iRobot - Roomba 550

Because they break too easily, usually right after the warranty is up. I started with the 550's and they lasted 3-4 years, with new batteries half way though. I bought a RoboRock I7, and it was dead in a little over a year, and there's no easy way to repair them. So do roll the dice and try to fix the cliff sensor (it's always the cliff sensor, and waste $50 trying to repair it, or throw it in the trash and use a broom? I'm going with the broom.

We have three dogs and one being a Golden Retriever. Our 15 year old 500 series Roomba has zero issues cleaning that.

Neato XV series for being awesome and being the first robot vacuum to feature a lidar sensor roomba 500 series, for a while they were the most popular robot vacuums ever made and still the most reliable, other than battery replacements they can last more than 15 years without issues Roomba 980, the thing is still a beast at cleaning and the navigation is good enough. No keep out zones or anything but it does its job well

The older Roombas could be set to clean once per day at a specified time, so you could have 7 scheduled cleanings. There are buttons to set the clock and then a cleaning time for each day of the week. I still have 2 of them, one is a 650 and the other is a 500 something. I don't think they make them anymore, but I am sure you could find one. These 2 both still work. I don't have an app for them, but I have a 3 foot dowel rod I use to push the start button, If you have connection problems or simply don't want to connect to the internet, the solution is to not connect. Just push the start button. The advantage of the Roomba brand is that you can get replacement parts easily and they run forever. There's lots of info on how to repair them. Don't know if the other brands have that knowledge base yet.

If it's just one room, get one of the old random bounce around Roombas with the bristle roller. 500 or 600 series. They're great at picking up litter and combing embedded pet hair out of carpet. I have a 692 I keep just for that. They're also super cheap because everyone wants the self-emptying models now. I see the older ones pretty often at thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for under $30.

Our roomba tries to keep up. Hal (main floor roomba) needs maintenance every few days. But man 2 days where Hal is off duty and you can see it. The tumbleweeds roll in. Hal doesn’t replace vacuuming or steam cleaning area rugs. He does however help keep the dusting down and limits the tumbleweeds . My better half will tell me don’t pause Hal he is doing https://preview.redd.it/7mmkuro4c1ef1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fd808d8cc6c7e830934f5fb947860ae71518915 Gods work ROFL. We have 3 dogs 2 super shedders GSD and Husky/GSD mix and 1 wire hair terrier. This year we have had to even vacuum dogs as well. They are so worth it! ❤️❤️❤️

No robot vacuum is going to do well with stones and if there’s snow, it’s going to get wet when it melts. You’d probably want to get something industrial quality, like Makita or Pudu, but those are HUGE and probably will be too big for 600 sqft. If you meant pebbles when you said stones, you might have a better chance with one of the older iRobot Roombas (500-600/Professional series) with the high capacity sweeper bin. They are cheaper on eBay now and don’t have as many problems as the Dirt Dogs. I don’t think any household robot is going to clean up stones at all. And even if they somehow do, it’s going to get clogged in the auto emptying dock.

I bought one a while ago for the novelty since it was a black Friday sale (and I suck at keeping a schedule to vacum. Didn’t have mapping but I thought it would be smart enough to still navigate just fine. Instead it just rams into things then randomly changes direction. Meanwhile, a coworker bought some  bootleg that cost a fraction of the price and it runs flawlessly. All the extra shit that roomba charges for in it’s higher tier models are included for free.  Never buying another roomba product. They’ve clearly just been coasting off of brand recognition.

We named our Roomba Harry. We have a lab/beagle mix.

Mine is named Robbie, I can’t keep the floor clear enough to use him. My goal for the weekend is to clear his path. Wish me luck!