Importing a Roomba in 2017

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Importing a Roomba in 2017

ashtonaut

614 posts

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#223044 9-Sep-2017 19:29

The new Roomba 690 is US$325 (NZ$450) on Amazon.

YouShop to NZ is about $57.

GST and entry fees about $125.

So $630-ish landed.

This is $20 less than I’d pay for a 630 (now 5 years old) through the official NZ channel (which doesn’t offer the 690).

I understand there’s no local support or warranty.

Not so sure about power supply – does anyone know if the 690 comes with the universal dock (100-240V), or the 110V version? This Amazon answer suggests it’s universal, but the website and user manual doesn’t make it clear.

Has anyone imported a 690 (or another model) recently? Is the above about right? Is there a better way to do it? Anything else to watch out for?

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meow
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#1861517 9-Sep-2017 19:35

I'll also be very interested in this.

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blakamin

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#1861522 9-Sep-2017 19:43

If you're going to get a robo vac, get a good one...

Seriously, spend good money.

The LG used to dump all over roomba. Mine is 4 years old and still out-sucks our dyson.

Ask @sonyxperiageek

nunz

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#1861553 9-Sep-2017 20:50

Reminds me of a story I heard coming out of the USA.

A couple purchased a Roomba or similar. Left their apartment to go to work one day, leaving their dog in the hous.e the dog took a dump on the floor.

A long story cut short - Roombas etc don't detect turds on the floor so in the course of its random wandering around the home, vacuuming in random patters, the roomba ran over the fresh turd and painted it all through the apartments / carpets.

The couple tried to sue the makers of the robot vacuum claiming it should have been able to detect turds nad take evasive action. - not sure how that ended but I know it always gives me pause for thought when eyeing up one of those contraptions.

Look here is the story: https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/3206552/dad-roomba-robotic-hoover-dog-poo-night/

LostBoyNZ

584 posts

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#1861587 9-Sep-2017 22:20

Can you import that via YouShop though? I thought they were quite strict on batteries.

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ashtonaut

614 posts

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#1861632 10-Sep-2017 06:48

Good point. I checked YouShop, from USA they allow integrated batteries as long as the capacity is less than 100Wh. Looks like the Roomba pack is somewhere around 3000mAh at 14.4V, which converts to about 45Wh - looks like it should be OK.

Resnick

238 posts

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#1861686 10-Sep-2017 09:39

ashtonaut: Good point. I checked YouShop, from USA they allow integrated batteries as long as the capacity is less than 100Wh. Looks like the Roomba pack is somewhere around 3000mAh at 14.4V, which converts to about 45Wh - looks like it should be OK.

Trying to explain the physics and math to youshop staff can be quite a frustrating experience. I had a similar rated battery a year or so ago delayed at youshop for this reason. In the end I gave up, had it shipped to a relative who in turn had it reshipped by DHL i think, without an issue in the end.

sonyxperiageek

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#1862027 11-Sep-2017 01:05

Pretty impressed with the Roomba 980! Sucks really well and it will nearly always get that piece of dirt you can see on the floor the first time, otherwise it will come back during its second round and get it. Love the edge cleaner as it goes round to all the edges and spins dirt into the path of the vacuum for it to suck up. It's also easy to empty the bin once you open the casing and you can generally shake it to get all the dirt out. However, as mentioned in my review, there are bits of dust which will cling to the filter and around the insides, so once in a while may need to get in there to do a hard clean.

Bottom line is that the 980 also has more power than its lower end models, so it really digs deep into the carpet, and like @blakamin said, worth it to spend slightly more to get a top end/better one.

Next up, I really wanna try and invest in a robot mopper like this one, and a robot lawn mower. Would make my life just that much sweeter!

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reven

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#1862070 11-Sep-2017 08:34

my 970 on my brand new nylon carpet left track marks all over it around the walls, anywhere that was straight. these never went away, took a good 6 months before they showed up, but yeah never really went away.

but i didnt really like that carpet anyway and I sold the place :P

If LG had one that had some kinda of app (something I could automate) that would be great. I'd be interested in teh roomba 695 because of this. rule would be, if havent run in 3 days, and no one is home, turn on. When someone gets home, turn off.

kryptonjohn

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#1862072 11-Sep-2017 08:36

If you c an get an Amazon merchant that ships internationally via Amazon, it will be a lot cheaper than YouShop. When you do the search, there's a checkbox on the left that is supposed to restrict the search to international shippers, but either it doesn't bloody work, or it includes international shippers that don't ship to NZ.

reven

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#1862080 11-Sep-2017 08:43

ebay has them for NZD$480ish landed from a top rated seller.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-iRobot-Roomba-695-690-Wi-Fi-Connected-Robotic-Vacuum-Cleaner-Warranty-/142500207627?epid=2148417159&hash=item212dac9c0b:g:bLcAAOSwH1NZe41Y

kryptonjohn

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#1862085 11-Sep-2017 08:47

That should avoid GST and fees too?

Resnick

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#1862090 11-Sep-2017 08:52

Do any of you people leave your robotic vacs running while you are out with house alarms on? (ie are they detected by pir sensors?)

kryptonjohn

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#1862091 11-Sep-2017 08:53

And the bottom line - are they actually any good?

reven

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#1862121 11-Sep-2017 09:20

Resnick:

Do any of you people leave your robotic vacs running while you are out with house alarms on? (ie are they detected by pir sensors?)

use to always turn in on when the alarm was on, it never triggered it. it would trigger my fibaro home automation sensors though.

regarding how good it was, it was a good daily/bidaily clean, but still needed a full vacuum every few weeks. and you had to empty it basically every time it ran, it would pick up so much "loose carpet" it was basically full of carpet fluff.... theyre not vacuums, theyre just sweepers basically.

kryptonjohn

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#1862125 11-Sep-2017 09:26

This time round we got solution dyed nylon carpet - no fluff! Would never get wool again.

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