mrsgrizzle Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I am looking at robot vacuums this BF for my home. Mainly, there is a large open great room, the kitchen and a smaller adjacent family room that are hard floors and a pain to keep swept and clean. I would like the ability to clean carpets as well in the back of the house. I would like to be able to set a schedule for cleaning if possible. I see that Target has three bots on sale BF (including the Roomba 650) and Walmart has a Black and Decker one that I have to assume is made for them because the rest of Google has no idea what it is. My question is, is Roomba still the gold standard for robot vacuums or do you think the other newer manufacturers are making equally competitive machines these days? I have glanced over some reviews for the other brands and I'm seeing mixed reviews - some glowing, some awfully negative, and i have trouble trusting reviews these days knowing people are paid to review. Hoping someone here has had direct experience with alternate, potentially less expensive brands or information on a brand that could potentially outpace the Roomba. If I'm going to invest in one, I want the best for my dollar - as we all do, which is why we're here! Thanks in advance for any input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanyon71 Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Some of the competing brands are decent and do a good job for the money but in many peoples eyes (mine included) Roomba is still the best. Now the one thing I will tell you is go to the iRobot site and look them up and do a comparison of features. I say this because you talk of multiple rooms and I know some of the models are better suited for that than others. Some of the higher end ones have to ability to know where they have cleaned, where the charging base is and go to recharge themselves and continue cleaning after. We have an older model and we love it, we are looking at getting a newer one so it will deal with the long hair from our golden retriever and not ask me to clean the brushes every hour or so lol. One thing that still makes me laugh every time it does it is when it goes back home to charge once it mates to the dock it plays Da-Da-Da-TA-Da-Dahhh-CHARGE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsgrizzle Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 LOL That's great. Thanks for the advice. It looks like the 650 is what's going to be on sale most places and it meets some of the criteria with scheduling and transitioning from hard floor to carpet. We do have a cat and a beagle, so pet hair is a consideration. We have an old Scooba we bought from a garage sale and I love it. I am disappointed that they don't have current versions of it as I really like the way it squeegees the water back up instead of the way the Braava uses the cloth. I feel like it wouldn't pick up the dirt/pet hair as well as the Scooba. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanyon71 Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 LOL That's great. Thanks for the advice. It looks like the 650 is what's going to be on sale most places and it meets some of the criteria with scheduling and transitioning from hard floor to carpet. We do have a cat and a beagle, so pet hair is a consideration. We have an old Scooba we bought from a garage sale and I love it. I am disappointed that they don't have current versions of it as I really like the way it squeegees the water back up instead of the way the Braava uses the cloth. I feel like it wouldn't pick up the dirt/pet hair as well as the Scooba. We have thought about getting a scooba, we used to have a LOT of tile in our old house. New house we have a good amount of hardwood floors. Only problem I have is I need to figure out how to get the vacuum to run then tell a scooba OK i have the hair up you can go wash the floor now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bribri25 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 We have thought about getting a scooba, we used to have a LOT of tile in our old house. New house we have a good amount of hardwood floors. Only problem I have is I need to figure out how to get the vacuum to run then tell a scooba OK i have the hair up you can go wash the floor now. You could tell Alexa..... "Okay. I will have Scooba wash your floors now." (I kid; but i bet we're not that far off) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riven3d Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 we had a roomba, but then it got possessed somehow, so it was time for it to go. Need to get a new one, but its not on the priority list anytime soon, we have no carpeting in the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Amazon has the 650 for $274 today (same as Target's BF deal): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LX6OC6? Lowest price Amazon has ever sold it for. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymacfla Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 So if i read this correctly, it will self adjust and go over the carpeting instead of getting stuck when it transitions from the hardwood floor? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 I almost pulled the trigger on the 650 deal at Amazon, but after doing some reading a lot of people think it's worth paying the extra $ to move up to the 800 series, especially if you have pets as the 650 does require more frequent cleaning of the rollers. The Costco-exclusive 805 model might be what I go for. Would be nice if they'd put it on sale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shopping4my3son Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 Is there one that can vacuum and mop with one unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarta4 Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 We have the Roomba 650 and LOVEEEE it!! It moves over all of our floor types (tile, hardwood, and carpet) without any issues! We have 4 cats so this thing is a godsend! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msyves Posted November 14, 2016 Share Posted November 14, 2016 Reading this post has really moved me to bite down and get a Roomba. I've been needing one for years and I think the time is now. Thanks for posting this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsgrizzle Posted November 14, 2016 Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 Is there one that can vacuum and mop with one unit?Unfortunately not, at least that I am aware of. iRobot previously had the Scooba, and entirely independent mopping unit, that would lay down cleaning fluid, scrub and squeegee it back up into a dirty water tank. I have one I bought at a garage sale and love it but am certain it won't last forever. They replaced it with the Braava but I'm not a fan of the spray and wipe method of cleaning. It looks more like an automated swiffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsgrizzle Posted November 14, 2016 Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 I almost pulled the trigger on the 650 deal at Amazon, but after doing some reading a lot of people think it's worth paying the extra $ to move up to the 800 series, especially if you have pets as the 650 does require more frequent cleaning of the rollers. The Costco-exclusive 805 model might be what I go for. Would be nice if they'd put it on sale.That is what I've been reading and thinking I may just have to hit up Target since they will be doing 20% off all robotic vacuums. The 650 price was tempting, but like I said when I posted, if I'm investing the money, I want to make sure I'm getting the best for my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I ended up buying one of the $25 off $250 one-time-use costco.com coupon codes off eBay for 99 cents and ordered their exclusive 805 model (basically the 860 with an extra 2nd virtual wall) for $375 shipped. I think with these vacuums, Costco's generous return policy makes it worth getting it there vs. possibly saving a few bucks and getting one elsewhere. Target has the 860 for $499, so even with the BF 20% discount and 5% REDcard discount, it's still going to be about $380. I'll take the Costco deal over that. $5 less, one extra virtual wall and a better return policy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanyon71 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Please let me know what you think of it. We are looking to upgrade ours to one with better brushes with all the dog hair and that hopefully can do multiple rooms. We have been looking at the 980 but $800 is a huge chunk of money for a vacuum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packratfamily Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Please let me know what you think of it. We are looking to upgrade ours to one with better brushes with all the dog hair and that hopefully can do multiple rooms. We have been looking at the 980 but $800 is a huge chunk of money for a vacuum.For not much more than that we had a whole house vacuum installed back when DH had a better paying job. I have to do the work but I cannot see a robot cleaning up doghair from ours and fosters. Ymmv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanyon71 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 For not much more than that we had a whole house vacuum installed back when DH had a better paying job. I have to do the work but I cannot see a robot cleaning up doghair from ours and fosters. Ymmv.We have an older roomba right now and I have to clean the brushes a couple time's but it picks up all the dog hair on the woods floors and does a decent job on our carpets also. We only have the one long haired dog right now, I can imagine it would be more brush cleaning if our siberian was still around. The newer ones changed the brush design and it's supposed to fill up less I have heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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