Robotic Vacuums

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
A year ago my son gave us a Roomba robotic vacuum as a means of effortlessly cleaning all of the dog hair his dog would shed at our house. I must admit that I had seen these for years but kind of scoffed at their efficacy. The Roomba effectively has a 2 hour charge time on the battery before it returns to the docking station. As well the Roomba would go wherever the battery would take it and often get caught between chairs. Frequently as a result it could not return to the docking station for recharge. Nonetheless the amount of dirt that the Roomba removed was astonishing. We could not believe it all came from our house

Well over the years these robotic vacuums have become much better and are guided from your smart phone using blue tooth.

Research of the best units on the market have lead me to the Neato D7 Botvac Connected.

This one is the goods. It has also about a 2 hour charge time and always returns to the dock station to recharge before it relaunches to finish the rest of the house. It will never stop until it has cleaned the entire house. It will send a message to my iPhone that it is stuck and come release it. It always tells me when to clean the bin as well as telling me when to replace the roller or filters etc.

What makes this Neato D7 so unique is that it maps a floor plan of the house and once done it never bangs into anything

It cleans everything. We have hard wood, carpet and tile and it cleans each one perfectly. The amount of dirt it removes is astonishing.


This Neato D7 made me a believer in robotic vacuums. This one is the goods and has an MSRP of $700

Here is the map it created of our first floor

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dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
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I have 2 Roomba 980s and the only time I have ever had an issue is when it gets stuck under furniture or on a cord. Other than that they have worked flawlessly and clean very well. They return to the base when the battery is dying and will complete the job when fully charged.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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Beverly Hills, CA
Thank you for this report! I have been curious about robot vacuums and I have been wondering which one will prove to be the best as the technology matures.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I have 2 Roomba 980s and the only time I have ever had an issue is when it gets stuck under furniture or on a cord. Other than that they have worked flawlessly and clean very well. They return to the base when the battery is dying and will complete the job when fully charged.

I think you have the better model than I do in Roomba.

I was quite content with mine until I started hearing about Neato and FWIW Neato ranks number one with its D7

TBH I never thought that I would ever get one of these but when you see what the robot collects in the dust bin you will be impressed
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
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They do do a great job.

Now they need to build a robot to dust my equipment without breaking anything. I hate dust.
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
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Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
We just got the Roomba 960. It cleans incredibly well and has lots of smarts, goes back to the base when the dust/dirt bin gets full or runs low on battery. And then keeps going. Also provides maps like Steve posted of the areas it has cleaned. It takes about 90 minutes to clean what we have it do on our first floor. For grins I took it up to the theater and it must have gotten confused. It cleaned for 6 hours. And unlike the older models which seem to go in a random pattern (lie the one my sister in law has) this one pretty much does the straight line thing - which fits well with my OCD nature.

These things have come a LONG way !!
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
73
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Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
Are they noisy ? Do power cords matter on the docking station ? :p

No noiser than you would expect them to be. Better power cords allow to clean with much better resolution, they run at almost 4 times the RPM, and take less time to clean. And the dirt collection bag never needs emptying. The fact that the better power cord cost 4 times what the vacuum did is of little importance, in the grand scheme of things.
 

Tango

VIP/Donor
Mar 12, 2017
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Bangkok
No noiser than you would expect them to be. Better power cords allow to clean with much better resolution, they run at almost 4 times the RPM, and take less time to clean. And the dirt collection bag never needs emptying. The fact that the better power cord cost 4 times what the vacuum did is of little importance, in the grand scheme of things.

I need to get this robotic vacuum. Thanks Steve for bringing this to attention. I never thought it would actually work.

Regarding suggestion on power cord. My Siltech Tripple Crown connect to Siemens microwave does bring my TV dinner to the level of Le Cordon Blue.

Tang :)
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
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The Neato D7 Botvac sounds terrific.

The question is, is it as good as Rosie?


 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
The Neato D7 Botvac sounds terrific.

The question is, is it as good as Rosie?



Funny you should ask as when you load the Neato app it asks you to name your robot. Mine is called Daphne
 

KeithR

VIP/Donor
May 7, 2010
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Encino, CA
so do these robot vacuums bump into stuff? i don't want it bumping into any audio stuff.

we just bought a Bissell Robot and haven't tested it out.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
. Yes they bump. This is how they learn and set up a road map for each of your floors. BTW if you have concerns you set up no touch zones. My Neato D7 Connected comes with a lengthy flat rubberized magnet. I then set up a zone beyond which the Neato will not pass. So similarly if you are worried about what effect the bump might have use this magnet and lay it in front of your equipment you don't want touched. Then when the robot generates the graphic of your room you easily set up no pass zones. The magnet is used only once

Ive tried the Roomba and was a bit disappointed. Roomba has subsequently upgraded but has silly functions IMO. I then bought and still have a Neato D5 Connected which I use upstairs as well as now a D7 connected for my main floor. I was a disbeliever of these when they were first released but they are so much better now. Battery life is much longer and if not finished the Bot returns home to charge and as soon as full it starts off to finish the cycle. I won't ours come into our family room because of a large shag type rug which it can navigate but takes longer so we set the magnet and the robot learned not to enter that area

For us the strong point is how efficient they are to pick up pet hair and small areas of debris that we cannot even see. When we empty the dirt bucket I am astonished what it picks up. You set your cycle when you want it on, at what time etc. You get a message if it is stuck and after each complete cycle I get a map of what was cleaned, how many square feet were covered and how long it took. It tells me when to change the brush and sends reminders to empty the dirt basket.

Ours is indispensible
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
3,409
2,794
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Steve, what don’t you like about the Roomba? I have a 960 and it works really well. You can set up what is basically an electric fence so it won’t bump into equipment. It cleans very well.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
The newest Roomba was pushing $1K and IIRC it is rather large and round. I found as a result they don't get into corners well. Hence my decision to go with the D7 Connected by Neato and it was over $300 less than yours.

I can set the fence as well. I described that above and as stated have the D5 upstairs and the D7 downstairs

There are many robotic vacuums on the market. I like Neato
I think all of them can be controlled by your smartphone
 

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