Roomba 600 & 500 Series Comparison/Review (5-series: 530, 532, 535/540, 550, 555, 560, 562, 570, 580, 6-series: 610)

The 500 series is iRobot’s latest generation of vacuuming robots designed to work seamlessly on both carpets and hard surfaces. The initial robots were introduced in 2002 and the 5-series is their 3rd generation version introduced mid-2007. A couple of 5-series robots (532 & 562) along with a professional series product called 610 were introduced in September 2008. The primary differences in technology between different 5 and 6-series models are:

• Lighthouse vs Virtual Wall Technology: Virtual wall technology allows Roomba to block off areas and lighthouse allows Roomba to navigate between rooms thereby allowing cleaning of multiple rooms efficiently –535 and above has lighthouse technology while the 530 has the virtual wall technology only.
• Wireless Remote Activation– Allows Roomba to be controlled and scheduled remotely – Included with 570 and up. $59.99 upgrade for 535 and upwards.
• On-board scheduling – 560 and up.
• A high-capacity sweeper bin – this is new with the 532 and 562 pet series. It holds three and a half times the amount of debris that the standard one that comes with the other 5-series products hold.
• Max Mode – Allows Roomba to run until batteries are almost drained and then return to home base. This feature can be very useful to clean large open areas such as in an office floor.

It is possible that all 5 series machines can be upgraded to have the above features through a firmware upgrade, but iRobot has not made any such promises. The other difference between the models boils down to the additional accessories; power rating of the batteries included and/or replacement parts that are part of the package. Below is a comparison spreadsheet of the different Roomba 5 and 6-series models:

Comparison Term	530	New 532 - PET	535	550 (Costco Only*)	560	New 562 - PET	570	580	New 610
List Price	$299.99	$349.99	$249.99	$279.99	$379.99	$399.99	$449.99	$529.99	$599.99
Thumbnail
Virtual Wall or Lighthouse****	Virtual Wall	Virtual Wall	Light house	Light house	Light house	Light house	Light house	Light house	Light house
Number of Virtual Walls or Lighthouse in the package	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2
On board scheduling	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Brush Kit***	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Accessory Kit**	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes – with Bonus Kit and Storage Case
Room Coverage	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Warranty	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	Two Years
Max Mode	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
High-Capacity Sweeper Bin	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes

• *The pricing on the Costco website which includes Shipping & Handling is $289.99.
• **Accessory Kit contain silver face plate, additional virtual wall lighthouse, 3 bristle brushes, 3 beater brushes, 3 side brushes, and 3 extra filters.
• ***Brush Kit contains 1 bristle brush and 1 beater brush.
• ****Lighthouse has 2 modes – virtual wall & lighthouse.
• As of 2/2009, the Roomba 562 is no longer listed in the iRobot website.
  

All 5 and 6-series models have the following features:

• 3-hour charging – Faster charging compared to the previous model that has charging time of 7 hours.
• Spot cleaning – Allows quick cleanup of spills and concentrated masses.
• Self-charging home base – Automatically returns and self-charges.
• Voice Demo – Quick introductive video with self-demo – Cool!
• Light-touch bumpers – Identifies furniture, etc. slows down, lightly touches, and changes direction.
• Dirt detection – spends more time on dirtier areas.
• Virtual Wall – Allows blocking off specific areas within a room.

Pricing:

Below is a table that shows the best prices for each of the 5 and 6 series models along with the incremental features they offer:

Model*	Thumbnail	Store	Best Price	Discount Detail	Added Feature, Accessory, and replacement part
530		Amazon.com	$299.94	None	2 virtual walls.
532 - PET		Amazon.com	$319.99****	None	Features in 530 PLUS High-Capacity Sweeper Bin, Accessory And Brush Kit MINUS Spot Mode, Voice Demo.
535		Amazon.com (marketed as 53501)	$249.99	None	Features in 530 PLUS One extra filter. Only 1 virtual lighthouse.
550		Costco	$259.99**	None	Three extra filters and 4 “C” batteries. 2 virtual light houses. On-board Scheduling. Black design.
560		Amazon.com	$319.88***	None	Silver on black design. Pricing is a rip-off!
562 - PET		Amazon.com	$369.99	None	Features in 560 PLUS High-Capacity Sweeper Bin, Accessory And Brush Kit MINUS Spot Mode, Voice Demo.
570		eBay	$399.99	None	Features in 560 PLUS Remote. Brush Kit. Lifetime warranty (Hammacher Schlemmer).
580		eBay	$450	None	Extra Lighthouse, silver faceplate, 11 brushes, 7 filters.
610 - Professional		eBay	$598	None	Features in 570 PLUS Max Mode, 2-year warranty, Bonus Accessory Kit, and Storage Box.

