Roomba or equivalent?

Yourself isit

Do these things know where they've been or do they just bang around hitting obstacles and reversing?

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Just wondering how the Roomba etc works with finding its way back to base? I got a system on trial and it could cover 150m2. The issue I found was I wanted it to clean 3 rooms at night, large rooms. It would clean them good but every morning would come and find it, battery dead in one of the rooms. It could never seem to find its way back.

It was a cheaper model. Just wondering with the more expensive can you map out house or something so it can find its way back?

I bought a roomba about 8 years ago and had it for 2 years and never ran into problems of it finding its base. Its one of the key features of the roomba. Even basic, cheap clones should have the functionality, as its a relatively easy bit of software. My parents bought the robotic hoover Aldi had about a year ago and it has that feature.

Shefwedfan

Deleted User wrote: »

I bought a roomba about 8 years ago and had it for 2 years and never ran into problems of it finding its base. Its one of the key features of the roomba. Even basic, cheap clones should have the functionality, as its a relatively easy bit of software. My parents bought the robotic hoover Aldi had about a year ago and it has that feature.

I had the below. Once it went from one room to another it would never find it ways back. It would just run till the battery went dead

http://www.gearbest.com/cleaning-appliances/pp_349224.html

mrcheez

Really can't fault the Roomba after a few months of usage. I use it practically every 1 or two days... depending on how much dirt I drag in after cycling home.

Worth spending a bit more than the cheaper ones to guarantee a quality clean.

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I had the below. Once it went from one room to another it would never find it ways back. It would just run till the battery went dead

http://www.gearbest.com/cleaning-appliances/pp_349224.html

Well at 106 euro thats probably the cheapest one on the market. The Aldi one my parents bought was 160 I think. Mine was 350 when I bought it and as I said that was 8-9 years ago.

Its simple maths to figure out what the starting point is, but maybe to shave 20 quid off the cost, they didnt add it.

woidoi

Scored a Neato Botvac Connected just after Christmas for £210 in the Amazon warehouse (camelcamelcamel is your friend). I was planking it because they said that it was only in OK condition. I took a gamble as I had been reading that people were having trouble connecting it to the internet. When it arrived I thought my worst fears had come true, the original box had a big gash in the corner. When I opened it up though the Botvac was encased in poly and pristine. I checked the menu and it said that it had five minutes running time. I reckon whoever got it sent it back because of the wifi issue. The day after I bought it Botvac issued an update to the software. Happy days! Works perfectly. In fairness, it worked perfectly without the wifi. I mean how hard is it to press the button on the front. It's their top of the range bot (usually €750 'ish), proper mapping and navigation (no random bumping and turning). It has lithium-ion batteries instead of Nickle Cadmiums. You can see where it has gone and get messages when it's finished. It does our entire 1200 sq foot house and goes from room to room efficiently, then trundles back to its dock to charge. It's great! My wife says it's the best piece of technology we ever bought.

Irish Gunner

Looking at option of getting a Roomba
Any good deals out there or other recommendations?

jmBuildExt

Interested in this too.... Anyone chanced the cheapo eBay Chinese jobbies?
E.g. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/JISIWEI-Smart-Cleaning-Robot-Vacuum-Floor-Cleaner-Sweeper-Camera-Remote-Control-/182466218340?hash=item2a7bd58964%3Ag%3AdVIAAOSwaEhZIspn&_trkparms=pageci%253A9e7c4947-42ad-11e7-a7e4-74dbd1801de2%257Cparentrq%253A48cb713415c0aa42ecc9991ffffee57a%257Ciid%253A2
I've no carpet just wood and tiles.

Shefwedfan

jmBuildExt wrote: »

Interested in this too.... Anyone chanced the cheapo eBay Chinese jobbies?
E.g. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/JISIWEI-Smart-Cleaning-Robot-Vacuum-Floor-Cleaner-Sweeper-Camera-Remote-Control-/182466218340?hash=item2a7bd58964%3Ag%3AdVIAAOSwaEhZIspn&_trkparms=pageci%253A9e7c4947-42ad-11e7-a7e4-74dbd1801de2%257Cparentrq%253A48cb713415c0aa42ecc9991ffffee57a%257Ciid%253A2
I've no carpet just wood and tiles.

