For more information about Roombas in general, read our Roomba 560 review.

This Roomba runs approximately half the price of the high-end Roomba 560, and I feel it is an excellent value. The largest downside to this model is that it is from an earlier generation, meaning that iRobot had additional time to learn from past mistakes and make updates for the newer Roombas. Despite this, the 410 performs very well.

In addition to it being an older model, the Roomba 410 has a slower charging battery, does not have a home base to which it can automatically return, and it includes one less virtual wall.

None of these issues are major downsides. Most users will probably charge their robotic vacuums overnight, so the battery is not a huge issue. The “return to home feature” is very problematic on all of the Roomba’s – so it’s best not to plan on relying on that anyway. Finally, doorways are easy to block with obstacles, so there is not much need for more than one virtual wall (it’s only really necessary for confining Roomba to one half of a large room).

With it’s good performance and attractive price, the Roomba 410 is a great choice for anyone that wants a robotic vacuum on a budget. Check out the current pricing at Amazon and eBay.

iRobot’s line of Roomba vacuum cleaners were some of the first and are the most famous robotic vacuums available. They promise freedom from vacuuming, an appealing proposition.

For someone with the right type of home, a Roomba might largely make good on its promise – if you have a huge house, however, even this fanciest of Roombas may not be the best choice.

To use Roomba, you turn it on and the robot automatically drives around the room vacuuming. It does not learn the shape of your room, but uses an algorithm to automatically navigate and guess when it has covered the entire space. The most surprising thing is that in most normal rooms, it works really well. Roomba will cover the entire area, even driving under furniture and getting fairly close in the corners (despite its round shape). It’s actual vacuuming/suction ability is on par with most decent vacuums, and it handles very dirty or animal hair covered floors with aplomb.

Despite its usefulness, Roomba has a number of limitations. First, it has a small dustbin and limited battery life. I find it can usually only finish one or two rooms before its battery dies. If you don’t run it very often, those one or two rooms will also completely fill up its dustbin. The second problem with Roomba is that it cannot find its way all over your house and clean. It will work in the room or two that you put it in, and then stop when finished (and would run out of batteries long before cleaning a large home).

So is a Roomba worthwhile? I recommend it for people living in small, one or two bedroom places. It will only take a couple runs for Roomba to clean your house, and it is wonderful watching the little robot run around doing your chores for you. If you own a larger home, Roomba is great entertainment and can be nice to clean a room or two, but it’s overambitious to expect the little guy to cover your whole place.

The 560 is the highest end Roomba, including 2 virtual walls (use infrared light to keep Roomba in a particular room), and is able to automatically return to its charging station (although the reliability of this feature is a bit suspect). You can find pricing on the Roomba 560 at both Amazon and eBay.