Back in 2009 when Dyson vacuums were all the rage I really really wanted one but they were way out of my budget (especially being on Mat leave).  I've always been lucky with my contests winnings so I thought I'd try my luck out at the Casino in Campbell River when I was home for a visit.  I went up to a slot machine and silently repeated my mantra over again "All I want is a Dyson Vacuum' $20 turned quickly into $800.  I cashed out and headed to Sears as soon as I was back to the Mainland.   

People quickly scoff at the price of Dyson's products but I can attest that it totally lives up to it's claim of never losing suction.  When I moved into my Condo a year ago, I did not have carpet and my heavy Dyson vacuum took up too much room and was too heavy for my completely laminated suite.  I decided to sell it on Craigslist for $180.  

So that left me without a floor cleaner.  I don't have any stairs and had seen ads in the flyers for these robot machines that seemed very space age.  The concept was simple and having an almost 8 years old who constants drops crumbs and what not on the floor it seemed like the right type of tool for my 800 sq ft space.

Black Friday arrived this week and I was flipping through the Canadian Tire flyer to see this little guy tempting me to buy him.

At regular price of $499 on for $287 at Canadian Tire, it was hard to resist!  

Here he is!  Aptly named Mr. Roboto by Mason.

It came with 4 main components:

1. Base unit
2. Room avoider (needed 2 C batteries) [Didn't need as I don't have stairs]
3. Extra filter
4. Docking Station 

It suggested a full night charge so I put it on the base only for it to give me an error message.  I had to take off the bottom plate and then removing and reinstalling the battery.  That worked and now he's charging.

Fast forward to the next day and Mr. Roboto is ready to clean my floors!  So I was excited to clear the floors in my kitchen, dining, living, bathrooms (will do bedrooms separately).  I didn't check his charge levels but assumed he was full o' battery.  A quick two taps to his buttons (on and clean) and away he went.  Mason was super excited to watch him zip around the rooms in an erratic, drunk fashion bonking into walls and table legs.  

First observations:

1. He is kinda noisy so you wouldn't want him zipping around while you are watching tv (or have a headache).
2. You do need to prep first besides clearing the floors.  There are spaces that he simply can't reach space wise and so I had to run around using a hand broom and sweep out the dirt so he could access it.
3. His sensors definitely seek out dirt and away he goes.
4. He covers the same area multiple times 

The entire cleaning cycle took about 40 minutes and cleaned about 500 sq ft.  Initial survey:

• Living room - 99% 
• Kitchen - 99% (2nd most amount of crumbs)
• Dining room - 80% (Most amount of crumbs)
• Hallway - 30%
• Bathroom - 100% (not very dirty though)
• The unit showed wear after 1 use.  The rubber was marked on the vacuum with only one use from crawling under my cabinets and the top plastic was scratched for the same reason
• There are two rotating bars which were very easy to remove and the box came with a hair/string cutting tool to remove debris from the brush
• The filter was easy to remove and the box came with an extra one
• Unless you have stairs, you won't need the sensor tool that it comes with to stop the vacuum from going where it should not (it needs 2 C batteries, not included)
• Docking station is cool, it puts itself away when it's done cleaning
• It did work on my shag carpet and appeared to do a great job

Is it worth the $300 price tag (after taxes - Black Friday Deal)?  I don't think so.  My house in shambles from having to move everything around and I still don't think it's going to work on the two carpets that I own.  I feel that if I just used the hose on a regular vacuum, I would have been done by now.  Sorry Mr. Roboto but you are going to back to the store. :(