• **550 – Occasional manufacturer's discount can reduce this price.
  
• ***560 - Refurbished models are available for about $240.
  

Roomba also sells certain models with technology from the previous generation as well as a number of remanufactured models. The pricing for the remanufactured models range from $99.99 for a basic Roomba Red to $157.45 for the Roomba Scheduler that has remote and scheduling. They are covered by a 90-day warranty as opposed to the 1-year standard warranty for the new product. Previous generation models (400, 410, and 416) are priced from $129.99 for the Roomba 400 and it comes with no virtual walls. The popular Roomba 410 that comes with 1 virtual wall is priced at Amazon.com at $149.99. The 416 comes with two virtual walls along with a better battery (3-hour charging time) for $199.99. There is also a discontinued 5-series model called the Roomba 510 - it has since come back and the list price on it is $279. It is similar to the 530 but doesn't ship with a home base. Sites such as woot.com has sold it previously for as little as $149.99.

Our Experience and Recommendation:

Our purchase decision was made after reading the vast amount of information available at RoombaReview and Amazon.com. We settled on the 535 from Home Shopping Network as it offered the best upgrade path for the least amount of money. An additional virtual wall ($29.99 list price) was in the plans for us but after using it for almost two years, we have come to the realization that bells & whistles are not that useful:

1. The lighthouse and virtual wall technology – we tend to use it a room at a time and the door amply serves to keep the Roomba in. Even in an open floor-plan family area, it is easier to block access to certain areas than reaching for the lighthouse.
2. The self-docking capability – Roomba is usually transported to the desired location sans the dock and returned to the dock for charging.
3. The scheduling interface and the voice demos - The remote for the scheduling option is beyond the scope of our purpose and the voice demo was used only the first time and its real value is moot.

Roomba performs better with a certain amount of preparatory work. This could involve such things as moving light furniture like chairs out of the way, picking up bigger pieces of garbage, dusting down furniture and baseboards, etc. Not all of it needs to be done every time as Roomba is able to handle most obstacles, albeit less efficiently.

Unlike with a vacuum, it makes a lot of sense to use the Roomba frequently – it involves minimal work on your part and the Roomba does its thing while you leave it alone and does not require light. Further one can quickly warm up to the fact that Roomba is relatively quiet and cleans hard-to-reach areas. It is best to clean up the brushes, filters, and empty the debris bin after every run. This takes less than 5 minutes and the modular design along with the fact that Roomba is light makes this less of a chore than it sounds.

Following is a summary of some of the cons we have noticed:

1. Roomba does not suck in pencil point tips. Instead it drags the Pencil tip and leaves pencil marks all over our laminate floor. We usually use an eraser to get it off,
2. Roomba misses certain spots,
3. Transition strips that are between our laminate and tile floorings are problematic for the Roomba, especially when the tile area is very small as around our fireplace & entrance – it attempts to get over it and in the process bumps on the wall turns back and the process continues.
4. Roomba was a little bit hard on one of our glass cabinets as the bumping is not that light. We use the lighthouse for these purposes.
5. The adhesive on the bumper pad does not stick on easily.

Replacement parts are sometimes back-ordered. This is something to watch out for. One solution may be to keep one set of replacement parts handy.

The 5 and 6-series Roomba’s are excellent products that can save busy households’ valuable time. Among the Roomba 500 & 600 series models, our recommendation is to go with one of the basic models: Roomba 530 or Roomba 532 PET. Please also see our comparative review for the best values in Robotic vacuums.

Hacker's Corner:

Roomba provides an open API and encourages robotic enthusiasts to explore the limits of the product. Below are links to resources:

1. API Specification PDF.
2. More info & determining whether your Roomba is hackable.

Anyone inclined to explore this option should also invest in the following additional resources:

1. Hacking Roomba: ExtremeTech (Paperback) by Tod E. Kurt or the Kindle Edition that explains the following cool projects: Build a serial interface tether, Set up a Bluetooth® interface, Drive Roomba, Play with sensors, Make it sing, Ceate a Roomba painter, Use your Roomba as a mouse, Connect Roomba to the Net, Wi-Fi your Roomba, Replace Roomba’s brain, Build the RoombaRoach, Install Roomba-cam, Put Linux® on Roomba.
   
2. Companion HackingRoomba Website.

Last Updated: 08/2010.

CURRENT SALE REPORT:

1. Roomba Sale At Amazon.com.
2. Roomba Sale at ebay.

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