A Review of iRobot's Roomba Vacuum

iRobot introduced the Roomba line of robotic vacuum cleaners in 2002. Since then over 2 million Roombas have been sold making the little round vacuum cleaner one of the best selling consumer robots in history.

I received the Roomba Red model on Christmas Eve in December of 2004. We have a strict “no appliances for Christmas” rule in our house but the Roomba immediately won my heart. This wasn’t your ordinary vacuum cleaner. No, this was a step into the new millennium, my very own robot that would actually do my chores.

I plugged the Roomba in overnight to charge as instructed. The next morning the whole family abandoned their stash of toys, sweaters, new books and knickknacks in favor of following the Roomba around as he cruised the house in search of dirt. Even though the house was already spotless (we were at my Mom’s afterall) we let the little red robot work his magic for hours.

The Roomba is bagless, similar to cordless handheld vacuum cleaners. I simply pulled out the compartment, dumped the dirt in the trash and reconnected him to his charger so he could recharge.

Notice how quickly my Roomba went from being a simple vacuum cleaner to a “him”? I soon found out this was not uncommon. Once I returned to my own home, I logged onto the iRobot website and quickly found a Roomba user community of devotees. Roomba groupies so to speak. Here people came to chat about their Roombas, many of whom had cute little nicknames for their robots. I sensed then that Roomba had achieved cult status.

My Roomba worked fine for about a month before it fell victim to the dreaded “circle dance” which, according to the Roomba forums, was a common Roomba ailment. I couldn’t imagine vacuuming my house the old fashioned way or getting out the broom for the tile floor. I had to get my Roomba fixed at any cost.