irobot-scooba.jpgWhat’s round, black, and the star of Youtube videos involving cats? If you guess the iRobot Roomba, you are absolutely right and have probably watched your fair share of cute kitties strapped down and spinning around on the floor. But just using the iRobot to entertain your friends would really be missing the point of what this vacuum can accomplish.

These powerful, ultra-cool Robots have been coming out of the iRobot Corporation lab to clean floors in homes since 2002, and now the latest models, the iRobot Roomba 880 Vacuum Cleaning Robot and the iRobot Scooba 450 Floor Cleaning Robot, are more efficient than the models that came before.

Here’s a quick look at the latest and greatest iRobots available from the iRobot company, starting with the iRobot Roomba irobot-roomba-880.jpg880 Vacuum Cleaning Robot:

  • New AeroForce Performance Cleaning system uses 3 technologies to give you more cleaning power
  • Tangle-free AeorForce Extractors will pick up all debris without tangling thanks to a brushless design
  • Vacuum power is multiplied with an airflow accelerator
  • Virtual Wall Lighthouse technology guides your iRobot from room to room
  • You can schedule your cleaning so your iRobot will vacuum when you aren’t home
  • Full bin indicator beeps when it needs to be emptied
  • Automatically returns to it’s docking station when it needs to be charged

50% more power than previous models

I had the pleasure of testing out the iRobot Roomba for a week last year, and I was impressed with how effortlessly it cleaned the carpets in my house. It would glide from room to room, rolling from hardwood floor to area rug with absolute ease, so I was excited to hear the new iRobot Roomba 880 includes new technologies that vacuum up even more dust, dirt, and pet hair – 50% more to be exact.

The AeroForce Performance Cleaning system is designed to combine three iRobot breakthrough technologies so you get more power but less maintenance. All iRobot Roombas have worked by sucking debris through a slot on the front of the vacuum, and now they’ve improved it with an Airflow Accelerator that sends airflow through a sealed chamber to multiply vacuum power.

In a nutshell, if you’ve ever seen an iRobot Roomba in action, you know how powerful they are. Previous models had such strong suction that the brush would occasionally pick up a big piece of debris and become tangled to the point where the vacuum would stop. To combat that problem, the iRobot company developed a tangle-free AeorForce Extractor.

The iRobot Roomba 880 is a Virtual Lighthouse device, meaning that it can move from room to room automatically, gliding over areas of the floor it hasn’t done before. It also senses stairs, and it will stop itself before going over.

Schedule your cleaning

One of the best parts of the iRobot Roomba 880 is how you can schedule it. At the set time, the iRobot will remove itself from the docking station and vacuum your floors. Once the battery is depleted, it senses it needs a charge and heads back to the docking station.

And speaking of the battery, the iRobot XLife Battery will give you twice as many cleaning cycles as previous Roomba batteris, so you get double the cleaning time before you need to replace it.

irobot-scooba-450.jpgTime to mop!

When your carpets are done, it’s time to start mopping. That’s where the iRobot Scooba 450 Floor Scrubbing Robot comes in:

  • The Scooba will sweep, pre-soak, scrub, and even squeegee your floors so they’re sparkling clean
  • iAdapt Responsive Navigation scours it’s way across your floors and avoid rugs and stairs
  • Uses pre-soak to clean the floor 3x better than previous models
  • Will go over the floor multiple times until its clean
  • You get fresh cleaning solution from the time the Scooba starts to clean until it’s finished, and all dirty water goes into a separate tank

The iRobot Scooba 450 Floor Scrubbing Robot does exactly what the name suggests – it cleans your floors without you having to lift a finger. This little wonder will sweep your floor in case there is any debris left over, then pre-soak, scrub, and even squeegee it until it’s sparkling clean. It will even scoot along wall edges and clean all dust and dirt that can hide there too.

Pre-soak to get your floors even cleaner

The pre-soak technology on the new iRobot Scooba 450 is a step up from the previous model. Because your floors are pre-soaked with cleaning solution to loosen any stuck on debris and the Scooba will go over and over the floor until it’s clean, you’ll get floors 3x cleaner than before. That’s pretty amazing considering I tested out the previous model of the iRobot Scooba and it cleaned hardwood and tile to a shine.

The iRobot Scooba 450 works by using cleaning solution that goes into one compartment used to clean your floors, then the dirty water goes into another compartment. When the dirty water is full, you just empty it out and keep cleaning.

To make sure your iRobot Scooba 450 doesn’t tip over and head down a staircase, it has iAdapt Responsive Navigation built in. This navigation system lets the Scooba avoid all rugs, stairs, and other obstacles.

There are two cleaning options available on the iRobot Scooba 450 Floor Scrubbing Robot – a full 40-minute cycle for an entire dining room area or a quick 20-minute cycle for small spots like your kitchen or front entrance.

Letting a robot take over the cleaning might seem a little futuristic, but you can let them do your floors right now when you have the iRobot Roomba 880 Vacuum Cleaning Robot and the iRobot Scooba 450 Floor Scrubbing Robot. One will keep your carpets dust and dander free, the others will scrub your floors.

I don’t know about you, but anything that takes over a job I have to do all the time is amazing in my books, and when I tested the iRobots out for myself I loved coming home to dust free floors.

Check out the iRobot Roomba 880 and the iRobot Scooba 450 robot vacuums on Bestbuy.ca right now.

 

Shelly Wutke
Editor TV & Home Theatre
I'm a Vancouver freelancer and tech enthusiast. When I'm not writing you'll find me on my farm with my alpacas, chickens, and honeybees. Visit my website Survivemag

3 COMMENTS

  1. I like the idea that the Roomba will go over the floor multiple times until its clean. That is perfect. No have done jobs.

  2. I like the idea that the Roomba will go over the floor multiple times until its clean. That is perfect. No have done jobs.

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