I had something similar, bought it from Gearbest(see below)

http://www.gearbest.com/cleaning-appliances/pp_349224.html

It worked ok, found it hard to get back to recharge....

Read a few review on that one you linked....a good few people saying the same about returning to the base point.....

I suppose it does depend on area you are covering as well. I have very large rooms, 3 of them I wanted to cover and it just didn't seem to be able to find its way back into middle room with charge if it went into either of the other rooms

slicedpanman

We've been looking into getting a robovac (maybe the Eufy 11) too but I have a question for all of the current robovac owners, that I can't seem to find an answer for online:

Do these manage to get over door saddles ok? i.e. if I leave doors open can the manage to go from room to room?

givecredit

slicedpanman wrote: »

We've been looking into getting a robovac (maybe the Eufy 11) too but I have a question for all of the current robovac owners, that I can't seem to find an answer for online:

Do these manage to get over door saddles ok? i.e. if I leave doors open can the manage to go from room to room?

I own the Roomba 650. Great Machine. It will go over any door saddle with no bother. Always finds its way home to recharge afterwards.

slicedpanman

givecredit wrote: »

I own the Roomba 650. Great Machine. It will go over any door saddle with no bother. Always finds its way home to recharge afterwards.

Good price for the Roomba 650 on Amazon.fr at the moment (€328). A follow up question for you - can you get 2 base stations for the one Roomba? i.e. leave one upstairs and one downstairs and just move the Roomba from floor to floor?

givecredit

slicedpanman wrote: »

Good price for the Roomba 650 on Amazon.fr at the moment (€328). A follow up question for you - can you get 2 base stations for the one Roomba? i.e. leave one upstairs and one downstairs and just move the Roomba from floor to floor?

I really do not know. Not sure why you would want 2 base stations. When I want Roomba to hoover upstairs, I just carry it up and let it do its thing. Then when I get home from work I just have to find it. It will have stopped somewhere when battery drains, usually under a bed. I carryit back down to base station and let it recharge. €351.95 is a good price for it.(Incl delivery and Irish VAT)

slicedpanman

I really do not know. Not sure why you would want 2 base stations. When I want Roomba to hoover upstairs, I just carry it up and let it do its thing. Then when I get home from work I just have to find it. It will have stopped somewhere when battery drains, usually under a bed. I carryit back down to base station and let it recharge. €351.95 is a good price for it.(Incl delivery and Irish VAT)

doh good point - obvious when you say it
time do decide so; roomba 650 or Eufy 11

jmBuildExt

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I had something similar, bought it from Gearbest(see below)

http://www.gearbest.com/cleaning-appliances/pp_349224.html

It worked ok, found it hard to get back to recharge....

Read a few review on that one you linked....a good few people saying the same about returning to the base point.....

I suppose it does depend on area you are covering as well. I have very large rooms, 3 of them I wanted to cover and it just didn't seem to be able to find its way back into middle room with charge if it went into either of the other rooms

Fyi I bought the one in my link above... It does "a" job. Suction etc is grand and if you leave it in a room it will clean the floor eventually. Very frustrating to watch though. It's cleaning pattern seems totally random. It seems it will keep going til it runs out of battery or gets stuck.

Watched a YouTube video of comparison between it and iLife v5 (which is a bit more expensive) and iLife is way more efficient. This one, jisiwei, can find a patch of dirt and then back away, whereas iLife will get straight in and clean it.

Finally, it uses infra red to dock so if it in a different room, it usually won't find its way back. I've seen it where it was 1metre away from the docking station and there was only the leg of a table between them, and it couldn't make it's way round it. Just kept backing off and going for it again as that was line of sight to the ir signal.

Ps. Has a camera on the front which is viewable remotely, so you can drive it round like a security guard, which is kind off cool.

