Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In a newly remodeled house with laminate wood floors, I see a lot of dust everyday; Roomba 770 has been a good fit. What I've noticed after three weeks of daily use - the pros: - Roomba does a great job in empty rooms; the entire downstairs comes out dust free. - Works well under beds, chairs, wide tables, and kitchen cabinet toekick. - Has great sensors for walls, boxes, pillows, and goes beautifully over heavy rugs back onto hardwood. - Roomba didn't like the fringe on my oriental carpets, but it didn't choke on it like my big vacuum did and kept on going. - The electronic barriers work well, but there is a learning curve on how to place them properly (The signal is cone-shaped). These need 2 "C" batteries each (4 total, not included). - It is not difficult to maintain: emptying the dust collection, removing brushes and using brush cleaner, wiping off sensors, moving it to a new room. The cons: - need to watch Roomba do a room before you turn it loose unobserved; you simply don't know what works and what doesn't until you try it. - There is no owner's manual - you have to watch the DVD or go online to learn to use it. - Roomba got stuck its first time near the stairs (it had too much momentum and shot over the top) but does fine once it slowed down and approached it a second time. - Roomba gets stuck everytime on cables and cords; have to move these up or tape them down - Roomba gets stuck on bathmats (but so does my big vac) - Roomba consistently gets stuck under an end table whose legs are too close for passage - it seems obsessed with this table and goes back even after rescue. A pillow, book, or cardboard in front of the table solves this. - Roomba's HEPA filters clog up really fast due to their location in the dirt collection cavity. Need 2 new filters every week with the amount of dust swept up. Overall, I love this little guy. He's fun to watch and and does a much better job than I do sweeping by hand. But he does require hands-on cleaning maintenance everytime you use Roomba. Performance goes down dramatically if you don't prepare the room, clearing obstacles like cords, set-up electronic and physical barriers, and do the required maintenance when he's done. Highly recommended. ***************** Update 3/23/2012********************************** - Still going strong - no mechanical problems after weekly use for 7 months. - Roomba no longer gets stuck on my end tables (low shelf with legs spaced just inside sensor range), bath mats, or stairs (oooh... a learning robot!) - Roomba works significantly better one room at a time, so placement of the "invisible" walls does help. I believe the 780 model makes this possible without have to move the lighthouses around and moving Roomba's dock from room to room. - The HEPA filters are just about useless. They clog after one use and either have to be changed out or ignored. Hugely expensive if you really want HEPA filters to work. I usually knock as much dust out of the filters as I can when I empty the bin, but it is noticably cleaner in the house when new filters are inserted. - Roomba still has issues with cords. This is the biggest thing that I have to worry with - finding cords hidden under furniture that Roomba swoops under and then finds a cord. All in all, still highly recommended.