Roopesh Sheth Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
OK, not great vacuum, 2009-11-29
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
I've used the Roomba 610 and 560. I now have two refurbished 560s in our house, at the same price as one 610. And it's definitely a better value.Before I talk about the 610, let me share what's good and bad about Roombas in general, based on my experience with both the 560s and 610:Pros:- You don't have to vacuum, the Roomba does it for you- Scheduled cleanings so you don't even have to worry about it or be home to hear the noise- Floors stay clean without much effort- One button start it and forget about itCons:- Absolute pain in the butt to clean these things. There's the two brushes, the front wheel, the spinning brush (which requires a screwdriver to remove), and the dust bin. All of these must be disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled, at least once per cleaning session.- It's not effort free. As I said above, lots to clean, which requires 5-10 minutes each time you want to run the Roomba.- With pets, the fur gets wrapped around EVERYTHING. Maybe without pets our cleaning of the Roomba would be easier, but the whole point of these devices is ease, and they do not deliver.So the nice things about the 610 are:- Easier brush cleaning than the 560. Not much easier, but easier. Hair & fur still get wrapped around the edges of the brushes and into the mechanisms, but it's 5% easier to clean on the 610.- The accessories case and accessories. The brush cleaning tool is nice, but it doesn't clean the brush holders, where all the stuff actually gets wrapped up and is difficult to clean.Not so good things about the 610:- No carrying handle. This seems inconsequential, but after having a way to pick up my 560 without having to pick the whole thing up from the bottom, where all the dust and dirt accumulates, you appreciate a carrying handle. Why didn't they include this on the 610?- Only two lighthouses. They say it can clean four rooms, but they only include two lighthouses. My experience has been that three rooms is pushing it, so unless you have small rooms two lighthouses may be OK.So why did I get two 560s if I have so many problems? I hate to vacuum, and I'd rather clean all the brushes and edges once a day than push the vacuum around for 45 minutes. So it's a trade-off.Read other forums and you'll see that the 610 is not recommended, it's basically a 560 with lipstick.

