Woot : One Day, One Deal (SM)

Can you purchase additional virtual walls?

All right! Been waiting for these since I missed them on the last two woot-offs. Hoping I get lucky on the battery life thing that many have been reporting mixed reviews on. In for two.

The refurbished model we bought didn't include a brush roller cleaning tool, which is a big omission when maintaining one of these. I'd hold out for a new 535 for 20 bucks more.

KNRG wrote:Anyone know if it can get under an Ikea Klippan sofa with the standard height legs?

I can't say for 100% sure, but from looking at a photo of the sofa, I would say that Roomba can get under there with no problem. It only needs about 3 inches of clearance.

Woot is actually a reseller for iRobot in disguise. They offer other items once in a while to keep up appearances, but mostly they list Roombas!

rfreed wrote:Can you purchase additional virtual walls?

Yep. You can find em on e-bay or from the mfr.

nashfh wrote:Does refurbished mean used or lower quality in any way?

Depends on the manufacturer. Assume used but cleaned up real well.

Does it pick up dog hair decent?

rfreed wrote:Can you purchase additional virtual walls?

Fry's Electronics sells the virtual walls (make sure they are for the 500-series) and they even have parts occasionaly (batteries, filters, charging base, etc)

tvscout wrote:I had one of the first Roomba models (a red one) YEARS ago... my only problem with it is that it would scratch our hardwood floor - which is why it got limited use. Does anyone know if this is still a problem? Otherwise it was the coolest!

I have a three year old home with laminate word floors and have not had an issue with scratches. Roomba is awesome!

The service is only bad if you did read and UNDERSTAND their terms of service when you signed up! Duh

I have this exact model, purchased before on woot. It works WONDERFULLY. I have a small 750 square foot house with wood floors, and it gets 3/4 of it, and does a great job.
-You must clean the robot after each use, if you don't you won't have a good experience.

KNRG wrote:Anyone know if it can get under an Ikea Klippan sofa with the standard height legs?

Yes! I bought this model in August and I love it. It goes under the Klippan no problem.

Also I clean the brushes and empty the compartment after every room, it's very satsifying.

xiaoyy2@yahoo.com wrote:The services in woot is terrible. You cannot return or exchange any purchase. Be careful!

And W00T is very upfront about the fact that if you don't want the junk they sell, then neither do they. But the companies products that W00T sells usually DO have great support, and don't care where you buy it from. Guess you wouldn't know that, what with your sad, empty little white box and all.

iRobot for instance sent me a new battery FREE (not even S&H) because me refurb 530s was only lasting 20 minutes.

I got one of these earlier this year. After using it less than 10 times, it broke. Now it just turns a little and beeps. Looking at the discussion from that purchase, I can see that this is a common issue. I would wait until woot has a new roomba or a dyson.

jobo5432 wrote:Ok, take the height of legs of the sofa (which I assume you could measure with a ruler or a tape measure) and compare that to the height of the Roomba 530 (which is about 3.0 inches - I found this on Google in very little time).

Now, here's the tricky part... If the space under the sofa is LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO the 3 inches the Roomba WILL NOT fit. If however, the space under the sofa is MORE THAN 3 inches, then the Roomba WILL fit. This can be expressed as a simple algebraic expression:

x - 3 = y;

Let x = the height of the couch (e.g. you supply this). Solve for y.

if y <= 0, then the Roomba will not fit.
else, Roomba will fit.

Take care... Stay in school!

LMFAO!

By the way, I bought two of these last time they were on Woot (Benson and Rosie) and I LOVE them. Makes it much easier to keep up with the cat hair.

Purchased a refurb several years ago but it died after a few months so I was leery to try again. Pulled the trigger on this one, plus the Square Trade Warranty (with which I've used before and am very impressed) at $16 (with a 20% off code).

Therefore I'm not too worried about the early demise of this product. Loved, loved, loved it when the first one was working. I'll miss those dust bunnies, though.

joeny1980 wrote:Considering getting this for a gift, but whats the packaging like for a refurb from Woot? Any previous purchasers please comment.

Packaging was quite nice. Couldnt tell mine had ever been used. Everything was wrapped in plastic, encased in styrofoam, and neatly packed into what looks like an original retail box. There is no "brush cleaning tool", but unless you've opened a new one before, you wouldnt notice. A pair of scissors and maybe some tweezers will suffice. There is a "Refurbished" sticker on the outside that could easily be removed or marked out with a Sharpie. Bought 2 more that we are giving as Christmas gifts.

