Roomba 560 by iRobot (Distributed in Malaysia by Aetis Sdn Bhd)

• Posted by: adrian
• On: 07/03/2008 12:53:41
• In: Mobile Inc.: Distributors, Dealers, Retail

Roomba 560 by iRobot (Distributed in Malaysia by Aetis Sdn Bhd)

Review
Pros & Cons
Pricing Information

Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner the size of a Frisbee. Some questions does cross ones mind when I first laid my eyes on it.

1. Does it really pick up dirt?

2. How noisy is it?

Here's the answer.

Review
Synonymous to 1 ring to rule them all. Well, now, there's 1 button to clean them all. Featuring the Roooomba.
PowerOn was blessed to be presented an opportunity to review the Roomba 560 in KL this week. Here's a low down (my take) on its features & functions beside its already known key features.

Thanks to local distributor, Aetis Sdn Bhd, they have managed to bring an innovative product into Malaysian households. History of the creators of Roomba: iRobot robots have been performing jobs for the US military in warzones (landmine sweeps) in Middle East to the surface of Mars to the unexplored corners of Egypt's Great Pyramids.

Founded in 1990 by roboticists from MIT, it has filled 2.5 million homes worldwide!

Some of the Key features include;

1. Cleaning under furniture (minimum clearance of 10cm!). Though, this is a con cause it doesn't go under furniture or cupboards that don't have the 10cm allowance height!

2. Avoid stairs & cliffs iRobots AWARE (prevents Roomba from falling off stairs & cliffs)

3. Cleans along edges, avoids walls & furniture (detects walls & uses its spinning side-brush to clean along & around them)

4. Virtual Wall Lighthouse confines Roomba to areas you want it to concentrate only

Unlike other domestic cleaning robot (i.e. Electrolux Trilobite) that pre-maps out the route to clean an area, the Roomba uses a human like intelligence to clean an area. Sometimes covering an area more than once. Based on insect-like behaviours.

Battery-wise, the Roomba operates on a Nickel-Metal Hydride & returns to its self-charging homebase all by itself. Duration of charge? 3 hours rapid charge. Roomba is also disable-person-friendly, as it features an infrared remote control. Thought the 560 doesn't come with remote, the Roomba 570's remote works perfectly with the 560 :)

Like outlook or your anti-virus software, it comes with a scheduler to program it to only clean your house when you're out at work.

Schedule Monday to Sundays to clean while you're at work! All on the Roomba itself!

Pros & Cons
Silent yet efficient. Can you believe it's more silent than your everyday household vacuum cleaner!!

It's super clean even after sweeping and mopping on our own. Something you have to try it to believe it on your own home flooring!
It provides entertainment for you and the kids (watching it dance and clean your floor all by yourself)

The down side to the Roomba is its thickness, it's 10cm thickness doesn't allow you to get under recliner sofas, some tables at home and your Japanese bed! :)
Though I must say, it's pros definitely outweighs its cons. Think about all the privacy you will have compared to having a maid. You can't possibly walk around your OWN house in your underwear with a maid around. With the Roomba and Scooba (water vacuum cleaner), you definitely can!
Roomba doing its thing!

Featuring... Roomba DANCE
Roomba, automatic vacuum cleaner parks all by itself!
Notice it goes into reverse and when it docks to its homebase, it aligns itself so that it sits on its contact points perfectly for a self-charge.


2.5 hours work. 3 hours charge. Recommended to work twice a day. Unfortunately, it doesn't cook like a maid :)

Pricing & Purchasing Information
The Roomba 540 (without scheduling with 1 virtual wall) & 560 (with scheduling with 2 lighthouses). Retailing at RM2188 and RM2388. I think it's sincerely a steal!
For PowerOn viewers, a special discount voucher/code will definitely reveal a special price with Aet15 :)

Look at the amount of dirt!

You may ask, why buy Roomba in Malaysia when it's USD$349.99?
Well, these models offered by Aetis are Asian versions climatized to our weather & humidity. Moreover, warranty & spare parts are crucial & available from Aetis 24/7. They even do housecalls :)

Summary
Some of the other competing floor cleaning robots include Electrolux Trilobite, LG, Robomaid and many other domestic robots. But rest assure, Aetis & Roomba are here to automatically clean up the Malaysian households! We just can't wait for them to bring in the Scooba, an automated robotic floor washer 