Roomba revisions coming in September?

There's not much that gets us more excited than new cleaning bots -- yes, we're unabashed iRobot fanboys -- so we always want to be the first to know when a fresh product comes along (we did a little happy dance with our dog when the Roomba for Pets was announced earlier this month). Luckily, then, we caught wind of the linked thread on Roomba Review (your home for all things, um, Roomba), in which a purported insider delivers some details and pics of upcoming revisions to the Scheduler, Discovery, and Roomba Red models: the 560, 530, and 510 (whose supposed retail packaging is pictured above), respectively. New features are said to include a 'lighthouse (peripheral to indicate which room is cleaned)' and integrated display, with upgrades also coming in the form of a redesign (pictured after the break), easily-swappable parts (wheels, motors, etc.), greatly improved battery life (1,500 hours versus the current 350, allegedly), and automatically-activated virtual walls. Pricing will range from CAD$300 to CAD$450 ($279 to $418), according to the RR member, so now we have to squirrel away at least that amount of dough along with however much more it's gonna cost to pick up those completely new bots we've been promised for the holidays.

[Via Electronista]

[Paul @ May 29th 2007 7:59PM]

now drop it to like 100$ and i'll think about buying one

[Andy @ May 29th 2007 8:32PM]

Blah, I just bought one of the old ones! Oh well, I got it from woot for $139 yesterday, so I'll use it to see if it's worth paying more for a fancier one. With that battery life, and a bigger dust bin, it could do my entire apartment all at once.

[KZeni @ May 29th 2007 9:16PM]

Wouldn't most packaging include a picture of the real thing? That picture above is a 3d rendering. You can tell by the shading that it's not the real thing.
Seems like it could have easily been created by a bored 3d/2d designer.

[Modano @ May 29th 2007 9:18PM]

I was so skeptical when I got it but- holy crow- I love my Roomba.

[Phour ZwanZig @ May 29th 2007 10:25PM]

currently 350 hrs.. umm yeah, of standby.. My Roomba Sage eats battery like its life depends on it.. Oh wait.. It does?.. oh.. 350 hrs does sound right for standby life thou..

And Im looking forward to the redesign even if mine is only bout a year old..

[MidniteArrow @ May 29th 2007 11:15PM]

The battery life of 350 hours refers to how long it will run before you have to REPLACE the battery, not how long a single charge will last.

[Liel17 @ May 29th 2007 11:54PM]

Damn you Roomba! You're giving woot more opportunities to sell crap when they have nothing else to sell... **sigh**

[bud @ May 30th 2007 2:20AM]

Main tweak any Roomba needs is the ability to empty its own dust bin, when it goes back to recharge. And a bigger dustbin and more horsepower probably.

Also, I feel that it probably doesn't really work much better than a sweeper, I can't imagine something that size having much of a vaccum. But thats a safety feature, so that it doesn't pick up something unattended, that it should not, such as rug fringe or power cords.

[DaveTheWave @ May 30th 2007 12:23PM]

Your feelings are wrong Bud...

These things are great. I recently purchased one from woot and it does a great job.

[bud @ May 31st 2007 12:19AM]

How often do you empty it out?

I think for reasonable carpet, the short nap high traffic type, or bare floors even, it would be ideal. If you have carpet from the seventies or before though, and have stuff all over the floor anyway, it could be trouble, if you have one of those homes that need to be cleaned before the cleaning people come by, as many do.

Would you rather have two Roombas or one Dyson? Most people get one vacuum at a third or less of the cost of either, that breaks down on them in a year or so.

[DaveTheWave @ May 30th 2007 12:24PM]

Oh by the way, I have three kids and they make a huge mess when they eat. The roomba cleans the dining room nightly.

[Matt Jackson @ May 31st 2007 11:32AM]

I have a six story split level with hard wood floors and hairy hairy dog. When will they make a Roomba for me?
The stairs part is the killer.

I already have a discovery but moving furniture and moving stories is a pia. Still beats the carp out of hoovering though.