Flagg wrote:While no Roomba is ever as noisy as a full sized vacuum, it should be noted that the 4xx series are much louder than the newer 5xx models, such as this one.

Agreed. 530 is loud enough you'll have to turn up the TV if it is in the same room, but not so much that it is unbearable. Solve the problem by vacuuming while away from home though.

juicius wrote:This is a terrible equation. You have completely failed to compensate for the indoor humidity level that can slightly swell the structural underlayment of the floor and thereby raise or lower the floor. I know that the suction from the Roomba can in fact slightly lower the device to the floor, thereby cancelling out the difference but that is only a theory and has never been rigorously peer-reviewed and should not be relied upon!

Or something like that.

I can't believe I just wasted 20 seconds of my life that I'll never get back reading that!

I bought one of these for myself when they were last on and I love it. I did have an issue that I needed covered under warranty and it was easy and painless dealing with the Roomba support. They got me out the part needed right away. I am now ordering another one today as a gift for my parents. I LOVE ROOMBA!

You know, there is some really good advice in this thread and there is some really bad advice. If I were someone looking for info on this model, I would dismiss statements that contains such words as "I believe" or "I think" or "I have heard".

Dud wrote:2) I believe the Roomba 530 was being sold (during the last Woot-off) with a Dirt Dog robot (both NEW) for only $199. This would make this refurbed 530 a not-so-good deal in comparison.

Wrong, Woot has sold the 510 with a Dirt Dog for $199 several times.

Flagg wrote:It's a good price, but the last time they offered a Roomba they had the Roomba 535, which is actually a far superior model because it can use the lighthouses as well as be scheduled for $149 BRAND NEW.

Not saying this isn't a good deal, because it is. I'm just saying that they have had better deals, and you should keep in mind that when you buy a brand new Roomba you get a 1 year manufacturers warranty

Seeing that a new one is $299 from iRobot, I'd say you are better off paying $129.99 here and buying the Square trade warranty for $19.99. Again, I have nothing but good things to say about my two 530s I purchased from Woot. I also got one for a friend and his wife and they love their 530.

The 535 was during the Woot-Off and they sold 16 in just over a minute. You had a better chance of getting a baby of the cosmos than you did the 535. They also had a 560 for sale during that Woot-Off for the same price as the 535, although it was refurbed. They had 54 of those and they didn't last long either. The 560 is a nicer model and a bit quieter, but the 530 is still a great buy. They come up often enough here on Woot.

rfekecs wrote:I bought one of these last time, and it was worthless, a huge disappointment. Easier to just vacuum myself. Sold it on ebay, came near to breaking even.

Sorry to hear you got a lemon, you should have called iRobot and they would have replaced it with another 530. Otherwise, it was just user error because as you can see, most of the comments here are positive towards the 530.

joeny1980 wrote:Considering getting this for a gift, but whats the packaging like for a refurb from Woot? Any previous purchasers please comment.

It comes in a big white box with a photo of the 530 on it and other retail information. There is a small sticker on the box clearly stating that it is a remanufactured model 530.

nashfh wrote:Does refurbished mean used or lower quality in any way?

I can't say for sure, but they look brand new out of the box. Others have guessed that these were new models that were returned for some reason and iRobot can't then sell them as new again. For instance, you purchased a new one and the battery was bad, you returned it and got a new one. iRobot replaced the battery, but then can't sell it as new again. We win thanks to Woot.

PLAIND AND SIMPLE, these little guys will make your life a whole lot better. For $130, take a chance and find out for yourself. If you don't like it, give it to a friend and they will love you forever.

applgeek wrote:I got one of these earlier this year. After using it less than 10 times, it broke. Now it just turns a little and beeps. Looking at the discussion from that purchase, I can see that this is a common issue. I would wait until woot has a new roomba or a dyson.

Cleaning the sensors in the front and bottom front with a high powered air duster or vacuum would fix this. Roomba's are chock full of sensors, and if any of them get gunked up with dust the machine will do it's "circle dance".

if you have young children that leave their toys, etc. around the house the iRobot isn't for you. you also have to clear out extension cords and whatever else might be on the ground that you don't want eaten up or become an obstacle for mr. I.

we bought one from costco and returned it. it works pretty good but couldn't really use each and every night hassle free since you had to do major pickup before turning it on.

