Should I buy a robot vacuum?

yes. I have had roomba for a long time, the 8 series, had one from 2003 and the second one from 2007. One upstairs and one downstairs and they are still going strong in my new house. All I have to do is clean them from time to time and that is an easy job. They were worth every penny and each one paid for itself within 9 months compared to the cost of my neighbours weekly cleaner. My sister has one and is equally happy

I just press a remote and they do the job and then dock themselves to re-charge.

It was the "weekly" cleaner I was thinking about karmalady. I am ok with hoovering at the moment but have to split up the standing time. I can see that may be a problem in the future.

I may have to have someone for some of the jobs (unless we can find an automatic sheet changer), but if I could make human intervention less frequent, it would be worth buying into more technology

I bought a lower-mid range one as a trial and it's not great. It's sitting in it's box unused after the first month. It whirred around the house for ages which I found irritating and didn't really clean very well. Yes it did a superficial clean but couldn't get into my corners. Also I had to have all wires and any other small items lifted up or blocked off as it eats them up and then gets stuck and whirrs away on the spot. It also enjoys chewing the fringes on rugs.

I think like karmalady you need to invest quite a bit in a top of the range one to get her good results.

I bought a Lefant 213 at Amazon, so avoid that.

My son bought one that wasn't a known brand, which didn't last. My Roomba is as good as new.

You do have to empty the rather small dustbox pretty often. They say to do it every time it is used, which is a bit overkill, but if you leave it too long it drops more than it picks up.

You also have to watch out that you don't leave thin fabric trailing on the floor - a scarf for instance - as it gets caught in the brushes and the robot then shrieks for you to come and rescue it.

I was inadvertently very cruel to mine. I had it scheduled to sweep most of the downstairs carpets before I got out of bed, but forgot to firmly close the door of the one room it wasn't to go into. When I came down, I found that door was closed, and the desktop computer in that room wouldn't work, though I tried everything. Then I saw Roomba, huddled dejectedly in a corner. My first thought was that there had been some kind of electrical disaster, but no.

It seems it could push on the outside of door enough to open it a bit further and get in, then it hoovered diligently until it came up against the extension lying on the floor with the computer plugged into it and ran over the switch on that, turning the computer off. After that it must have continued vacuuming until it came up against the INSIDE of the door and pushed it closed. Then, of course, it couldn't get out to go home to its recharging station and switch itself off, and could only keep on sweeping until it ran out of power and had to wait to be found.

After that I was very careful about whether doors were wide open or completely closed.

I do not have carpets anywhere and only rugs on the landing and my bedroom. Mine could not get on or off the rug in my bedroom as that one is quite thick.

I had to block off the top of the stairs or it was going to commit suicide by falling down the stairs.

I agree with Phillipa111 that one would have to spend a fair amount to get something half decent.

We have weekly cleaners, they do much more than a Roomba could do unless it can dust, wipe skirting boards, wash the kitchen floor etc.

My roombas do the top of stairs and are factory programmed never to fall down a step

Horses for courses, I like the roombas for privacy tbh and use a microfibre duster on a longer handle for skirting tops, the roomba goes right up to skirting bases so no problem there. Microfibre glove with fingers makes very short work of normal dusting. I like housework, good exercise for me and certainly not for everyone

Love my roomba, I just let it loose in the carpeted rooms in my house once a week and am always amazed by the amount of dust it captures.

Philippa111

I bought a lower-mid range one as a trial and it's not great. It's sitting in it's box unused after the first month. It whirred around the house for ages which I found irritating and didn't really clean very well. Yes it did a superficial clean but couldn't get into my corners. Also I had to have all wires and any other small items lifted up or blocked off as it eats them up and then gets stuck and whirrs away on the spot. It also enjoys chewing the fringes on rugs.

I think like karmalady you need to invest quite a bit in a top of the range one to get her good results.

I bought a Lefant 213 at Amazon, so avoid that.

That's really useful to know. I can never tell what I am going to get for my money with technical things.

Looking up Roombas, they have a very wide price range. What, do you think, are the essential characteristics to look for.

