Roomba : IRobot Roomba 770

I purchased the Roomba 770 for around $550 including the purchase of a two year warranty in 2015. I don't know about you but a $550 investment in a robotic vacuum is kind of a big deal in my household. I have three children and both my husband and I work full time jobs so $550 is not a small amount of money to us so of course I was very apprehensive about buying a robotic vacuum, I have seen too many products advertised as miracle machines only to have them turn out to be duds and I expected the same thing from my Roomba, so I never pulled the trigger and bought one. However, I received the Roomba 770 on my 32nd birthday from my husband after expressing my interest in it. Yes, ladies I am the type of woman that got completely excited and beyond giddy over receiving a robotic vacuum and no it's not because I'm your Susie homemaker type, it's because I am the busy type. I saw the robotic vacuum as a way to cross off one of my many tasks from my to do list.

When pulling the Roomba out of its box my expectations were low because too many pieces of technology claim to do so much but instead do so little. I was instantly overwhelmed by the number of little pieces surrounding the round vacuum and decidedly gave up setting up the vacuum for over an hour because it looked like another confusing piece of technology that was going to take me forever to master.

However, an hour later I decided to put my big girl panties on and tackle the set up of the Roomba. Pulling pieces out of the box without reading the directions I found that I was able to decipher where things went. In fact I was only confused about two things and they were called virtual walls which I will discuss later. After removing the tabs from the Roomba so it would begin working I plugged in my charging station which didn't seem very impressive to me and then pressed the clean button on my Roomba. The little clean button lit up green and instantly I felt like I accomplished something. I then set the time on my Roomba, and this was easier to do then setting my time on my alarm clock or cell phone. After that I simply pressed dock and the little robot came to life scaring me half to death and began manipulating itself on my carpet in front of the docking station. The Roomba seemed confused for the first minute or so but soon got its bearings and parked itself perfectly on the docking station.

I allowed the Roomba to charge for 3 hours and then couldn't wait any longer before I went back to the docking station to hit the little green clean button again. This time the little robot came to life and started moving all over my carpeted floor with ease. When it would lightly bump into things it would spin itself around and try a new way like a pro. Needless to say I found myself following around my robotic robot like a small child with a new toy. I watched my Roomba glide from carpeted floors, to hardwood floors, to tile floors, and back to carpeted floors with ease. The little robot never got stuck for long and always found its way back out of any jam, which in my house is no easy feet.

Soon however, I saw a little red garbage can appear on my Roomba (since I was still following the darn thing around like a total dork). Even without reading the directions I was able to interpret that this meant it was full and needed to be empty. Accidently discovering how to empty the Roomba earlier when I was removing the tabs I felt empowered by my knowledge of knowing that I had to squeeze the black handle below the buttons to release the dirt storage container and pull it outwards.

The storage container which holds the dirt is not very big but I was still highly impressed by how much dirt, fuzz, hair, etc... the little robot had sucked up. Emptying the storage container was very easy and only involves lifting a little black rod out of the way and then simply dumping the dirt in the garbage. "Tah Dah I'm a Roomba pro." Inserting the storage bin back into my Roomba I pressed the green button and the little robot was back to work. Soon I saw the red garbage can appear again and I performed the above steps again. Now I know what you're thinking... the little robot can't hold much dirt. Well that's what I was thinking too at the time but reality was my house was just that messy. *embarrassing* When I turned the Roomba on the next day and let it clean again it lasted the entire cleaning of my entire living room, hallway, and kitchen before needing emptied. So sadly I had that many dust bunnies in my house the first time around.

When the Roomba's battery began to get low the little robot drove itself back to the docking station again with some confusion but figuring it out after a few minutes and docked itself and began charging for its next cleaning.

After having such a wonderful experience with the Roomba I decided to finally pull out the DVD that comes with the machine and watch it. I found out that with each cleaning I should also pull out the two yellow filters and clean them off, which is very easy because they are in the dirty storage bin that you must pull out anyways to empty. You simply pull up on the filters and they come out with ease, shake them over the garbage can and place them right back in. It really is as easy as it sounds.

I also discovered that the virtual walls were exactly what they were called. They were invisible walls that came out of a little black box the size of a camera battery charger which sent out a soundless signal to stop the Roomba from entering any rooms that you do not want it to travel in.

The DVD also provided more tips on how to further clean your Roomba and maintain its suction and mobility but overall I was able to pull the Roomba out of the box and clean four rooms in my house before reading any directions and I was pleasantly surprised that for once I had made an investment in a piece of technology that was ACTAULLY WORKING!

I run my Roomba every night after my children go to sleep because YES it is that quiet. It makes about the same amount of noise as a remote control car would make, so if your kids can sleep through that running in your house then your golden. I also have a small yippy dog that barks at thunder, knocks, loud steps, the sweeper, my steam cleaner, etc... but the Roomba is quiet enough and moves at a nice steady pace that my dog doesn't really pay any attention to it. He followed it around for a little while after I used it the first couple times but he didn't bark at it like he did with other vacuums that I've had before so that was another plus for me.

In closing if you are debating whether you should buy that Roomba you have been looking at or not... I SAY HECK YES GO BUY IT. Yes the little robot cleans the same places again and again, and yes it will miss things here and there, but my floors are the cleanest that they have been since I had children. Also, the proof of the little robot's work is right there in front of you when you empty the dirt bin.

***If you are someone that has pets that shed a lot I did discover that the Roomba has additional accessories that you can buy that have a larger dirt storage bin. I have a dog but he is the "non-shedding, hypo allergenic, prissy dog type" so I do not have any visible dog hairs to worry about so the regular dirt bin works very well for my household. However, households with shedding dogs may need to buy the larger storage bin. Also, I would recommend doing a quick scan of your floors for any toys or plugs that may get sucked up before using the Roomba.

But it really is just that easy. You press the green button and it does it's thing and charges itself. The only thing you have to do is empty it!

-Vacuums on its own using iADAPT clean technology

-works on carpeted floors, tile floors, hardwood floors, and linoleum floors.

-Automatically recharges itself

-Stays in rooms that you want clean and out of the rooms you don't when using the virtual walls or blocking it's way.

-Can clean at a scheduled time during the day. Even if you are not home you can program the Roomba to start cleaning on its on and then it will dock itself on its own to recharge!

-Comes with a HEPA Filter to help trap dirt, dust particles, and other allergens.

-Claims to get rid of 98% dirt, dust, and other debris, which I tend to believe.

-Height: 90 mm. or 3.54 inches

-Width: 343 mm. or 13.5 inches

-Weight: 3.8 kg or 8.38 lb

-System comes with the home base for charging, the Roomba vacuum, 2 auto virtual walls, Aerovac series 2 bin (which can be upgraded for homes with pets), Extra HEPA filters, two red brush cleaners, and a remote control (yes people it has a remote control just in case you can't be bothered to even get up to press its little green button!)