I got one of these a while back when it was offered as new. Well, it was the 535 which is basically the same it just came with a virtual lighthouse/wall instead of just a virtual wall.

It does a great job. Just remember, rugs with tassels and cords that aren't kept neat will cause trouble. It keeps the floor clean between vacuumings. I have a collie & a longhair cat so I have to run it everyday so that it can keep from getting overloaded with pet hair. On the upside, no more clumps of hair all over the place.

My advice would be to think carefully about this if you have pets, you'll have to clean the brushes every time you use it. If you don't have any pets, a roomba is a no brainer. Get one.

Kizzbot wrote:No wonder we are a nation of fat asses. Too lazy to even vacuum a floor.

Gnomercy wrote:I'm guessing you've never owned a Roomba, and don't have a fat ass, bad back, disability, army of children, or grasp the concept of multi-tasking.

You seem to have a firm grasp on the concept of trolling however. Nice Bridge.

(S)He's got "bot" right there in the name. You'd think (s)he'd be a bigger fan of a vacuuming-robot.

nashfh wrote:Does refurbished mean used or lower quality in any way?

Refurbed means remanufactured to "like new" condition. The three (3) units I have purchased at Woot! have all been used. Their "quality" was at near-new ... but you are getting a discount for buying something that was probably returned by someone else for their own particular reason.

I live in an apartment and there is about a half-inch lip going from the den to the kitchen area. Will it make it up to that area?

Can the square trade warranty be purchased after the woot, but before shipping?

My sofa's clearance is about 5 inches so I'm sure Roomba will fit underneath but the sofa has a skirt with fairly stiff interfacing. Does anyone have experience with this? Will the Roomba go past the skirt and clean under the sofa?

I keep seeing these come up and wishing I had one. Pulling the trigger finally. In for one. Merry Christmas wifey.

I LOVE Roomba robotic vacuums! I mourned the loss of my beloved 560, for too long now. It is time for me to move on. Thank you woot, for helping me to carry on with my house cleaning. Life without a robotic vacuum cleaner is no life at all.

shelby61 wrote:My sofa's clearance is about 5 inches so I'm sure Roomba will fit underneath but the sofa has a skirt with fairly stiff interfacing. Does anyone have experience with this? Will the Roomba go past the skirt and clean under the sofa?

yes,it will push past the skirt and retrieve lost items like toys (it pushes small items out of it's way). But if there is a magazine under your sofa it will tear it up and make a mess.

My Roomba 500 series is horrible at cleaning pet fur. It gets tangled in the brushes, causing the Roomba to stop in it's tracks and cry for help.

I heard "Do DO! Clean Roomba's Brushes! Do DO!" every 10 minutes. Quite annoying.

thepturk wrote:Does it pick up dog hair decent?

yes, but sometimes it clumps the dog hair up and it falls off in the middle of the room. Still better than hair everywhere.

noomehtrevo wrote:I live in an apartment and there is about a half-inch lip going from the den to the kitchen area. Will it make it up to that area?

Yes, easily. My 530 climbs up into the bottom shelf of my TV stand every time it cleans the living room. Its about a full inch shelf height.

Roombas are great because they turn you into a robot too, searching all over the floor for things to pick up before turning on the smaller robot. It may not sound like fun, but in a way your floors will actually be much cleaner looking in the end since you won't be leaving your junk laying out.

shaundewitt wrote:Can the square trade warranty be purchased after the woot, but before shipping?

I am wondering the same thing.

bgbopper wrote:Roombas are great because they turn you into a robot too, searching all over the floor for things to pick up before turning on the smaller robot. It may not sound like fun, but in a way your floors will actually be much cleaner looking in the end since you won't be leaving your junk laying out.

That's definitely what I've noticed. Our floors are much less cluttered now that they're Roomba-proof. It's a win-win.

Ok I can't resist, I had to buy one. I've always wanted a robot.

I have two cats and they are always leaving cat hair around, dead bugs (yeah they'll kill the bugs, but they dare not eat them, that is just TOO gross for them) or little balls of fluff from stuffed animals they mutilate.

I hope this thing works well on carpets. If not I guess I'll pass it on to my boyfriend who has hardwood floors.