iRobot 610 Roomba Professional Series

OK, not great vacuum
I've used the Roomba 610 and 560. I now have two refurbished 560s in our house, at the same price as one 610. And it's definitely a better value.

Before I talk about the 610, let me share what's good and bad about Roombas in general, based on my experience with both the 560s and 610:
Pros:
- You don't have to vacuum, the Roomba does it for you
- Scheduled cleanings so you don't even have to worry about it or be home to hear the noise
- Floors stay clean without much effort
- One button start it and forget about it

Cons:
- Absolute pain in the butt to clean these things. There's the two brushes, the front wheel, the spinning brush (which requires a screwdriver to remove), and the dust bin. All of these must be disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled, at least once per cleaning session.
- It's not effort free. As I said above, lots to clean, which requires 5-10 minutes each time you want to run the Roomba.
- With pets,...

Great for light upkeep, excellent customer service
We have five pets. Three elderly long haired cats and two large short haired dogs. We recently upgraded to a new home with a cream colored carpet and a mix of tile and linoleum in an open floor plan. What was I thinking? I was thinking I had three days to pick a house for a relocation is what I was thinking! But I digress. The carpet isn't perfect, it's five years old and the previous owners were pet owners too, but I was determined to keep it in good shape.

I held out for the professional model despite the difference in price. I figured we had a professional level of hair here. Between one cat whose fur has the texture of cotton candy, another cat whose main hobby is tearing paper apart bit by bit, and the dogs with their rolling around on the floor I needed something that could stand up to the mess. I assumed I would need the larger debris bin to hold all the stuff that comes out of the carpet but actually after a few runs I felt that the smaller one with an air...

This thing is great!
I got the professional series because I have a family of professional grade mess makers (kids, husband, pets, etc.). I love it! I think when people are dissatisfied with it they do not understand what it is and what it is not. It won't clean up an already neglected floor. You start with clean floors and then push a button everyday and let it run around your house doing upkeep and you won't have to vacuum anything except for behind items it can't get to once a month or so. Before my roomba I vacuumed 2 times a week and still dirt would show up on the bottom of peoples white socks. Since roomba no more dirt!!! It handles the cat fur and it even found an earring I lost over a year ago that must of been hiding someplace. The best part is it can get under things my vacuum never could reach. Yes, you have to know its limitations. It is a programmed device. You have to change something's around your home to work with it. Get wires off the floor so it won't get stuck, for instance...

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