Roomba vs. Trilobite

BruceR wrote:
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might
Yes, it takes some getting used to. If you have trained your mind to like nice neat patterns on the carpet, and that means "clean" to you, then crop circles will probably drive you batty. I had the same initial reaction until I got used to it.
I also found that I couldn't stand to watch the Roomba work. I'd want to redirect it because it *looked* so inefficient in its patterns. Took awhile to learn to trust that it will eventually, in its own haphazard way, get to every area (and many that I usually skip when using a regular vacuum - like under the bed, under the sofa, under the dining room chairs).
I did find that turning it on before I left the house works best for me. That way, I don't have to stand there watching it. The whole purpose is to save time anyway. Standing over it fretting might've saved sweat work of pushing a vacuum, but it wasn't saving any time.
jen

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I also have a question regarding the Roomba...
How do these do in an area where this is both carpet and hardwood or linoleum flooring? Can it go from one to the other and back?
It would seem that going over that "hump" into the carpeted area might be difficult.
Thanks, Brigitte

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Yep, and it adjusts as needed when doing it.
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Ours climbs onto thick area rugs on carpet pads on the vinyl floor with no problems.

I have a roomba and I used it all the time. They do poorly to advertise it as a vacuum. It's a floor sweeper. A battery operated device will never compete with a multi-amp powered vacuum. I use the big vacuum much less now. The roomba cleans up nice after a meal where messy humans drop crumbs, raisins, peas and all manner of residue on the floors. Kitchen and dinning room where I use it are floor tiles. While you are doing the dishes the roomba can sweep the dinning room. I still have to run the big vac every so often and I still have to damp mop the floor (roomba does not remove sticky goo). But with the roomba the floor is over all much cleaner as I'm not going to get the big vac our after every meal and I'm sometimes to busy to run the push sweeper. Since I have roomba the push sweeper sits in the closet unused and unloved. The carpeted areas of this house have carpet too deep for roomba. Roomba does have small fine mesh filters but I wash them in soap and water and I get about 3 times the use the instructions claim out of them. The rechargable batteries are like all rechargable batteries; if you abuse them they don't last very long (ie over charge or leave sit dead). I have more trouble with the batteries in my drill than the roomba. I don't use the drill enough and the batteries die in the case. Charging them and then burning them dead again wears them out real fast. Bottom line, if my roomba broke I'd fix it or buy a new one. It sweeps the dirtiest floors in my house while I do other things. My only real complaint is about the little wall units. You push a button and they confine roomba to the room of interest. I wish that roomba could switch them on. If I forget to push the button on one (I have two of them) then roomba escapes from the area of interest and wastes time fighting the carpeted areas of the house. The adjustment you have to make to use roomba is to make a commitment to not lay power cords on the floor where roomba runs. James

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (aniram) sez:
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The Trilobyte is much smarter than a Roomba, but this doesn't turn out to matter much in performance. Hit enough areas and you get them all.
The Discovery series is much more reliable than the Red series and has some other features in it such as faster charging, remote-capable, etc. Also a much bigger bin.
We have a Discovery. It works quite well; it cleans hard floors (wood, textured vinyl) wonderfully even of cat litter, and gets closer in than our vacuums can. It does a nice job of sweeping the plush carpets, but for real cleaning of them, the central vac with the electric powerhead is really unbeatable. So we view the Roomba as a way to keep the house barefoot-clean, with a good vacuuming of stairs and carpets done every other week with real equipment.
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Both Trilobyte and Roomba do, though they call them "filters" and they last a long time. And so, of course, does our central vacuum, but again you don't replace it often. And our various other vacuums, except for a Eureka for which Sears sells bags.
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Roomba and Trilobyte aren't that way. But if you buy such a beast, I do suggest you get it as a place with a good return policy (in case you don't like it) and that you buy the extended warranty. Sharper Image, for example.

aniram wrote:
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Eek! For that price, I'd buy a Roomba to vacuum the house, *and* a Robomower to mow the lawn! (Robomower is a very well made machine and has been worth every penny for us).
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I suspect a lot of it is brand name alone. Electrolux is known to command top dollar.
jen