Roomba 800 Series

I have been using roomba 805s, two 960s and two 980s without the app - no wifi connection. They are probably the best irobot made, but they are really old. I recently bought a Matic vacuum (there is a reddit group for it) since the security is much better than other new robots. That was part of the design criteria.

I have three floors of primarily hard flooring to clean. Sweeping has largely ceased to be a thing due to my robot vac. It does area rugs decently as well. It’s not heavy enough to really get down in the fibers so I pull out the real vacuum every couple weeks and do over the rugs.  I don’t use the damp cloth “wiping” feature because my upper floors are slippery and the robot spins in circles over its own tracks once it has wet the floor. In my basement, my tiles are kind of rough and I don’t think damp wiping would be effective so I don’t use that part either. When it’s time to unleash the robot vac, I do a quick run around for any large enough items or debris that it’s gonna choke on and remove them. I sweep dust and debris out of the corners where the robot wouldn’t fit out onto the main floor. Then I run the bot and come back later to empty. (Usually done before 90 mins) They make ones with vacuum bases that empty themselves. It’s convenient. If you get a vacuum base, get one with washable base filters instead of a vacuum bag that needs replacing after every fill. My friend bought an expensive one that vacuums and mops with spinning pads that self empties, self rinses, and dries its mop pads back on its base with heated water. He seems to like it. His house is all wood-look tile. Unfortunately his has vacuum bags as consumables. I also worry spinning action might swirl some missed grit around on any more delicate flooring. I’ve got a Shark IQ with the self-emptying base(vacuum only),  a secondhand Roomba 890(vacuum only, manual empty every use), and a Yeedi K700 in white and rose gold coloring(he’s pretty). Yeedi has the optional mop bin with the wipe cloth I don’t use. And is manually emptied every use. They make it simple to pass a mop myself after the robot does its run. 

I had an 870 that lasted forever till two years ago.. it started speaking Chinese so I decided is time had come

Agreed. I had a Roomba top model since 2014. I recently got a Dreame L40. I cannot belive how far iRobot fell behind. I always stuck with them becaue I always had good response and customer service, but wow. What these newer ones can do is amazing.

My Roomba is also lasting like forever, I just replace the battery every couple years and it still comes back with a lot of debris it captured. The bot is 880. Also their new LiDAR bot is high quality too

As an early adopter, I had a Roomba for 10 years, very reliable 880. I bought a Eufy replacement. Not nearly as effective. Tangled roller. Blockages. Poor coverage and buggy software. So I bought a Roomba Max 705 and very happy with it. I welcome the fast pace of innovation now in this sector though. Being able to clean the stairs will be a huge step. Followed by arbitrary surface cleaning - probably need a humanoid for that.

I bought a new roomba in 2016 i think it was an 800 series. It was an absolute piece of crap from day 1. Would get lost, couldn't get up on its dock, would just spin around and move it along. Wouldn't run on schedule. And eventually got to where it would just run into things full speed like it's sensors didn't work at all. We did customer support and they just said to do firmware updates but never fixed. Gave to my sister who ultimately threw it away. I'll never own another.