Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I always thought Roombas were a novelty until we purchased our first house with all hardwood on the first floor and moved in with our two Great Pyrenees (think giant polar bear type dogs with long, thick fluffy fur that sheds faster than rabbits multiply). After about 2 years of vacuuming with my upright daily and feeling like only moments later the floor was covered in white fluffy tumbleweeds again, I began throwing out hints about getting one of these for Christmas. Of course as he was not the one vacuuming everyday he didn't really see the need since we already had a really nice upright vacuum specifically geared toward pet hair, but I suppose I got my point across well enough as come Christmas I got this Roomba. I set it up, letting it charge fully, and as soon as I saw the light go green sent it on its way to do its magical job - and was instantly a little sad. It seemed to go in circles, sticking to only one small area over and over or randomly racing across the room leaving big spaces untouched. I let it run despite, doing its thing, and once it returned back to its base, emptied the bin and let it charge again, feeling slightly defeated. The next day I decided to give it another go. Suddenly it was maneuvering deftly - slowing down in anticipation of walls or cabinets instead of blindly ramming into them, running smartly along the walls, under my sectional and kitchen table without getting stuck,under the lip of my kitchen cabinets and covering all areas - no longer carelessly zigging and zagging leaving large areas untouched. Of course - it had to learn the "lay of the land" on its maiden voyage. I instantly felt silly for not realizing that it had to feel out its boundaries before actually working as I had hoped. As the days go by, I only become more and more impressed at its efficiency. I have a large area rug in the family room, two small mats in the kitchen, an area rug in the dining room, a small pile rug under the kitchen dining table, a runner down the hall and a decent sized rug at the door. The Roomba has no issue navigating between my hardwood (light colored) and my rugs (dark colored). I do have a semi open concept first floor which I am sure helps, but with my furniture layout it is not without obstacles, which the Roomba handles without issue more often than not. The dog hair does tend to wrap around the two inner brushes and the spinner brush, but I do have two long haired double coated dogs that shed so much you would think they should be bald, and honestly cleaning the hair out is very quick and much easier than on my upright pet-centric vacuum. They can slide out easily to clean thoroughly, and with the little cleaner brush that is included (I love the little cutter on it!), even tough tangles are no issue. With the amount of fur my dogs leave behind, even more surprising is the amount the bin can hold before becoming full. It has no problem cleaning the entire first floor, and while I do have to stop to empty the bin a few times during a cleaning, that can only be expected with the breed of dogs that I have. Not having to vacuum the floor myself every single day has made this a truly worthwhile purchase. It does an excellent job keeping fur tumbleweeds at bay, and is relatively quiet, especially when in comparison to a regular upright. My dogs are still a little apprehensive about it, but tend to ignore it or just move out of its path for the most part when normally if a vacuum is running they head for the hills. I have yet to test it upstairs which is fully carpeted, but plan to do so in the near future. Now if only it had a way to tackle the stairs for me as well ;P Overall I am incredibly happy with my Roomba. I've only had it for about two weeks so far, but will try and update down the road in regards to continued performance. If you have pets, and even more so, ones that shed, this is a life saver and a well worth investment. Highly recommended and Pyr Parent approved!