iRobot Roomba 560 Vacuum Cleaning Robot

I love this vacuum cleaner. It's amazing how much dust it picks up!

I have both wooden floors and carpet and it does both well. It loses one star because it doesn't like my long hair much and every few weeks I have to spend some time giving it a thorough clean otherwise it won't work properly and just beeps forlornly at me.

I can't believe the amount of dirt this machine pickes up. For a family of six, I am impressed. I run it everyday before I leave work and when I get home, I empty it out for another run.

Brilliant product, everyone should have one. It sits in the corner of the room inactive, you go out, and when you come back a few hours later it's still there, but now it's full of dirt and dust and dog hairs. 30 seconds to clear it out and the little robot is ready to go again. It doesn't pick up EVERYTHING, but then we have a dog. Instead of having the vacuum out every day to make the house liveable, we now bring the mega-suck vacuum out once a fortnight. In between times, the iRobot keeps the house tidy and keeps the dog hair barely noticeable.

I purchased a Roomba 560 and it came with electronics that made real sense. Lighthouses that allowed the unit to clean one room, move to the next and then clean the next room. I needed another to make life simpler, so I purchase another unit ...but the manufacturer "Dumbed Down" the model 560 and did not include the "lighthouses" that made life simpler! They made a lame decision ...AFTER releasing the model 560, to leave out an important function. After contacting "Roomba" I was informed that they did this so they could market the higher end models that weren't selling. STUPID DECISION ...You should improve the product, not make it less functional. Now I am left with having to return the dumbed down version and pay for shipping, re-packaging the unit and purchasing an older model that hasn't been "dumbed down".

Obviously, a bad situation for any consumer! Hands down on poor product model decisions. They should have simply renamed the model and market it as a different dumbed down model. Yet they confuse the consumer by leaving the same model that is functionally different than the previous ...and not in a good way, it should have improved.

This vac is for keeping the house clean not getting it clean. It is automatic and works when we go out. The only maintainece is emptying the dust bin daily and picking tangles or fluff from the brushes. It works by going over and over the room not one massive suction blast and so it is gentle oin our persian rugs and the wood floors, it even gets bits from under the skirtings and of couse it goes under the furniture.

I could rave about this all day - clearly a lot of R&D has gone into this and it's a far cry from the 'tomorrow's - world' units of the 90's which weren't developed enough to be released to the consumer market.

There are some great deals to be had too. I bought mine from www.webelectricals.co.uk and got FREE delivery - didn't know anyone still did free but these guys do and delivery was prompt too!

If you buy one of these you will not be disappointed - it does what it says on the tin and it does it well...very well imo.

This iRobot Roomba 560 Vacuum Cleaning Robot is an excellent little machine does exactly what it says on the box - it vacuums your floor while you are doing something more interesting. What it lacks in power it makes up for by spending a good half hour on a room 16 feet square, and it also detects particularly dirty spots and spends extra time on them.The payoff for this is finicky maintenance. A recorded voice will frequently ask you to untangle the brushes or empty the dust box, and mine has a nasty habit of shutting doors after entering rooms and trapping itself where it can't get at the charging point.Getting the best out of the machine is easy, though. Just use it every day. Press 'clean' every time you leave the house or go to bed or want to annoy the dog, and let it get on with the job. Even if, like me, you have animals in your house, a daily vacuum with this machine is more than enough.