iRobot Roomba 560 (Refurbished)
Our Take
- Model: IROBOT-560-R- The classic 560, “peak Roomba”: later models cost a lot more for marginally better performance- You’ll enjoy its company more than your kids/pets- You should still clean up around the house sometimes, or at least make your kids/pets do it
#1 best selling computer vacuum?!
We would think the Roomba, undisputed alpha gorilla of the floorbot jungle, would be beyond puffing up its credentials at this point. But there’s the refurbished iRobot Roomba 560 on Amazon, sitting atop the “Computer Vacuum” category, despite the fact that every other item behind it is clearly intended to vacuum your computer.The Roomba, let’s be clear, is not.We gainsay nothing about the Roomba’s supremacy in its chosen niche. (We hope we’re using “gainsay” correctly there, but we don’t hope it enough to stop and Google the definition.) But it’s playing dirty (haw haw!) for Roomba to chug slowly and loudly into other niches - even if it’s just accidentally taking advantage of the cracks in Amazon’s vast, unwieldy categorizing system. Here are some more dubious Roomba #1’s:Best-Selling Item Over $150 Manufactured By A Company Named After An Isaac Asimov BookNearest competitor: 128 oz. tub of “Nantucket Breeze” Male Enhancement Salve by Lecherous Limericks, Inc.Best-Selling Automated Cat AntagonizerNearest competitor: USB Plastic-Bag Shaker by Crinkling Concepts LLCBest-Selling Floorcare Product With one R, two O’s, an M, a B, and an A In Its NameNearest competitor: A BroomBest-Selling Hockey-Puck-Shaped Household RobotNearest competitor: Chappo the Cybertronic Hatbox**Best-Selling Dust Collector Under 15 Lbs.**Nearest competitor: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling