Review of the IRobot Roomba 4210 Discovery Floorvac Robotic Vacuum

When I first saw the iRobot Roomba 4210 Discovery Floorvac Robotic Vacuum, I was amazed. While I thought it was a great item, I usually don't buy a vacuum that is quite that expensive. (The Roomba retails for about $230 for the basic model.) However, I sat down and thought about the item before making the purchase. How often did I really vacuum? I really racked my brain and realized that most weeks I did it only once a week, maybe twice if I had company coming over. While I am single and live alone, was this really enough vacuuming to get my floor clean? I was entranced at the idea that I may not be cleaning enough and upon purchasing the Roomba, I found I wasn't cleaning near enough.

The Roomba is a small, round vacuum that you turn on usually before you go off to work or to run errands and it does the cleaning for you. It has a long battery life too! The Roomba can clean 3 fairly large rooms before it runs out of juice. It has a self-charging home base that the machine automatically returns to when its cleaning cycle is complete or the battery runs low, so you don't have to remember to keep it charged yourself.

There are other features of the Roomba that certainly astound me. The machine has the capability of moving from room to room. It can vacuum both tile and hardwood floors as well as carpet and can move between the two with ease. If there is a room that you want off limits to the Roomba (for instance a child's room that may have small toys that you don't want vacuumed up), there is a "virtual" wall feature that will block a doorway with an invisible beam and deny it entry. The machine also has an automatic stair avoidance system so you never have to worry about the pricey machine falling down the stairs and breaking.

The Roomba's size is deceiving. It holds an incredible amount of dirt in its bagless debris bin that should be emptied daily or when it gets full. The brushes are just as powerful as those on a regular-size cleaning machine. Also, its extremely low profile enables it to clean in the places that most of us neglect often like under the bed or some items of furniture. I was also surprised that the Roomba's bumper does not mark up furniture or baseboards and that the machine quickly changes course when it runs into anything. The new "Discovery" model also has the capability of recognizing areas of the floor that are dirtier than others and cleans those areas more.

The best part of the Roomba naturally is the fact that you will have spotless floors with no vacuuming on your part. While I have had no problems with my unit, other consumers that I have talked to that have Roombas tell me that the company provides an excellent warranty and stands behind it 100%.