Roomba Scheduler (4296) Review
The Quick Answer
The Roomba is perfect for keeping up with all the dust and dirt that shows on our dark wood floor. This thing works great! I'd buy it again.
The Purchase
We went for a remanufactured Roomba 4296. You have to watch out on eBay, some sellers try to say they are "New in Box" but they are really refurbished. Our seller was up front and called it what it was. Including shipping it set us back about $150.
What is included?
- A Roomba vac of course!
- 1 battery
- 1 charger
- 2 Virtual Walls (each requires 2 'D' batteries, not included)
- 1 Scheduler Remote (requires 2 'AA' batteries, not included)
- 1 spare filter
- Rolls right over our area rug
The Real World
Dec 29th, 2007
The Roomba is great at getting the dirt between the boards on our pre-finished wood floor. Sweeping it just pushes dirt into the cracks. After we ran the roomba the first time, the dust bin was very full. Now that the floor gets vacumed regularly it can't find as much dirt.
We found it best to sweep around the edges of a room before running the roomba. It doesn't take long since I leave the piles on the floor and let the Roomba take care of them.
The manual says the battery will last 1 hour. Ours will last quite a bit longer, but I'm guessing that is because we use it on hardwood. It is much easier for it to roll along and the brushes don't have to work hard like they do in carpet. It takes about 3 hours to do a full charge. We were able to make it through 1,000 sqft of hardwood on one charge. You can charge the Roomba with the Dock or just with the power supply.
Replacement parts are all over eBay. You can get a new battery for $45-50, brushes for about $10 and just about any other part you can think of. There are wheels, gears, mainboards, motors and more.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Vacums while you do something else
- Lets you know when it is stuck
- Works on hardwood, tile and carpet
- Rolls right over our area rug
Cons:
- It isn't likely to return to the charging dock
- It can't really clean the edges of a room or right up next to things
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