Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Purchased the iRobot 805 at a warehouse store because of an instant $50 off at register deal. I had researched them before the holidays and was confused by all the different options, models, and accompanying wide range of prices. Did I need the $200 one or the $900 one? In the end, after reading enough reviews, I decided maybe it just wasn't for me and moved on. Then I happened to walk by this $50 off display and made an impulse buy as a Christmas present, figuring if it didn't work well, I would be using the warehouse store's very generous return policy. Heck, a fairly high-level model at a low budget price? I'm a sucker for those kinds of deals! It's not going back, because we love it! I strongly recommend reading several of the reviews for the different models. This will quickly allow you to set more realistic expectations about what this thing can and can't do. We do use the virtual wall barriers and they are effective. These are normally set to keep "Dobby" (yes, you do have to name it) confined to the living room and adjacent kitchen area. Other areas of the house are off limits by setting a virtual barrier across the hallway openings, which keeps Dobby from getting into too much mischief. When we're ready to clean those areas, we just relocate the virtual wall barriers to confine him elsewhere. Impressions: The novelty of a cleaning robot makes it compelling and fun to watch! I'm sure this will wear off sooner or later but it puts a silly grin on our faces to see this thing trundling along sucking up dust and dirt. It does a surprisingly good job - just forget about trying to figure out the pattern. It's a random pattern that gets the job done. You can't say it's inefficient - yes you can always run a vacuum cleaner yourself probably faster. But now you can go do something else while the room is being cleaned. It's really fun to know this is happening without you having to drag out the vacuum cleaner, unwind the cord, and sweep the floor. The dust bin needs to be emptied after each use. Don't give it too much of a task - start in a single room or two and grow from there by adding one more room at a time until you find what works for you. It is easy to pick up the virtual wall barriers and confine it to a new part of the house. Do pick up the stuff on the floor you don't want the Roomba to suck up or drag around. Because it will. It's as simple as (for us) lifting the thin power cord for our home phone up off the floor and temporarily lifting up an extension cord out of the way. Of course, picking up a pillow, clothes, or kid's toys off the floor should go without saying. Dobby has encountered cords for lamps and things like that but seems to work its way free on its own without shutting down or sucking them up. It will shut itself in a bathroom or closet if you just have the door open. Either close them to keep it out or prop it open so it won't shut itself in. Not too hard! Also, I've seen reviews complaining that they expect this one to "map" their floors. I see the super-top-of-the-line model claims to do that but nowhere do I see the 805 description making this claim. Reading the reviews will give you a really good idea of what to expect. Take the time to read a lot of them and it will help you decide if you can handle this thing shutting itself in a bathroom or sucking up a USB cable. I find those disappointments are easily avoided by doing a fast "sweep" of the area first. Doing this will lead to a successful cleaning. By sweep, I mean a visual walk through the area and putting things out of reach that I don't want the vacuum cleaner to encounter. I'm very pleased with the amount of dirt and dust Dobby picks up. We've run it 5 times since Christmas and after each time the dust bin is full. This is the main reason I'm so pleased with it - it does seem to do a very good job sucking up dust and dirt. The total floor coverage is good. It does a good job navigating under, around, and through chair legs, etc. Ours hasn't become stuck or trapped on anything yet, but that's because we do a quick walk through before we turn it loose on an area. It does our carpets, tiled floors, and hardwood flooring all equally good. It will bump into things. Sometimes it is a very soft, gentle bump and sometimes it bumps chair legs a bit harder than that. I've read about folks who put padding on the front edge of the unit. I can see why but we don't plan on doing that. To date, I have not noticed that it marks the chair legs or causes any furniture damage. However, we don't live in a museum. We have two young kids and most of our stuff can handle a bump from Dobby. It could possibly knock over a tall vase if it was sitting on a small diameter tall round table, perhaps. But since I know this, I would just move the vase temporarily onto a different surface and that problem is solved. That is about all the level of pre-planning effort that you need to put into cleaning with your iRobot Roomba 805 in order for it to give you the satisfaction and success you are hoping to get out of it.