anyone have a Roomba?

[simple girl]

In another thread (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/air-cleaner-filter-advice-41420.html#post764083), it was suggested that perhaps a Roomba would help keep cat hair under control.

Anyone here use one? Any feedback on pro's/con's? If you have a pet, did it seem to help much with reducing the amount of hair that ends up in corners and on baseboards?

 

[Rustic23]

My guess is it will, if you use it on the cat.
You might check this link: Amazon Review Analyzer: Reviews On Roomba

While most seemed to like the Roomba below is one of the reviews with regards to pets.
My Roomba worked great for 2 months. Then pet hair fouled the gears in the brush assembly. iRobot sent me a new brush assembly under warrenty. Now after a few weeks our second brush assembly is fouled with pet hair. If you have pets this is not the vacuum for you.

another
I have 4 cats and 1 dog. I've had my Roomba for about a year now and it's never had a problem picking up pet hair from tile. My cats in particular shed a lot, but the dirt container is never completely full. I recommend a Dyson for carpet, but Roomba is more than up to cleaning hard floors. That said, I do use Roomba in the bedroom (Berber carpet)occasionally because it gets under the bed better than anything else.

also check here
Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: What about pet hair?

 

[Gumby]

Or the cat could use it.
YouTube - Roomba Driver

 

[Sarah in SC]

My roomba died from pet hair, I think. It just quit keeping a charge one day.
I am still contemplating getting another one, but I'm thinking about the sweeper one instead, I think it is called a dirt dog.
The hair gets all tangled up in the wheels, no way around that. It does work though, and I was very sad when mine died. I have 5 dogs and 5 cats, FWIW.

 

[clifp]

5 cats and 5 dogs wow. If they are indoors, I think you need a terminator size robot, not iRobot product.

My Scooba is doing much better now that cat population has shrunk from 4 to 2. They aren't big time savers since you do have to keep and I on them and listen for the beeps, but they work pretty well. I don't think they do well with corners.

 

[Nords]

My roomba died from pet hair, I think. It just quit keeping a charge one day.

iRobot had a bad run of batteries and did a lot of warranty replacements that you may qualify for. Check the discussion at:
FYI - Roomba Battery Maintanance and Troubleshooting Tips - Robot Reviews

 

[Danny]

I have one out in the shed.

I was very excited about it for a while. It was cool to watch and make the cute noises.

My Basset hated it, would roll it's eyes and sigh heavily when it came into the room.

It never really did a good job cleaning...Had problems with my Persian rugs. Didn't do a good job in the corners and edges. Would get stuck and make cute little noises like - a electronic "oh, oh!" I was riding herd on it quite a bit. Took a long time to do a room. It would get lost. Get stuck under furniture and die. It was cool to see it go to the edge of the stairs and turn back at the last second...sometimes it didn't turn back.

It got confused one day and wouldn't stop going in a tight circle. Probably what will happen to me someday.

The "help" desk couldn't get Robbie back to health again on the phone.
I waited a good long time while they mailed an electronic fix that I loaded into Robbie that was supposed to help de-confuse him. Didn't.
It was under warranty. They had me ship it back for repair.
Help desk rules are rigid - they say when you ship it back for repair - don't ship it with the battery inside - of course I ended up forgetting and doing just that. After a good long time I got it back without the battery and was told we told you not to send it with battery now you have to buy a new battery. What happened to the original battery I ask? Couldn't the repair guy keep it on the table next to Robbie and then put it back in before shipping? They told me we told you not to send it with the battery. The battery can't be shipped back with the unit. Couldn't you have shipped it separately? No. But you are going to ship a new one to me though?.... I paid the ransom (this is a big strapping battery by the way) and bought a new replacement battery with shipping. Otherwise I had a dead roomba Soon after it would be dead with the new battery anyway. It started going in tight circles again. I spent a lot of time waiting on the phone, cleaning it and following their instructions on getting it to work. Didn't work. It was out of warranty now. It finally just sat there beeping. I let the battery die and put Robbie to rest. I went out and bought a good vaccum for less money. The rugs are cleaner. I have to push the vacuum now but it gets done faster. The only thing I miss are the beeps and the oh, ohs.

 

[Sarah in SC]

My experience exactly, Danny.
And Nords, thanks for the link. One of the things I look forward to in early retirement is having the time to wrestle warranty work out of companies for the comparably few things I buy--now it is easier to just ignore it once I give up on fixing it myself with the help desk and online resources.
With all those mammals (yes, indoor/outdoor all) I find that sweeping does a better job for us, because we have no rugs whatsoever, just hardwood. That is why I imagine the sweeper robot would work better for us than the vacuum.