I have a Eufy and it's fantastic. It won't fall downstairs but it does get caught out by bright sunlight as the contrast make it think there's a drop.
I've had mine several years and have had to replace the battery but otherwise it's going strong.
You do need to empty it every time, clean hairs out of the brushes regularly and make sure there are no wires etc. for it to chew up, but it saves all the pushing and lugging. I don't use the automatic programmes but I expect they could be useful.
I'd say go for it.

Santa gave me an Eufy for Christmas and it is great. It is like having a maid who does the hoovering. Mine is the basic model and I love it.
As has been said, it won't like loose wires or thick pile carpets so might not suit everyone.

Not sure I am going to be much help.
I know two people who have one. One loves theirs. One isnt so keen.

The one that likes theirs, uses it to lightly wash floors as well.

The one who doesnt like it, doesnt like it cant go under furniture very well.

I think they both have the same model.

Person one is older than person two. That may make a bit of the difference.

I do love mine but they should change its name to vacuum duster as it doesn't clean a carpet as thoroughly as a 'real' vacuum cleaner.

I'm surprised that someone says it doesn't go under the furniture well. Mine is only 3 inches high (7 and a half centimeters) and I don't know of anything else that cleans under the furniture so easily. It finds masses of dust and fluff that I didn't know was there!

We've had one for a while now, and they're OK for open spaces, but don't get into corners. They do pick up a fair bit of dust from the unobstructed carpet areas, but I still go round afterwards with a hand held vac to get into those places it misses. So OK in that they do save you bit of work, but you'll still need to provide the finishing touches yourself.

My Eufy doesn't do corners but does go under the furniture where I would rarely venture and it does an excellent job of cleaning my carpets. I expect it depends on the model.

They are round, so square corners rely on the little additional revolving three-cornered brush that sticks out at the side. That goes along the edge of the skirting board, too.

I think they are great and have had one for years. I started off with a Roomba, but when it stopped working after a few years, decided I would do my own vacuuming but that didn't last long and am now the proud owner of a Eufey. It is every bit as good as the Roomba and much cheaper, on it's fourth year now and still going strong. No problems with rugs, but they don't have fringes, and I tend not to have trailing wires and stuff on the floor anyway. It goes under all of my furniture ( all bought with the vacuum in mind so that it can do this). I also find that as it goes round everyday it seems to keep the general dust down as well, so that doesn't need doing as often either. I'm all wood and tiled floors except one bedroom but it does the carpet in there very well as well.

I'm another Eufy Fan. Had mine about 4 years now and no problems. Took it a wee while to get its bearings when I moved house but now it quietly potters round the whole flat, including under the settee and chairs, in about 20 minutes, then parks up to recharge. I call it robo as if it were a helpful pet.

I love my Roomba, it goes about the bungalow every couple of days, I empty it when the red bin lights up, it won’t start again if you don’t.
I take it apart about once a fortnight and clean all the parts it’s not a chore.
I go round the corners with my Dyson once a week, it only takes a few minutes. Best thing I ever bought.

I love my Roomba. It's programmed to go round every day but you can choose what suits you. Mine is pretty top of the range, but as pp have said the Eufy is excellent and much cheaper. Mine doesn't like thick pile rugs but I have a small and held Dyson to do that and the stairs. It works really well on my wood floors downstairs and the carpets upstairs. I would never go back to a regular vacuum cleaner, it's another job I now don't have to spend much time on and the floors always loom clean.

Goodness. GN at it's best. Thank you all I will have to do some research on which has what but I certainly think I will get one. I don't have any trailing wires generally because all the sockets are behind furniture. I have a remote to switch them all off! I do like the idea that technology can keep me going as time goes by and I think it makes it easier.

Daisyanne, re roomba essentials. For me, no wireless, no auto dustbag emptying, just the remote.

I forgot to say that one of my roombas needed a new battery a couple of years ago and I easily found, ebay or amazon and easy to replace. I have replaced the rollers and spinning brush. If mine ever really dies then I would buy another roomba but mine are going strong and do a super efficient job. The cheapest on their site would do for me. Emptying is easy, every few uses

If trailing wires are thin and in the way then they could get caught, I just lift the wires up over something

roomba on in a mo while I go off to chiropodist for an early appointment