iRobot - Roomba 880

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.

I'm looking for a new self-emptying robot vacuum. What's my best choice for something that can go at least 5 years without service beyond periodic cleaning and battery replacement? I'm not interested in a mopping model or anything with unproven new features like the robot arm. Those are cool features, but they introduce more moving parts. My top criteria are reliability, powerful carpet cleaning that can capture cat hair, and good suction when transitioning to tile areas. Boring, time-proven mechanisms are ideal for me! I loved my Roomba 880 units. They performed daily cleanings for a decade with only a few easy self-service wheel swaps and battery replacements. These really set the standard for me. I only replaced the pair because I wanted a newer unit with mapping and the self-emptying feature. However, newer Roombas have proven to need more babysitting and have out-of-stock replacement parts. I'm 24 days into waiting even to get a reply with an ETA on the warranty service for my Combo j9+, which is fully out of commission. (This, despite buying it with their premium warranty upgrade!) Even before that, it was prone to getting stuck in places where the Roomba 880 didn't, and app misfeatures often frustrated me. I suspect my new daily workhorse should come from another company. The comparison tool on the Roborock website wanted to steer me toward a mopping model or the robot arm model.

Roomba 800(?) pet series. First one just for gobs of hair; two dsh and 1 Golden. Works well BUT I do get well-rolled-up wads of hair left behind. Tightly wadded, easy to pick up though.

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.

Yeah it was iRobot’s game to lose, and, well, they fucked it up royally in ways that will be case studied for decades to come. That said I have an iRobot 805 as my garage roomba and what an unstoppable little beast it is. Except for the fact that it gets stuck under my 911, it’s practically perfect for that use case.

I have a Roomba as well (older 800 series), but find that I am having to do as much maintenance on it to keep dog hair out of the wheels, gears, and really any spinning parts as much as it would be to just sweep the floor myself. Is yours designed for pet hair?

Buy an old roomba instead, (500/600/700/800/900) they are the most reliable you can get.

Your experience must be with the cheaper Roombas. I bought a $500 Roomba and base and my experience was the same as yours. Hot trash. Sent it back and even that was a bad experience, they never refunded me and I had to do a credit card charge back. But then I bought a $250 roborock + base. Wayyyyyy better. Never have to tinker with it. Completes our kitchen, dining room, main bedroom, and living room in 35-40 minutes. Does multiple floors/mapping. Vac and mop. A lot quieter than the Roomba. Very clean floors, like I'm blown away at how well it vacs, the Roomba left little crumb piles  everywhere. I have not manually vacuumed anything since I've bought it other than to spot clean when my dogs destroy a toy or something. Overall there is a reason irobot is going out of business. Roombas are overpriced and perform poorly. But not all robot vacuums are created equal and other brands are both cheaper and higher in quality.

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.

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! ❤️❤️❤️