Noelle W Dempsey Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Great for light upkeep, excellent customer service, 2009-12-04
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
We have five pets. Three elderly long haired cats and two large short haired dogs. We recently upgraded to a new home with a cream colored carpet and a mix of tile and linoleum in an open floor plan. What was I thinking? I was thinking I had three days to pick a house for a relocation is what I was thinking! But I digress. The carpet isn't perfect, it's five years old and the previous owners were pet owners too, but I was determined to keep it in good shape.I held out for the professional model despite the difference in price. I figured we had a professional level of hair here. Between one cat whose fur has the texture of cotton candy, another cat whose main hobby is tearing paper apart bit by bit, and the dogs with their rolling around on the floor I needed something that could stand up to the mess. I assumed I would need the larger debris bin to hold all the stuff that comes out of the carpet but actually after a few runs I felt that the smaller one with an air filter does a better job. It's not a HEPA filter but it gets a lot of dirt and dust into the bin.I've realized a lot of things about the roomba in the six months we've had it:+ I consider it more of a good automated carpet sweeper / groomer than an actual vacuum. It will not replace the old vacuum cleaner. But I've noticed that I don't have to drag the vacuum cleaner out as often. Being round the roomba doesn't do that great a job on corners but it gets pretty close so I need to use the edging tools sometimes.+ I have to pick up all the pillows, papers, or any pile on the floor before going to bed if I want it to run well. Strangely this has become a *bonus*. It keeps me tidying. The nights that I don't pick up and wake up to find the roomba stuck on some pillow or the dog bed make me sad.+ We have the timer set to turn on at two am but I find that with our home's layout pressing the 'max' button therefore making it run right away works best. 'Max' will just keep the roomba running through the large open rooms until the battery runs out of charge and dock itself or simply 'pass out' where it is. It gets the floors super-clean.+ It does fairly well with larger cords and we don't have rugs with tassels so I don't know about that. Apparently irobot has worked on improving that system where the roomba detects a cord obstruction so it automatically reverses the brush. Smaller cords not so much - the sweeper brush got entirely tangled on a set of earphone cords but they did survive and the roomba kept on going! It runs under our sofa and coffee tables. It has a relationship with our large round ottoman that makes me kind of uncomfortable - it looooves to clean around that ottoman. Sometimes the roomba gets caught in odd places but we do our best to make sure it's unobstructed.+ Those brushes need cleaning. Like all the time. I do it every night. Dump the bin, clean the brushes. Not just the brushy parts either but the spinning joints. There are two handy tools included in this kit and I use them along with a pair of old scissors. It's not pretty but it takes maybe two minutes. With the extra brushes you can swap them out every other night and that saves some time. To me cleaning the brushes and dumping the bin is a very small price to pay to wake up to carpet that was cleaned in the night.+ Sometimes I check the front rolling wheel but the kind of hair in my house doesn't seem to get caught in there the way I've read it happens to others. I also change the filters in the debris bin fairly often and rinse them (not the bin itself though that's not supposed to happen). According to the faq on irobot's site rinsing the air filter is ok, as long as you make sure it's dry before putting it back in. Every few months I take the plate off the bottom and use some canned air to clean the dust and hair inside too. This is probably more maintenance than the average household needs to do but we have a lot of pets here and this was kind of a big ticket item for us. And I really really hate vacuuming.So basically I love my little robot and don't have to vacuum but I do have to tidy up for it and clean brushes. I'm happy.But! I have a great customer service story to tell you too!The dogs are messy when they drink water and the roomba tends to get stuck on the wet outdoor carpet where their bowls are (I have to find a solution for that). I usually put the roomba back in the morning but one morning two weeks ago my husband didn't put it back, the dogs drank from the bowl and the roomba got wet on top!!! It's been messed up ever since. I haven't been able to get it to work. Took it apart, tried to dry it, tried to reset it. Everything. I was distraught.I bought a 150 dollar roomba to tide myself over until I could get the 610 fixed (I had wanted another one for our bedroom anyway) and after taking one look at how flimsy it was I put it right back in the box and returned it to Target. There was no way it was going to hold up to our household.So I called customer service Wednesday and they're sending a replacement. A new battery, a new bin and everything! I was told I have to ship mine back with an rma number and if I send them a tracking number then they'll ship mine. I just got a tracking number today!! My new one will be here Tuesday! Now I'm planning on putting a shower cap on top of my roomba so this will never happen again.All in all if you're considering buying a roomba, hold out for this one or a 500 series. It's not perfect but the comparative maintenance chores, for me, far outweigh having to vacuum!

Unna Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
This thing is great!, 2009-03-30
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
I got the professional series because I have a family of professional grade mess makers (kids, husband, pets, etc.). I love it! I think when people are dissatisfied with it they do not understand what it is and what it is not. It won't clean up an already neglected floor. You start with clean floors and then push a button everyday and let it run around your house doing upkeep and you won't have to vacuum anything except for behind items it can't get to once a month or so. Before my roomba I vacuumed 2 times a week and still dirt would show up on the bottom of peoples white socks. Since roomba no more dirt!!! It handles the cat fur and it even found an earring I lost over a year ago that must of been hiding someplace. The best part is it can get under things my vacuum never could reach. Yes, you have to know its limitations. It is a programmed device. You have to change something's around your home to work with it. Get wires off the floor so it won't get stuck, for instance. But this thing makes the floors shine and the rugs a joy to walk on. In fact I am purchasing another one for upstairs this week.

