[Iliketophaff]

Which do you think would be more useful to us, a Rooma or Scooba?

We have white/grey polished porcelain tiles

Carpeted: bedrooms, lounge, hall
Tiled: wide entry, kitchen/meals, family and rumpus (all connected) plus the bathroom & laundry off the hall.

I find that the job of picking everything up, then vacuuming or sweeping, then mopping takes too long and I can't get it all done in one hit. And when I go back to do the areas I haven't finished, the rest of the place needs it again anyhow.

We have an old but good vacuum, and doing the carpets isn't an issue for me.
Our mop is an Enjo pole with a Sabco mop head on it. Drying the tiles is a pain and they are not coming up well.

I'd like to have a look at the Roombas and Scoobas but I'd like some thoughts on what would be most useful to us first.

When school goes back I will have about an hour out of the house with the school run each day and each way.

[Monket]

I have an LG Roboking. I am in love with it. I find that as the floors are kept quite clean and sit free, they require less mopping. I do a bit of spot mopping when needed and a full mop every couple of weeks.

[ChilliDog]

I just got a Roomba a week ago and I'm already in love with it. I just leave it do it's thing while I'm out or at night when I'm sleeping and the floors have never been so dirt/dust free (2 dogs + a newish house build with dirt still outside being trampled in all the time).

I haven't tested it much on carpet yet as we've just done our living area which is all tiles except for 1 rug. Does do a good job on the rug but it's new and so far has just collected surface dirt.

DH was very skeptical to start with but I now find him playing with it, testing the settings and doing spot cleans lol. Think he loves it just as much as me now.

I've never used or even seen a scooba so I can't comment on that!

[SeaPrincess]

Roomba. Scooba works better when the floors have been vacuumed first anyway. When I was waiting for a new battery for Scooba, I was able to Roomba the kitchen/dining at night after going to bed, then mop before the children got up. You can Roomba one room at a time if necessary as well, so you don't have to pick everything up all at once, and it will go under the beds and things.

FWIW, I didn't find the Enjo mop that great on tiles, and I recently gave mine away.

[2 Gorgeous Girls]

I only have a Scooba so can't compare but I love it. I only run it downstairs where it is all tiles. I figure there is not much point having a roomba for the upstairs carpets when I have to vacuum the stairs anyway.

I pop my dining table chairs up at night and let it do it's thing. I will do a quick sweep if DD2 has tipped her entire dinner on the floor but otherwise just let the inbuilt vacuum do the work. The catcher for debris isn't very big though and it will stop if it's full.

[*LucyE*]

I have both and like them both

If I had to choose between them, I think I'd choose the Scooba but our living areas are either tile or timber floors. We only have carpet in the bedrooms which I prefer to vac with a power head brush to get the dog hair out.

The Scooba does a vac before mopping so if you run it regularly (I was doing daily), there isn't much of a build up that needs a super vacuuming. My tiles were cleaner with the Scooba than compared to getting professional cleaners with their fancy scrubbing machine.

[Iliketophaff]

Lucy an 2GG, how well does the scooba do the vacuum? Is the capacity the same as for a roomba? And can you set it to only vacuum?

Over the last few days I've been looking at how our floors get used, and if it is loose dirt or stuck dirt, and its more of the loose stuff.

Also, where did you get your appliances? There doesn't seem to be much competition, and the Good Guys didn't have them on their website.

[SeaPrincess]

Lucy an 2GG, how well does the scooba do the vacuum? Is the capacity the same as for a roomba? And can you set it to only vacuum?

Over the last few days I've been looking at how our floors get used, and if it is loose dirt or stuck dirt, and its more of the loose stuff.

You can't set Scooba to only vacuum, and it doesn't vacuum first, then mop, it's all part of the same process. It has a filter that traps the larger bits of dirt. It doesn't get into the corners as well as Roomba either. For loose stuff - sand, crumbs, etc - I'd get Roomba.

I don't know where is the best place to get them - the place we got ours from (online) doesn't sell them anymore.

[2 Gorgeous Girls]

Also, where did you get your appliances? There doesn't seem to be much competition, and the Good Guys didn't have them on their website.

I got my Scooba from Harvey Norman. It was ticketed at $850 but (without me asking) the sales girl said let me see what price I can do and came back with $650 and a 3 year warranty. Obviously this one had been sitting as floor stock for a while! If they don't offer a price reduction I'd definitely ask

[joykey]

I remember hearing a while back (may have even been on EB) that you can get them at CostCo. Anyone know about that?