iRobot Roomba 560 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

iRobot Roomba 500 Series Robots feature dramatic improvements in navigation and floor coverage, edge and corner cleaning, brushes, filters and advanced anti-tangle technology. As a member of the latest generation of robots, the iRobot Roomba 560 Vacuum Cleaning Robot features the newest innovations for dramatically improved performance, reliability and durability.

On-board scheduling allows you to preset up to seven cleaning times per week for Roomba to clean when it's most convenient for you — whether you're at home or on the go. Roomba systematically cleans four rooms on a single charge, gets into hard-to-reach areas like wall edges and beneath furniture, avoids stairs and other drop offs and automatically adjusts from carpets to hard floors and back again. Each Virtual Wall® Lighthouse™ (2 included) confines Roomba to one room until the entire floor is vacuumed before Roomba moves on to the next room. When its battery is running low, or when the cleaning is complete, Roomba automatically returns to its self-charging Home Base™ to dock and recharge.

Standard Features

• A smart, efficient vacuum that picks up dirt, dust, pet hair and more from carpets and hard floors
• Cleans the whole floor, under and around furniture and along wall edges
• Automatically adjusts from carpets to hard floors and back again
• Detects dirtier areas and spends more time cleaning them
• Spot Clean provides quick clean-up of spills and concentrated messes
• Automatically senses and avoids stairs and other drop-offs
• Simple to use! Just press the Clean button and Roomba does the rest!

Roomba systematically cleans four rooms on a single charge, gets into hard-to-reach areas like wall edges and beneath furniture, avoids stairs and other drop offs and automatically adjusts from carpets to hard floors and back again. Each Virtual Wall® Lighthouse™ (3 included) confines Roomba to one room until the entire floor is vacuumed before Roomba moves on to the next room.

When its battery is running low, or when the cleaning is complete, Roomba automatically returns to its self-charging Home Base™ to dock and recharge.

What's in the Box:

1 iRobot Roomba 560 with on board scheduling, 2 Virtual Wall Lighthouses (Each requires 2 C batteries, not included), 1 Self-charging Home Base, 1 Power Supply (3 hour charge time), 1 Brush Cleaning Tool, 1 Rechargeable Battery, 1 Extra Filter, 1-year Manufacturer's Warranty.

Advanced Features

• Automatically returns to its self-charging Home Base to dock and recharge between cleanings
• Each Virtual Wall® Lighthouse™ (2 included) confines Roomba to one room until the entire floor is vacuumed before Roomba moves on to the next room.
• On-board scheduling — preset up to seven cleaning times per week for Roomba to clean when it's most convenient for you
• Faster counter-rotating brushes with improved design pick up more hair, debris and dust and are easy to remove and clean
• Improved filter captures more dust and allergens while a larger bin holds more debris
• Improved anti-tangle technology keeps Roomba from getting stuck on cords, carpet fringe and tassels
• Improved side brush makes Roomba even more efficient at cleaning edges and corners

iRobot Roomba 560 Video

Our Rating:

The iRobot Roomba 560 was the king of robot vacuums until the 580 was released soon after. That said the 560 is still an awesome piece of kit and has a more attractive price tag than the top of the range vacuums. With the Roomba 560 Vacuum Cleaning Robot, you can schedule the cleaning when it's convenient. The on-board scheduling system allows you to schedule the Roomba to clean once a day up to 7 times a week, so you can clean anytime you want, even when you aren't home. If we had to stick our necks out and proclaim out favourite robotic vacuum then this little beauty wins.

iRobot Roomba 560 Spec Check

Roomba 560 Vacuum Robot Vacuum Cleaner Reviews (2)

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Mack wrote on 01/28/2010 @ 10:50:01 am

This little machine can allow you to do other household jobs while it handles the bulk of the floorspace. It's especially useful on tile and hardwood floor. It works well on carpet too. It won't totally replace your regular vacuum but you'll be using it less often.

There are other Roomba's that can be scheduled but I prefer this one as it forces me to take a quick look around the room to be cleaned and pick-up items that may cause problems for this unit.
By taking 5 minutes to give the Roomba a cleaning after use you'll continue to receive reliable trouble free service.

korat102 wrote on 01/28/2010 @ 10:48:16 am

Yes folks, this thing really does work, extremely well in fact. I have to admit to being a bit sceptical when I first saw a Roomba but I decided to buy one and see if it lived up to the hype. I was delighted to find out that it does. It uses counter-rotating brushes to pick up dust and dirt. Being battery operated, it will never rival a Dyson for suction but for those mid-week runs to keep the place clean while you do other things it can’t be beaten.
When you open your box, you find a UFO shaped object inside with a large battery that needs to be located in its slot, a useful instruction manual and some spare filters. The battery is quite large and heavy. I suppose it needs to be to provide power for a vacuum cleaner than goes trundling around the house on its own. It takes a long time to charge fully. I generally have to leave my Roomba on charge overnight to give it a decent run the following day.

The long thin filters get clogged easily and should really be cleaned every time you have finished using the machine. It has an easy to remove tray which holds the dirt and dust it picks up. You just pull the tray out, take it to a bin, empty it and slot it straight back in again.
Looking at the Roomba, it has just three buttons on the top marked S, M and L, for Small, Medium and Large. You just turn the thing on, place it in the centre of a room or area to be cleaned and press one of the buttons. After a short delay to give you time to get clear, it plays a short tune then gets to work.

It starts slowly roaming around in ever increasing circular motions. After a while, it gets fed up with running around in circles and starts to criss-cross the room instead. It has a non-marking (true so far) buffer on the front that it uses to detect obstacles and uses reasonably intelligent programming to ensure it covers the entire area. It is prone to getting stuck on thick mats and cables so these need to be moved out of its way. It does try to ‘unstick’ itself but if it fails it stops rather than waste battery power and calls for help. It generally runs for between 1 and 2 hours on a charge depending on the surface and state of filters and bearings.
You can safely use it on landings, it detects drops and will not fall down the stairs. Being only about three inches high, it easily fits under beds with normal legs. It adjusts automatically for different surfaces. I start it in my living room and let it have the run of the ground floor, it does the carpeted living room and hall and the tiled kitchen.

You can buy a small unit that sends a ‘beam’ of infra red along a sort of demarcation line which your Roomba will not cross. This is useful for stopping it straying into rooms where it shouldn’t go if you don’t want to have to close doors for instance.
The bearings on the unit are prone to being wrapped up in bits of cotton and hairs and other things it picks up so it is important to turn the Roomba on its back occasionally and give the moving parts a clean. Getting the bearing wrapped with rubbish causes a huge battery drain and there is a risk of damage to the unit so don’t skimp on the cleaning.

Although this machine has a little rotating brush on the side, it doesn’t appear to be able to clean up to the walls very effectively so it is still necessary to go around with a ‘normal’ vacuum cleaner occasionally. The areas it does cover are efficiently cleaned.
The unit is 'child-safe'. It stops instantly if picked up and runs slowly enough for anybody to keep out of its way. It changes directions if anyone impedes its progress.

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