ManangK Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Get this is you want your husband to pick up his own mess without nagging him, 2010-01-28
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
This is my very first roomba, and I wish I saw and read about this before Christmas so I could have asked hubby for it as gift. I did purchase mine from Hammacher Schlemmer because of the lifetime warranty, plus I got a free shipping on top of a $50 off, so I got mine for $549.00 with all the add-on paraphernalia.I work full time as an RN. I have only two-three days off in a week, sometimes I work weekends. We have 5 cats. Even if we have 3 teens who we have trained to "clean up," realistically, they do not do a good job of maintaining a clean house (or clean rooms), unless we parents are there to supervise. Hubby is also not much help, as he only volunteers to do a thorough clean up once in a blue moon, and picks up his mess once in a while.Well, now that I got Viki (named after the iRobot movie's computer rebel), my youngest kid (12) was so fascinated that he immediately learned to use it and clean it when it came (before I even had the chance to do same). My husband was so enthralled with the technology (hubby does homebased job and is quite a technophile) and Viki's efficiency but knows how to "maintain" this expensive electronic gadget by keeping things off the floor (small wires, elastics, big pieces of paper, etc.), cleaning the brushes, saving Viki from her predicament in times it would "call" for help, and not wanting to run Viki everyday (which could potentially wear it off quickly). The implication? He now picks up his own mess and I don't have to restrain myself anymore from nagging him about it (he is one of the biggest mess-makers at home!). He enjoys seeing the dirt that accumulates in the bin after one cleaning.Both of us enjoy coming home to a tidy house.Now I am trading the time I used to bend, reach under bed/furniture with the traditional vacuum cleaner, push/pull the vacuum cable, etc., with time to run on my treadmill instead, while watching a movieI am the happiest member now in our household, and when mama is happy, everyone is happy.UPDATE as of 3-6-2010:Viki (our Rooba's nickname) was beeping the other day, saying "error 2: remove brush cage and clean roomba's brushes." So I did. I usually do a thorough cleaning of brushes, including removal of the yellow parts to get the tangle of hairs and fur. The bin was not too full. I let her run, and did the same thing after 1 minute or so. Did this 3 times until I decided to check the website of iRoomba (I registered Viki as soon as we got her) for troubleshooting. Did as suggested, which led me to their form, which I filled in with required info the night of 3-4-2010. At the same time, I emailed the vendor, Hammacher Schlemmer, to tell them what I should do next after trying the troubleshooting per manufacturer's instruction. Hammacher Schlemmer emailed me back within minutes, with the advice on how to return a defective product. That was quick! On the other hand, iRobot sent me the next morning 3-5-2010 a generic response that they received my email and should get a response within 24 hours, which they did not, anyway. To cut the long story short, they would have made me go round and round before they would definitively act to resolve the issue.Anyway, night of 3-4-2010, when I was emailing both vendors and iRobot about Viki, hubby noted that Viki's red light was on so he asked me what was wrong. I explained to him. He tried to see what could be wrong, especially when I told him Hammacher Schlemmer emailed me back right away, because he could not bear to see Viki leave us and be replaced by "someone else" as he already is quite attached to Viki. He opened more than what I would dare to (in trying not to do something that would make the guarantee null and void). He cleaned around the gears (he said some cat hair was pushing the gear off where it should be so the brushes were not turning). After he replaced the parts (even when he thought he dropped something), he tried to run Viki, and still had the same thumping sound with the brushes not turning. The next morning (3-6-2010)I asked my husband if I should get Viki ready for returning, he tinkered with it again and saw the small screw he missed the previous night, reassembled Viki, then ran her. She was working again like brand new! As in, vigorous, not missing a thing, etc. So this clogging deeper parts was despite cleaning the brushes and bin almost everyday (Viki was scheduled to do maintenance daily), just so you know. If you have a talent for tinkering without missing or misplacing tiny parts, you are all set. Viki is still a wonder household member who does her chores regularly with no complaints; only the minimal demand of being maintained (which overall/cumulatively does not take more than two hours in a month). I emailed Hammacher Schlemmer that we were able to resolve the issue but that I appreciated their prompt response, and said I would be a loyal customer and I would promote them to others (hence, the repeated mention of their company here).One thing Roomba can be improved upon is a button to find her if she gets stuck somewhere and nobody is home to get her unstuck. I wish there was a button at the base that we can push so Roomba can make a beeping sound until we find her.

