Introducing the Roomba Vac

The futuristic Roomba vac is surely one of the most promising inventions of the decade. Why? Because iRobot's Roomba vacuum cleaner is almost completely automatic, a robotic marvel that roams the floor, does its own cleaning, and finds its charger when it's done. All you do is program it (dead easy), clean and replace the brushes regularly, and help it out of the occasional spot of trouble. No more pushing around a heavy vacuum; the Roomba carpet cleaner is self-propelled, and you rarely need to touch it.

Cleaning the robotic way

iRobot, a well-regarded robotics company that also manufactures military robots, introduced the Roomba in 2002. The concept of a robotic carpet cleaner was a stroke of genius on iRobot's part; no one expected the personal robotics revolution to start with a self-propelled disk for cleaning floors. But the Roomba floor vac soon silenced its critics. Its high-tech electronics not only let it avoid obstacles, they also allowed a more efficient cleaning and could locate dirt and dust easily. It proved itself on carpet of all types as well as hard-surface floors, its brushes and other accessories were marvels of low-power cleaning efficiency, and it could plug itself into its own charger. When has a regular floor vac done that?

But the prices...

One of the most amazing things about iRobot's Roombas are their prices. If a Roomba cost $2,000 bucks, who would own one? That's why they start at just $149 MSRP, with the attractive Roomba Red model. If you're a savvy shopper, however (and of course you are, or you wouldn't be here), let our online merchants send you your very own personal robotic clean machine for a price that won't clean out your pockets.