Robots are cool.

Robots that actually do something useful are phenomenal.

When I saw an ad for a Roomba iRobot vacuum cleaner, I showed it to my wife, half expecting her to call me crazy for wanting to invest in a robot. (The phrase itself does sound kind of silly — to “invest in a robot.”) Much to my surprise, she was almost as excited as I was.

While I saw it, fantastically, as a step into the future — a chance to join the ranks of robot owners like the Jetsons or the Skywalkers — to her it was a simple, easy way to clean our house. We were both pleased with the purchase.

The Self-Sufficient Robot Vacuum

Like any vacuum cleaner, the Roomba iRobot is designed to clean your floors. The key difference is that it cleans on its own. Instead of wasting time pushing around a traditional vacuum, having a Roomba makes it easy to clean while working on something else at the same time. Our Roomba is cleaning our house right now, even as I write this review.

The first few times we used our Roomba I would stand and watch it clean, struck with wonderment at this ingenious creation. Now that it has become a normal part of our life, it’s easy to turn it on and go to another room until our robotic vacuum cleaner is done.

This kind of efficiency is a huge benefit for people with a busy schedule. But even if you’re not busy, it’s nice to put the robot to work so you can do something more entertaining.

The Roomba is Smart and Versatile

Using various sensors, the Roomba is keenly aware of its environment. Even in rooms with a combination of carpet and hardwood floors, the Roomba adjusts on the fly to clean any kind of floor. (There are even pool-cleaning Roomba robots.)

The Roomba iRobot can also sense stairs and ledges, so you don’t have to worry about your new robotic friend falling to its death.

If you want to keep the Roomba out of certain rooms or areas, you can use battery-operated “virtual walls” to create a barrier that your robot will not cross. This is a great way to clean one room at a time.

Easily Clean Those Hard-to-Reach Places

The Roomba makes it easier to clean in the “tough spots.” Because of its height, your robot can clean under furniture in places that would be difficult to reach otherwise.

With a traditional vacuum, it’s hard to clean along the edge of a wall. No matter how hard you try, there is always a small gap between the cleaning brushes of the vacuum and the baseboard. The Roomba, however, doesn’t have this problem. The construction of the cleaning brushes allows the Roomba iRobot to clean the edges of the room.

The Roomba Deals With Pets

My wife and I adopted a dog a couple years ago. We love him very much, but — being a beagle — he has a tendency to shed… a lot. I’m not sure exactly how it does it, but the Roomba excels at picking up his hair.

Charging the Roomba

The only problem I have with the Roomba is the charging process. It runs on a rechargeable battery, which is great, but because of the sensitivity of the battery, the instructions state that you should leave the Roomba plugged in to the charger at all times. I haven’t done any testing to see what kind of electrical pull this causes, but the concept of leaving it plugged in constantly contradicts my eco-friendly philosophies. For storage purposes, owners of the Roomba iRobot vacuum cleaner are advised to remove the battery from the robot completely. Hopefully, Roomba will come up with a better charging option.

Get Yourself a Roomba at a Great Price

Despite the charging situation, the Roomba is a great purchase. My wife and I love having a cleaner house and more time to do what we want.

With all the things the Roomba can do, you might expect these robotic vacuum cleaners to be pretty expensive. However, you might be surprised to find that these robots cost about the same as their higher-end traditional counterparts. Moreover, you can often get a discount off the retail price by ordering your robotic vacuum cleaner on Amazon.

If you want to save time and clean your house easily, you can get your very own Roomba iRobot Vacuum Cleaner on Amazon right here or through any of my referral links in this review.