One of the best purchases I made in 2009 was the iRobot Roomba - a robotic vacuum cleaner.
The Roomba 560  is a great little machine that can vacuum while I get on with updating this website – or cooking the dinner ,go shopping or go or a swim.
Paying for a cleaner is a “luxury” that I have never felt justified the cost  – but the Roomba can save me hours of boring vacuuming every week for a lot less than paying someone else to do it.
In these “credit crunch” times – many people who do employ a cleaner might be thinking of cutting costs – well the Roomba will help. Available to Buy Here prices starting at around €308 including delivery. They also sell the Scooba – which looksgood too – a robotic floor washer. I might get myself one of those for Christmas.

With it’s recharging dock – I  just set the Roomba cleaner  going in a room and it cleans the floor better than I do – under beds is it’s speciality. No need to move furniture – it is clever enough to work around that too. The odd rug needs taking up  because sometimes it can lift the corners and get stuck.
The Roomba 560 seems to be no longer available – but the Roomba 555 looks pretty much the same.
My Roomba battery seems to be not fully charging – and sometimes runs out of power when doing a large room. I will probably have to buy a new battery.  It has lasted nearly 2 years – and Currys Partmaster seem to have the cheapest Roomba batteries available online with delivery to Ireland. (About £60)

The Roomba seems to have been hard to buy in Ireland in early 2010 – it seems there were problems with the distributor – but those problems now  have been sorted out and they are  back in stock and available for delivery to Ireland again.

Currys Partmaster also sell Roombas  and Roomba parts and batteries – and delivery to Ireland appears to be available for £6.99

The Roomba 555 is the top of the range model – with the ability to set a timer for when it runs . The Rooomba 530 is a bit cheaper and is missing this timer facility – but apart from that there isn’t too much difference.

Both Roomba models are available here online with delivery to Ireland with prices from around €308 Euro for the 530

Also check Currys Partmaster for Roombas

Pixmania also sell Roombas