IRobot Scooba

• Reviewed by: nhar

  Strengths: love the concept enough to have bought three since introduction.

  Weaknesses: plugging in battery charging cables have zapped two tvs.power spikes when fully charged ruining tvs, lights, etc.

  Overall: can not get truthful answers from i robot's customer service teams...isn't someone responsible for this????can the charging cord cause a fire? i have also found that the robot's battery alsogoes bad if left plugged in and not used for a while.

• Reviewed by: abuiltmale

  Strengths: Cleans fairly well when working

  Weaknesses: Doesn't work right very often

  Overall: I first got the 5800 refurbished at the end of Dec 2007, within 2 weeks it broke. Robot sent me a new 5900 and that soon broke too. I'm now on my fourth unit and 3rd battery and the left wheel has frozen on me! I've really had it with this piece of junk. Every time its something diff. with this piece of junk. Don't buy it, you have been warned!!!

• Reviewed by: knowledgeseeker

  Strengths: Has none.

  Weaknesses: Design flaw in the battery charge circuit will ruin the battery quickly, if the robot is plugged into the power supply. Does not clean corners or edge of floor very well.

  Overall: A design flaw in Scooba's battery charging circuit, will destroy the battery if left connected to the power supply for an extended period of time, which in my case was about a month. I discovered this design flaw after the warranty period, because all previous charge cycles were done by removing the battery from the robot, and placing it in the charging station. The charge station will cut off properly when the battery is full. I only had at most 7 discharge cycles before the battery failed to hold a charge. When I phoned iRobot concerning this issue. I was at first told there was a design flaw in the software that caused the battery to be overcharge, and that I'd be sent a software update to fix that problem. But when I asked for a replacement battery, I was told that since I was outside the warranty window, I would need to purchase a new battery for the unit. Their explanation for why the battery failed changed to, you didn't use the product often enough, that is why the battery failed. Being an electronic design engineer with 25 years experience in circuit and software design, I found that comment to be pretty ridiculous for a product that has a nickel metal hydroxide battery. My advise, go out an buy a good mop, and forget about this product. You can use that money to buy something more useful, and avoid the hassle of fooling with iRobot's customer service. You'll also save the expense of another battery when yours fails after a few uses.

• Reviewed by: akaskip123

  Strengths: Will wash floors for about 3 months until it is out of warranty.

  Weaknesses: After 3 months expect problems to start happening. Parts wear out quick, battery will die after 6 months.

  Overall: Battery is expensive to replace and will die after warranty expires. I had a problem where the scooba could not go straight, always veared to the right after 3 months of use. Again outside of warranty period. Left water streaks all over floor many times. Support tried to sell me on another machine rather than address the battery issue of dying before its time. Appears to be an issue with the scooba. Save your money until they start really supporting thier product. I will not buy another irobot product until it has a 3 year warranty, too expensive, lesson learned.

• Reviewed by: Docdavesi

  Strengths: It certainly cleans while you are not, and does a pretty good job of it. I don't think our floor has ever been cleaner.

  Weaknesses: There are area that we cannot run the Scooba because it jams on floor transitions (between Tile and Wood) Cleaning the unit after it's done cleaning is not bad, but could be easier

  Overall: We were skeptical about using these "robots" to clean our home, but we have a 2 y/o which makes cleaning the house a full time job. My wife and I both work and have lost the motivation for cleaning the floor as often as is truly necessary. Wa La, iRobot enters our life. We now have Roombas sweeping our floor daily and the Scooba washing our floors 1 - 2 times per week. We are satisfied customer! If you're a compulsive cleaner, you may not find these products excellent. But if you're busy and looking for help, they're lifesavers.