iRobot - 670

Friend of mine has kids and came over several times and asked me what I was doing to my floors that made them feel so clean. I had no idea but around 6 months later I gave them my old Roomba 670 (the stupid one that bounces randomly off everything) while I upgraded to a Roborock Q5 Max+. Only after running my Roomba for a week in her apartment did she realize that the feeling she had in my house was from having actually clean floors. Since then she's tossed the Roomba and picked up the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra and *loves* it. Now her floors feel cleaner than mine and I've debated upgrading to a robot that does mopping but probably will give it another year to let the technology mature and come down in cost.

You can get third party batteries that work fine. I would guess that it's unlikely that the manufacturer makes their own batteries anyway. Batteries are still available for my 5+ year old roomba 670

I mostly agree. I had to stop using scheduled runs after my X1 omni spread dog poo throughout the house (including rugs). My dog is toilet trained but just decided to carry in an old poo from outside one day. I couldn't have predicted it. At the same time the uses and priority of features vary so much between users. Some people are minimalist and tidy, so won't have to babysit robots either way. Another example is my garage robot vacuum, that just needs to handle large debris like leaves and twigs. My ancient roomba 670 has a bin opening the length of the roller, which is uncommon now but perfectly suited to the debris in my garage. I get that this is an obscure use though.

I have an iRobot roomba from about 2015. Still works great. It can connect to an app but doesn’t need to and has simple replacement filters and parts. Easy to clean. I did need to replace the battery once. I think the lower models with less connection needs must end up outlasting for this reason.

Older roombas are simple, reliable, durable, effective, and cheap. But they don't have smart navigation or mapping where you can ask them to clean specific areas. If you want navigation they become less cheap and less durable. I have a 10yo 600 series roomba and a new Roborock Q5. Q5 is great but I'm skeptical that it's going to last as long.

Four cats, two with LOTS of hair. Our old Roomba 600-series works just fine, both on persian carpets and wooden flooring.

I have a Roomba 564 Pet I bought when my son was 6 months old. He's now 14 and the Roomba would be still doing the job if this little bastard had not screwed the elly plaque's screwheads. I bought a new battery I cannot replace because of that (I'll Dremel them out after the Spring clean out). So it was working since 2011, August. The other Roomba, a 600 something bought on discount in a clearance sale when my son was 6 or 7, is still going strong. I wonder how the Dreame L50 Pro Ultra is going to perform. It is my Mother's Day present, but we're not done with the Spring-clean so it just worked in the living-room.

I beta tested a shark and an update randomly disconnected it from the app and it would not connect again and their beta test support was useless in getting it reconnected. Tried blaming it on my mesh system. I went as far as to get a stand alone router/wifi from my internet provider and hook that up and try to connect it that way and still the same thing. The app would freeze once it found the robot, even after updates. I really liked how the vacuum worked up until then but I’d never buy one after that. My 600 series Roomba and i3 Roomba have never had Wi-Fi issues on any of our network iterations over the years. I ended up buying a Eufy over Black Friday.

I have a 600 series that works perfectly. After 6 years

I like automation for certain things more than others. I have a “dumb” roomba that I love and really have no need to automate its activities due to the active nature of our home as it would introduce complexity that’s unnecessary. I just use it when no one is home and I need a helping hand. I employ various smart plugs for things like Christmas lights, scentsy warmers, my percolator coffee pot, & my pool’s robotic vacuum (which I love) but I don’t have any need for wifi thermostats or other built in items etc. Wifi water leak sensors are the bees knees and I feel that every home should have them everywhere there’s water. Mine are hubless- they do show up in alexa. For both my pool and hot tub I employ simple mechanical timers. Most all of my settings are “set & forget” pretty much for all these devices. Some of my mechanical timers are 10+ years old and still work fine. Their caveat is that they lose time in a power failure but they are only dependent upon one thing - electricity instead of electricity and wifi. The load required for some equipment is greater than the rating of basic smart plugs so my big equipment automation will stay “dumb” for foreseeable future. I have many “smart” capable devices but do not employ a singular smart home system. My cameras for instance just use their own app, same with my wifi. I do use alexa for all the plugs because I have various brands. I have 1 echo dot as my patio sound system (its on the ceiling out of reach) I generally don’t attempt to do anything with it but play music and turn on my string lights via a smart plug. I have turned off most of its features. I don’t do the -if this then that -type automation. Mainly just basic schedules. Few electronics are BIFL so I don’t spend alot on them. ($6-$10 for a smart plug, $30 for a camera) But my basic 600 series roomba aquired via fb marketplace for $60 has been a tank! It’s basically fully rebuildable with aftermarket parts readily available. The pool robot (dolphin) is a luxury and probably the most expensive item- they are definitely not BIFL. But I want my pool cleaned daily and I don’t want to have to do it so i pay the tax lol 😂 it’s certainly cheaper than paying someone. Mine is not “smart” its one of the most basic models but it can be controlled via automation mode by a smart plug or simple timer to engage its cycle which is what I have done. Almost All my TVs are now roku tvs - this is mainly due to the prices. There’s no real discount for buying a dumb tv & we appreciate the integration/having only 1 remote since we either stream or watch over the air channels. When they no longer receive updates I will just get a new standalone roku device for them. Fwiw some of my cheapo smart plugs are 5+ years old and still provide me daily service. Some of my cams are close to 7 years old. (Wyze cams) and have lived outdoors in the south in enclosures their entire lives.

Picked up a Roomba 600 Series at Costco going on 10 years ago now. Changed the brushes and beater bar a few times and it's still working flawlessly.