Anyway, as with most things... You get what you pay for

Shefwedfan

jmBuildExt wrote: »

Fyi I bought the one in my link above... It does "a" job. Suction etc is grand and if you leave it in a room it will clean the floor eventually. Very frustrating to watch though. It's cleaning pattern seems totally random. It seems it will keep going til it runs out of battery or gets stuck.

Watched a YouTube video of comparison between it and iLife v5 (which is a bit more expensive) and iLife is way more efficient. This one, jisiwei, can find a patch of dirt and then back away, whereas iLife will get straight in and clean it.

Finally, it uses infra red to dock so if it in a different room, it usually won't find its way back. I've seen it where it was 1metre away from the docking station and there was only the leg of a table between them, and it couldn't make it's way round it. Just kept backing off and going for it again as that was line of sight to the ir signal.

Ps. Has a camera on the front which is viewable remotely, so you can drive it round like a security guard, which is kind off cool.

Anyway, as with most things... You get what you pay for

I did say it would have issues. To be fair the iLife did seems to collect an awful amount of dirt. I ran the hoover over the floors one evening, set it off. Next morning(after I found it under the couch) it was packed full of dirt.

So it worked in terms of cleaning but it just got annoying after a while that it never made its way back.

You did have options to set it how to clean(along edges etc) but I never used them. The pattern it used seemed very random. Go one way, hit something, spin a bit and then head another way. Some of the times it would go over the same bit of floor an awful lot.

Shefwedfan

I am wondering do any companies do a loan version? or a Trial version? I would love to try one of the more expensive models but my Misses would kill me if it was the same as iLife.

Irish Gunner

Deal on Amazon for a Eufy Robot does not have an app but cheaper than others
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eufy-Anker-Robot-Vacuum/dp/B01M5BCRJR/ref=gbps_img_s-3_bf76_c8c9084a?smid=A2PGPJL0BBLHLX&pf_rd_p=78284097-89a3-4697-b673-3d468066bf76&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1MNHFV5QJTZ1KZZ7163E

Slippin Jimmy

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Deal on Amazon for a Eufy Robot does not have an app but cheaper than others
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eufy-Anker-Robot-Vacuum/dp/B01M5BCRJR/ref=gbps_img_s-3_bf76_c8c9084a?smid=A2PGPJL0BBLHLX&pf_rd_p=78284097-89a3-4697-b673-3d468066bf76&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1MNHFV5QJTZ1KZZ7163E

Apologies for bumping an old thread. I have been looking at the Eufy Robot on Amazon. My house has mainly carpets. The dog sheds a good bit of hair. Would this type of vacuum be any good or would I be wasting my money?

Shefwedfan

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

Apologies for bumping an old thread. I have been looking at the Eufy Robot on Amazon. My house has mainly carpets. The dog sheds a good bit of hair. Would this type of vacuum be any good or would I be wasting my money?

I think it might be a waste of money, better holding out and buying the better models.

I had something similar, probably posted about it here....was ok for wooden floors but I doubt it would do much on carpet. I never did try it so maybe someone else might know?

Shefwedfan

Have option of Neato Robotics Botvac D3 or a iRobot Roomba 650, just wondering what people think would be best?

The Botvac will be about 50 quid more.....

woidoi

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Have option of Neato Robotics Botvac D3 or a iRobot Roomba 650, just wondering what people think would be best?

The Botvac will be about 50 quid more.....

That's a tough one but not for the reason you might think. I had a Roomba but sent it back. It cleaned pretty good but it's bouncing around method of cleaning drove me up the wall and my wife thought it was ridiculous. As mentioned earlier in this thread I happened on a great deal on a Botvac Connected ( the top of the range one) as an Amazon warehouse deal just after Christmas. It was unused, the owner couldn't get the wifi working ��. The thing is, my wife said only the other day, that if it breaks, she doesn't care how much it costs, repair or replace it. It's a God-send when you're both working, and it cleans - quickly.

The D3 you're looking at is like the Roomba in that it is a lower end model. Don't worry about wifi as that is just a gimmick - the inbuilt scheduler takes care of all of that. I think I got Alexa to start it once to impress my brother but I've never used it since. The D3 doesn't have a side-brush and that makes it tough for the Botvac to get the dirt out of edges. On the other hand, the Roomba is round, so can't do corners properly and you know - it bounces around randomly.

