, but by no stretch can one consider it open.

After I brought the 530 home and opened it up, my first disappointment was that I didn't buy the model that included the scheduler. Like I mentioned, this purchase was spur of the moment...I'd researched Roombas and alternative vacuums a year or two ago, and somehow the concept of checking the model number for the scheduler functionality slipped my mind. The point is, there are 7 "500" models and the box graphics and text do nothing to inform the purchaser of these various options. Anyway, mostly my bad.

So, after unpackaging it the manual says that the first charge for the robot battery will take 16 hours.That was a bit of a letdown as well, considering the website lists the power supply as a 3-hour charger. However, the Roomba did not take 16 hours for the battery charge indicator to switch to "green" (more like the 3 hours). So, I pressed the CLEAN button and watched what happened with my wife joining in.

Roomba proceeded to back off its charging base, spin around and start motoring along. At first I was impressed with its ability to sense that it was approaching a wall or other piece of furniture. It slows down and then gently taps into the obstacle, a little shock-absorber faceplate pushes in, and then Roomba switches directions. It is gentle enough that it will not push open a door that is ajar. This ability is limited, however. Thin metal legs of our dinette furniture do not register on its sensors and it plows full speed into them. Likewise, approaching cabinet corners head-on also fails to activate the sensor and it will hit somewhat harder than I would like it to (both for the cabinet and the robot). Lightweight objects (cat food dishes, holiday decor, barstools) will get pushed around by the impact, even if it slows down.

This first impression was not the best. I decided I needed to play around with the virtual walls, two of which are included in the box. However, they require 2 "D" cells each, which are not included. Hello, iRobot...a pack of 4 alkaline D cells cost me $4.79 at Target. That means your cost to include them in the box would probably add less than $3 and save me the friggin trip to Target. Get with the program! Anyway, these virtual walls work via IR light. They splay a cone of light around the wall unit itself, and then a beam of IR light in a user-variable distance out from the unit, about 8'. People who are proficient in their own electronics could probably head to the nearest electronics supply shop and pick up some IR LEDs and get pretty custom in crafting one's own virtual barriers.

After setting these walls up in strategic locations, and picking up the cat food dish from the floor, Roomba does a good job in navigating around the rooms and then back to its recharge base when it feels it is done. One interesting observation, going back to my cats...they generally are wary of the robot but haven't freaked out about it. They like to sit back and watch it, and if it isn't approaching them, they don't worry about it. I was watching my cats one afternoon with Roomba going, and one came out the hallway into the doorway where the virtual wall was placed (to block Roomba from my office) and he sat down in front of the virtual wall! Roomba headed toward the hallway opening and would've passed right through had the cat not sprung up at the last moment and backed off. This could end up being a problem for my other virtual wall that I have set up with an 8' beam to keep Roomba away from some of the lightweight decorations...8' is far enough away to keep my cats from fleeing from Roomba, and they could end up blocking the IR wall. Just a thought if you have pets, too.

As far as cleaning performance, I've been amazed at the amount of material that Roomba sucks up. One of the first times I used it, without the virtual wall, Roomba managed to make it into my office and knock a AA battery off my desk (by banging into the metal leg...). It sucked it up! My wife and I are generally tidy people, and I've already mentioned that she cleans almost every day anyway. But because Roomba can go under some furniture and also does the area rugs it tends to pick up a lot more cat hair than regular sweeping. This isn't to imply that Roomba is actually doing a thorough job, though. I have "tested" it by noting an object on the floor and checking to see if it has been swept up. I'd say 33% of the time it isn't, but given the three weeks I've owned it I would say that might not be a fair observation rate. Also, because we have to isolate some areas where Roomba just shouldn't go, my wife still feels the need to go sweep.

It handles tile-to-area rug transitions fairly well. One rug has tassles, and they do not get caught in Roomba's brushes (at least yet). If Roomba is approaching this rug at a 90-degree angle though, the rug will get bunched up in front of Roomba and it will sense that as an obstacle and turn to a different direction.

So, overall I would say that after I got over my initial disappointment I am generally pleased with the Roomba 530. I thought I would've wanted the scheduler, but seeing how I need to prep the house mildly beforehand makes me realize that would've been money down the drain. It cleans reasonably well. Let's hope that it proves durable, and convinces my wife that she can put down the broom and grab a beer instead.