Roomba 4210
We bought this robot vacuum cleaner about 2 years ago. There are many features about it that I instantly liked. Firstly, it comes with a docking station, so once the battery starts to get low while the robot is cleaning, it finds its docking station and goes back for a re-charge. One battery charge usually meant the robot would run about 1.5 hours before needing a re-charge, so I could clean the entire upstairs, or downstairs in one go. Cleaning this bagless wonder is easy, pull out the filter slide and dust it away. Although some amount of dust accumulates in the tiny cracks which would have to be sucked out by a bigger more powerful vacuum (hmmm..).
Then the problems started, the battery started to get de-charged after about 10 minutes of cleaning. I learnt later that keeping this Roomba docked, and charging all the time keeps the battery draining, and eventually the battery dies. Why make a model which is designed to be stored so that the battery continues to drain. Needless to say, I had to buy a new battery (not cheap, abo 89$ US). This new battery, bought online from Robotshop.com, charges ok, but takes about 10 hours to fully charge, and then only runs for a cleaning of about 30 min. Now I know machines wear and tear and eventually lose performance, but I must say I am very disappointed with this loss in function. I think in the future I will stick with conventional vacuum cleaners and leave these futuristic gadgets until they make them better.
I wouldn’t recommend you buy one of these, unless you get is super cheap.
Written by Smriti on December 24th, 2008 with
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