Both will do an OK job, but once you've witnessed a robot that can map and clean systematically an entire house on one charge, and find its way home easily, it's hard to go for a Roomba.

The older D85 often turns up at a price similar to a D3 so might be worth considering too.

tedpan

The Xiaomi seems to one of the best for your money these days. I watched a few reviews on YouTube. Awesome bit of kit

Shefwedfan

woidoi wrote: »

That's a tough one but not for the reason you might think. I had a Roomba but sent it back. It cleaned pretty good but it's bouncing around method of cleaning drove me up the wall and my wife thought it was ridiculous. As mentioned earlier in this thread I happened on a great deal on a Botvac Connected ( the top of the range one) as an Amazon warehouse deal just after Christmas. It was unused, the owner couldn't get the wifi working ��. The thing is, my wife said only the other day, that if it breaks, she doesn't care how much it costs, repair or replace it. It's a God-send when you're both working, and it cleans - quickly.

The D3 you're looking at is like the Roomba in that it is a lower end model. Don't worry about wifi as that is just a gimmick - the inbuilt scheduler takes care of all of that. I think I got Alexa to start it once to impress my brother but I've never used it since. The D3 doesn't have a side-brush and that makes it tough for the Botvac to get the dirt out of edges. On the other hand, the Roomba is round, so can't do corners properly and you know - it bounces around randomly.

Both will do an OK job, but once you've witnessed a robot that can map and clean systematically an entire house on one charge, and find its way home easily, it's hard to go for a Roomba.

The older D85 often turns up at a price similar to a D3 so might be worth considering too.

Thanks, I have read a few reviews and they seem to say the similar....I am systematic myself so I know the older robovac I had drove me nuts bouncing around the house ....

I thin k the D3 might be the best job, also I seen, if it is cleaning and battery runs out it will return, charge and head back out. The Roomba can't do that....I have large house so this would be a great help.

tedpan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Thanks, I have read a few reviews and they seem to say the similar....I am systematic myself so I know the older robovac I had drove me nuts bouncing around the house ....

I thin k the D3 might be the best job, also I seen, if it is cleaning and battery runs out it will return, charge and head back out. The Roomba can't do that....I have large house so this would be a great help.

Seriously take a look at the Xiaomi, it has everything you want and does 250m2 on a single charge.


https://www.allhomerobotics.com/roomba-980-vs-xiaomi-mi-robot-vacuum/

Less than €280 at the moment too

Bluefoam

I had one of these... but wanted more control over where it went... thought about developing a control app but rather than invest in app development, I duct tapped a shtick to the vacuum & now I can walk around with the machine and direct it as I want. Such a great improvement and a definite step forward...

yannakis

Have been using the Xiaomi (v1) since August and I'm very happy with the performance! It might struggle a bit on thick carpets, but the house has mainly hard floors so that's not a big problem for us. Basically, lift shower mats and whatever is lying down on the floor, and let it run.

Price of the v1 has dropped plenty after the v2 was introduced. Have a look around the likes of geekbuying, gearbest, aliexpress, tomtop etc. And use TopCashback to get some monies back too.

mrcheez

Just a tip, be sure to invest in some of the "invisible wall" barriers to prevent your guy getting caught in wires etc.

Phil, my Roomba, is merrily cleaning up downstairs while I'm relaxing with a coffee upstairs. No fear of where he'll go as I've got the barriers setup.

Coming down to a clean house in about 10mins

yannakis

@mrcheez I actually got 3 of them delivered yesterday, and will try laying them down under the edge of the one big carpet so that we can let it run in the living room as well. As for wires, I'm obsessed, so none of them lying around :P

Irish Gunner

Still looking at one of these any good offers for black Friday.

Just want to make mine and Miss Gunners life bit easier for cleaning wooden floors and finds base. Not necessarily Alexa or Harmony enabled..

Anyone Bueller ☺️☺️