Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

It isn't the best thing ever, but it beats the hell out of doing the entire job myself. I've got one of those dyson mini-vacs for the corners (the kind that looks like a ray gun.) Yeah, it was expensive, but so is buying a long string of cheap dustbusters that don't do the job. I figured I only wanted to pay *once.*

And said spot-vac is how I'm going to deal with the little corners and edges; it's already what I have for dealing with scattered litter daily.

PS - there are also some extreme height differences between floors (for instance, new pantry is only 2 levels of linoleum; kitchen is about 4.) It doesn't gather well in those areas either, because as it climbs the threshold, its brushes lose contact with the edge.

Edited Date: 2010-06-27 09:46 pm (UTC)

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Oddly, this is the first time I've thought a roomba might work for me. I shall have to consider this further.

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I've mentally divvied the house into three parts (like Gaul) - I'm going to see what happens when I run it in a different part every day rather than let it bumble around the entire first floor.

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I shall wait to hear about future experiments. :)

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Alas, tonight I have to deal with the carpet cleaner instead, due to a severely hairballed cat. I can hardly wait to get rid of the carpet.

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Awww.

I have rugs for the bunnies to dance on, but otherwise, my floors are hardwood (except for the linoleum in the kitchen and marble in the bathroom).

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If I have to get new flooring I will find some click-and-lock, but my hope is that some decent hardwood is already underneath the carpet. The house was built in the 30s, so I stand a chance.

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Yeah. My place was built in the 80s, so when I moved in, my dad and I stripped the carpet (off white shag and my bun at the time had already started the job for us) and laid down tongue and grooved parquet tiles.

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not-hathor.livejournal.com

Oh lord, it's doing something obscene to the chain saw...

ROTFLOL!!!

We bought a Dyson vac shortly after we acquired Jethro, because Chow and Chow-and-a-half SHED like there's no tomorrow..... Pricey but VERY worth it....

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bentleywg.livejournal.com

Roomba tracking. "I set up a photo camera in my room, turned out all the lights and took a long-exposure shot of my roomba doing it’s thing for about 30 minutes. The result is a picture that shows the path of the roomba through it’s cleaning cycle, it looks like a flight map or something."

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That is really cool looking!

I need to limit its options. When it could roam the whole first floor, it had too much confusing territory to cover. I'm going to see what happens when I ask it to do the living room on Mondays and Thursdays, the halls on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the kitchen, pantry, and library on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Right now I can hear it from below as it fusses around M's rooms. We've put a childgate at the top of the stairs to prevent it from saying "goodbye, cruel world!"

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the new ones claim that they recognize steps and won't fall down them anymore, aren't supposed to get caught on elec cords or rug fringe, and come with some elec-eye posts to invisibly fence off any areas you don't want it going into. Wonder if Target has some really old models, or if these are only on higher versions.

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I think Target is selling the lower-end range - a nice introductory machine without a lot of $$ down. If Dalek Suck gets a sibling (I notice with amusement that someone on Amazon named theirs Gort), Suck will probably be confined to the kitchen/hallway/bathroom area where there are no cords or fringe to worry about, while the other model takes the front end of the house.

As for the extra features - I'm sure they're only on the higher end models. More processing capability = more $$$. But I am leaning more towards getting a pet version of my own; that sounds like a pretty powerful machine.

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oh! which model did you get? I hear there is actually a pet-hair model. Please let me know later on how you still like it. I know Rae Bradbury-Enslin has one and loves it. I'm thinking of getting one for Crick Hollow up north. between the long cat hair shedding and my own, and how seldom I vacuum - it's death to the motors of most machines. Soemthing liek this might be what I need.

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It's not the pet hair one, it's the cheapo at Target - the 440 (I think they're up to 500-something.) As long as you clear off the brushes afterwards, so far so good. I'll let you know how it behaves long term.

ETA: If it holds up nicely over the next few months, I may put out for the pet hair one, because there is a LOT of hair in this joint!

Edited Date: 2010-06-28 10:45 am (UTC)

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from the reviews I've read, it takes most of a year to really decide how it works. People love it at first, but the question is after a year, has it broken and the 'honeymoon' is over. I believe Rae has had hers for over a year and she still likes it.

If you do spring for the pethair model, I found this review while researching:

"The Best Deal on the Brand New, Roomba 532 For Pets is at Hammacher Schlemmer.

"Hammacher.com has the Roomba 532 For Pets on sale for $319.95. Hammacher charges no sales tax except for deliveries to NY, OH, and IL, and standard shipping is free for a limited time if you enter the coupon code ROOMBARV in the box marked "Shopping from our catalog?" at checkout. This free shipping offer is available exclusively through RobotReviews.com.

"The advantage of purchasing from Hammacher is that they offer a 100% Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee on everything that they sell. The Roomba normally comes with a 1 year standard warranty, but if you purchase it from Hammacher Schlemmer and you ever become dissatisfied with the Roomba for any reason, they will replace it or refund the entire purchase price, whichever you prefer!"

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Oh, now that is worth knowing! Now the question is - is that coupon still valid?

Also worth knowing is that my office mate says that she knows people who beta tested two of the pet hair models - on huskie hair. She says they were happy with it and continue to keep them.

Anything that handles huskies can handle cats.

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good to know about the beta-testers! I have no idea if the coupon is still good, there is no date on the webpage. But even if it's full price (gulp), its' the only place I've seen that has a 100% lifetime guarantee rather than the standard 1 year. So if there's a problem 1.5 years later.... worth checking out at least. here's a link to robotreview that I was saving <http://www.robotreviews.com/buy/roomba-562-pets> you may be able to find coupons for Hammacher Schlemmer also on the web, seems their lifetime guarantee is a standard think with them.

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radiantbaby.livejournal.com

I've been meaning to buy a Roomba with my tax refund money, but just haven't got around to it. Thanks for the review and also I love its name (I keep thinking of calling my future one a Cybermat or something)!

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