Features:

• Cleaning machine for hard floors, shop carpets, or industrial-floor surfaces
• Simple one-button operation; high-speed, counter-rotating brushes
• Stair avoidance system; oversized dust bin; fully charges in 7 hours
• Standard battery and charger, cleaning tool, and owner's guide included
• Measures approximately 13 by 13 by 4 inches; 1-year limited warranty

Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
Leave the cleaning to a robot with this convenient machine. Its 14.4-volt rechargeable Ni-MH battery provides the power needed to clean hard floors, shop carpets, garage and basement areas, as well as industrial-floor surfaces. In addition, specially designed counter-rotating brushes spin almost 1,000 times per minute, sweeping up dirt and debris that cling to rough surfaces. Simply press the "clean" button and the unit sweeps under workbenches, cars, and other hard-to-reach places, picking up nuts, bolts, dirt, and more. For added convenience, "cliff" sensors keep it from falling down stairs or other vertical drops. The unit offers an oversized, bagless, easy-to-empty debris bin, and its power supply fully charges in seven hours. Accessories include a standard battery, a standard charger, a cleaning tool, and an owner's guide. The cleaning machine measures approximately 13 by 13 by 4 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.

Rating : - a disappointment
I bought a Dirt Dog to clean a large studio area (roughly 2,800 sqft) that is largely open space. I bought the home/dock device too.

Two things emerge: if the device doesn't hit a boundary after an, unspecified period of time it 'guesses' it's stuck and simply stops and beeps. Secondly, I'm disappointed that the Dirt Dog doesn't resume cleaning after recharging its battery. The home/dock is of little actual utility, other than the device returns to recharge itself instead of simply stopping in a discharged state. It's a cute but expensive accessory.

I gather that a new model has modes that enable it to calculate the room size and maximize the coverage-per-room based on information it receives through its sensors. This is said to enable the device to clean larger areas - such as open floor plans & it will apparently clean until the battery is almost depleted then it will return to its base for recharging. There is still no mention of what THEN happens...

All good stuff but it's disappointing that iRobot doesn't provide firmware updates for their products. A simple USB connection to a PC is all that it would take. For all the programmability that they espouse the product is pretty dumb and fixed. Product firmware updates and a facility for customerization are badly needed. I don't want to spend $500 on a new model for things the existing product should already be doing.

Finally, requiring the user to count the beeps is a really bad way for the device to communicate.

Clive McCarthy.