Not Happy Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Professional???!?!?, 2009-12-10
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Ok, this thing is a pain and I can't believe I'm the only person having this problem...the contacts for the battery are weak so when the battery is installed it puts pressure on the contacts bending them such that when the machine is turned right-side up there is no contact and I get a charging error - BTW, could it figure out it has a charging problem in less than 45 minutes?!?This is actually my second one which is having the same problem as the first and customer service stinks! For the price of this thing I expected people bending over backwards. When I called and explained the problem I was told I had to reach in and bend the contacts back up. I informed them I wasn't going to do that every time since removing the battery causes the machine not to return to the docking station for 2 or 3 runs. They said ok, strip the machine (remove bins, brushes, battery, top cover, etc) and send it back FedEx so there is a tracking number - this was my dime. I was told that if I didn't remove all the extra bits they would not replace them and I would have to purchase them again.I was told a new machine would be released when they got the old one and it should take 7 to 10 business days. I waited 10 days. When I called, I was told they hadn't released the new one. When I asked if they could expedite they said no even though they realized they were the ones that had messed up.I hear great things but have yet to witness and doubt I ever will because it seems this one is going to go back as well.

Elizabeth Sabella Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Price, 2010-10-12
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
I already have a Roomba 530 but I wanted to upgrade. The Roomba 610 is about equal to the 530 in basic performance so I do not feel that the 610 is worth about double the price of the 530.

AFRED "Allyka" Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Not A Goddess, but Definitely Works, 2010-05-08
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Task: Started Roomba 610 in a 32 x 40 open area that includes kitchen, living and dining room, entry. Area has 3 rugs, chairs, coffee tables, end tables, speakers on the floor.Preparation: a)Placed recharge station on a wooden part of the floor, so roomba is on a flat surface as it approaches the recharge station. b) Moved dining room chairs from under the table and spaced them around the room. Took less than 10 mins.What doesn't work: a) Roomba side brush tangles itself in fringe. If you tuck the fringe under, the Roomba has difficulty climbing over the fringe end. Solution: Cut the fringe. b) If there are too many small spaces the roomba needs to navigate into and out of (e.g. a narrow sofa table between the sofa and the wall, accessible only from under the sofa.) the roomba will use up some battery power maneuvering, and the duration of the clean cycle will be shorter. c) Too many speaker wires/cords: Roomba 610 is much better at detangling itself than a friend's older model, but there is a limit.What works: a) Cleaned a week's worth of debris and cat hair (two long haired cats) in less than an hour, even kitchen floor debris (except for a big fat rubber band), toddled back to recharge station and bleeped. Would have run longer but for maneuvering around chair and table legs, over humps of rugs with fringe tucked under, etc. b)Regular capacity debris bin was full. Took about five minutes to clean it, the filters and the brush and roller area. Would have taken less time if I had checked out how to re-insert the brush and roller before I popped them out. c) Avoided stairs d) bumps against obstacles gently, so will not remove antique table next time e) really quiet. Much quieter than my bathroom exhaust fan. My cats dozed in the window between bouts of following it around. I had a phone conversation (try that with a regular vac!) f) amused my cats and my neighborWorth the Extra $$? Hard to say. Programming ability is not helpful, since I have to set up the area (too many chairs, too much rug fringe) Comes with accessories. Two "Lighthouses" that either call the Roomba to the next room (lighthouse mode) when the first is cleaned, or erect an electronic barrier to keep it out of areas (virtual wall mode), plus extra brushes, rollers, filters etc and larger capacity bin, all neatly stored in a case. Seems to run longer than my friend's older model. I bought it for the capacity and so far, do not regret it.

