One area in particular where Roomba seems to score over the Samsung is in getting caught up with cables. It proved much better and avoiding entanglements - Imperial or otherwise - and generally less prone to capturing objects and then just stopping.
Your plastic pal who's fun to clean with
It took a piece of rope to completely call a halt to proceedings, otherwise the Roomba was able to carry on moving around with a piece of cement underneath it, or dragging bubble wrap behind it, presumably in an attempt to imitate a Wirrn larva. It also managed to negotiate bedroom obstacles like the barbers’ chair - now a standard Reg Hardware benchmark obstacle - without getting stuck.
Considering you get three beacons to help guide it around the flat, as well as spare brushes, and it’s less likely to get stuck during your scheduled cleaning, the Roomba 581 does a pretty good job, for less money than Samsung’s equivalent.
But like all robot vacuums, you’ll probably still need to do a manual clean from time to time, especially if you’re particularly messy.
Verdict
It may lack the hi-tech camera-based mapping of the competition, but the iRobot Roomba 581 cleans well, comes with a good set of accessories, and makes a good job of avoiding cables and other traps. Great for grubby gadget fans, but still a bit expensive for most of us. ®
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iRobot Roomba 581 robot cleaner
COMMENTS
Chairs eh?
"The Roomba is incapable of dealing with them. It climbs on top of the leg and starts..."
Down! Bad hoover! Down I say!
Untidy wife?!
And there I was thinking it was a male trait, given all the females I know comment on my pigsty (which is tidy compared to this article). They don't seem to understand my sophisticated organisation scheme and think it is just crap strewn around.
@Anton Ivanov
".... It climbs on top of the leg and starts bleeping for help."
ROTFLMAO!
Thanks for that, a spot of light in an otherwise dull day.
I had an image of a Roomba in a nightclub frantically signaling to its mate... "I've found a pair of slappers who are up for it but you are getting the ugly sofa from Argos"...
And I thought my flat was a mess
Rope, bubble wrap, cement, and Lord only knows what crap appears in the photos of your office. You, Sir, live like a beast. I salute you.
It DOES suck - in a good way...
There are a few posts on here that say that the Roomba does not have a vacuum function, or that it does not suck - this is inaccurate.
It's true that the majority of the cleaning is done by twin counter-rotating bars (one to brush the carpet and one rubber one to beat the carpet), but the beating of the carpet brings the dust to the surface (much like if you whack an old sofa or train seat), and then at the back of the Roomba is a vacuum - albeit a low power one - which sucks up this dust.
I have a Roomba 560 which cleans my flat daily, and leaves it spotless. There's no point in having one if you use it infrequently as it's not meant for deep cleans, but with it running every day my carpet looks great.
