Roomba to buy or not to buy?

[Herbus]

Hi,
I'm probably the only Dutch forum member without a Roomba
In the search for a good (domotica and WAF compliant) Christmas present I consider if the Roomba 555 is a must have. Is it worth the investment of € 409,--??

Looking forward for your opinions….

[AshaiRey]

I think it's worth the investment.
However i am also keep an eye on this one
http://www.bright.nl/de-neato-xv-11-de-roomba-killer

[Digit]

Buy!

[Rene]

Spent your money on something else!

[Herbus]

Why?

[Digit]

Ah, you also want to know why
Because my wife is happy with it and it really works for us, that's why!

[Rene]

Because I think it is a waste of money. Taking the vacuum cleaner by hand, or better let someone else do this, does in most houses a much better job. Just my opinion.

[Digit]

IIRC there's a 30 day money back guarantee.

[kris2lee]

I think that Roomba is not worth the investment. why? Because it will just run around and there is a better product that will hopefully soon become available also in Europo - Neato XV11. But your money into deposit and wait until it is available.

[Bwired]

I think i have to disagree on the Neato XV11
http://www.neatorobotics.com
It can be better performing but thats not all I look at!
I checked the manuals and specifications, the Neato can not be remote controlled and has no kind of interface at all.
Looks like it can only be programmed on the LCD display
So for us geeks this is not a good choice......

[Alexander]

Well if you take the mapping into account, I would decide to buy it eventhough it doesn't has a interface. If this really works I would trash my Roomba.
It really gots my attention: No extra sensors needed for rooms!
Plus: you can solder some joints to use it with for example jeenode... Just replace the start button.

[Digit]

I watched the promo's and saw nothing new, actually. It's more of the same, if I may say so.

But what is this, cannot control this thing from my iPad???
Producing a robot and not thinking about remote control, what kind of design is that? Half finished.
Yeah I know, we still see too much of those, even now...

Imo the Roomba is a proven concept , it gets everywhere (I can say that, based on my own experience), it gets the job done (again, based on my own experience), even without a laser guided map. OK, I admit, that does sound cool
I wouldn't bet my money on something this new; you get all the child diseases for free

But hey, who am I, maybe I'm not that good at valuing advertorials.

[AshaiRey]

@BWired

the Neato can not be remote controlled and has no kind of interface at all

I have a Roomba530 that doesn't have remote control or what so ever. (it has a programmable usb bus although)
I still was able to autoamte it and start it due to a schedule. More here:
domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=17&amp ... 647#p43647

One thing i didn't see here is that the Neato is 4 times faster than a roomba and do an equally good job. That means that it can cover 4 times the floor area as the roomba on one battery load. Or turn that around. The battery will not get a deep discharge cycle everytime if i do the whole ground floor in one sweep

[Bwired]

Ok everything can be controlled, but I need a roombagarage for your solution
Perhaps this can be the remote for the Neato

[Wim2008]

Why do you need a roomba?

B.R. Wim