Bill K. Ameser Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
iRobot 610, 2010-02-08
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
If your looking for something to vacume around the house other than doing it yourself, this maybe the vacume for you. It is NOT a product to replace your vacume.The Good & The Bad.Good1. Does pick up just about everything.2. Easy to use.3. Dirt tray takes awhile to fill up and is easy to empty.4. Not as loud as most vacumes.The Bad1. If you have large rooms, (over 15X15) it may miss some places before it needs to go back to it's base to charge.2. It won't deep vacume like your standard vacume will. For the size of the unit it does a good job.3. I have a coffee table that has criss cross wood spindles that it gets stuck under and you need to pull it out from. This is a disadvantage because I can't let it run in this area when I'm out.4. The side brush that helps remove dirt along walls can flick some things out of the path of the vacume and it may not go over this area again.5. Pet hair will wrap around pins that hold the brushes in place so the unit must be maintained more than a normal vac.6. With 3000+ sq.ft. I don't like having to move it from room to room, if I don't it wont hold a charge long enough to clean. Also, if it goes down a hall and into another room, it may not get back out to finish the room it started in. You need to have the infared walls to keep it in the rooms you want cleaned then move the unit to the next area.So to sum it up. If it was possible to teach the unit your floor plan, program it which rooms to clean so it would know where they are, have it get back to it's charging station from any area of the house and not get stuck under my coffee table, it would be perfect!

Doodlebug Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
It's Great!, 2010-12-10
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
This is my second Roomba; I simply wore the other one out. Of couse this one is much improved. It does a wonderful job and it is great to be busy with other house cleaning, while another room is being vacuumed. It moves from carpet to hardwood without issues and this one is not as thick as the older one so it gets under end tables and coffee tables. What I like the most is that I can set it under my bed and it cleans out all the dust bunnies and cat hair. If I have a complaint, it would be the price, however, when this one dies, I will definitely get another one.

MSB "Mom of 4" Say: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Amazing!, 2010-03-05
This review is for: Cheap iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series Online
Our home is 3,000 sq feet, single story. I have a newly crawling baby and 3 other children a toddler and two children under 8. We also have one pet, a cat. So normally I would have to run the vacuum by hand after each meal. However, with the Roomba I have not had a need to do that. I have her run after dinner each evening in our dining area. Perfect! She picks up whatever the kids leave behind. Each morning I have her clean the family room, school room and game room. Once a week she does the bedrooms.I had concerns that because of my children liking to leave things behind, toys, books, etc. We'd not be able to use the Roomba. But each evening after dinner we do what we call "Roomba clean" so that she can do her job without running into landminds of books or toys. The house looks amazing and the carpet and hard floors look so nice after she has done her job.I am amazed at what the Roomba picks up. And boy does she go for awhile without having to be emptied.The spot clean feature is great for small areas. Love that and use it often!My cat is not scared of it, and he is a very jumpy cat. I was imagining a cat running scared. So I'd imagine most animals can tolerate it very well.I have a pet dyson and though I loved that, I needed to push that, plug it in, move it from room to room. I don't have the hassle of me being involved in the cleaning with this, which works great so I can do other things while she handle the floors.My only complaint is the light house/ virtual wall. I wish there were on off switches as it's truly a pain to have to put the batteries in to use it and take them out when I don't want it to (as they run as soon as the Roomba does) if you leave batteries in it. For the price of the Roomba I think it would be nice to have switches on those. But that's not enough to deter me from the Roomba.Also with a household like mine, I do wish Irobot would offer a lifetime warranty. I didn't purchase from them because at the time the price was $599 and the warranty was just 2 years. I purchased from Hammacher Schlemmer as they had a free shipping coupon $49 off, and a lifetime warranty. So out the door I paid $549.I know some folks say they sleep when they run Roomba. I could not do so as I do find her to be a bit loud. I guess if you are able to shut your bedroom door maybe and confined her to another floor you could do that.Every day I thank my husband for letting us use a bit of tax money for this little robot.