Roomba Competitor Slightly Lacking

tivojafa writes "Following hot on the heels of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, TV Products (USA) Inc have released the "RoboSweep" - "The intelligent sweeper that sweeps while you rest!". Roomba by iRobot is an engineering masterpiece with 15 sensors and 5 motors to navigate and clean the floors. It has been stripped apart and there are rumors of a replacement processor so it can be used as a general purpose robot platform. Now the RoboSweep "intelligent" sweeper has redefined intelligence (or lack of it) - the internals have got to be seen to be believed." Very funny.

You brought it on yourself

[tangledweb]

Here is an idea for an ask slashdot thread:

"Have you ever bought anything off an infomercial and been happy with it?"

I cannot see why you would sell anything that way if it would sell in normal outlets.

The intelligent Robosweep?

[twoallbeefpatties]

Has anyone ever actually expected quality out of a product that has a "As Seen On TV!" sticker on it?

Re:I don't get it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you stupid? RTFA. It explains everything.

Moron.

Re:You brought it on yourself

[shaitand]

Because it's hard to get into normal stores, anyone with a few bucks can get long national infomercial advertising.

Re:You brought it on yourself

[dnoyeb]

Just got mine about 2 weeks ago at local K-Mart. Kicks MUCH ass. Saves energy. Cooks quick. This thing has got fast food beat big time.

You get what you pay for

[gad_zuki!]

I really don't understand the gap-jawed complaints some people are expressing. Its a fourty dollar device compared to a TWO HUNDRED dollar device. Please, lets not act too surprised.

This all reminds me of the DustBuster craze in the 80s. They all plainly sucked, or failed to suck dirt, yet they sold by the millions. Even the heavy-duty Black & Deckers did little then make an annoying whine and create a weird smell.

Today, the DustBuster market is more or less dead and the ones that have survived are at Target, are a slightly more costly, are larger than the originals, and have tons more sucking power. [target.com] I'm willing to bet these actually work. It took 20 years but black & decker did it :)

Will it take another 20 years to perfect the Roomba? Its not all raves you know. [aarp.org] It easily gets confused when encountering wiring and cramped spaces, you know the traditional shelters of geeks worldwide.

Another thing to consider is the law of diminishing returns. $200 is a lot of money for most people and if this RobotVac works half as well it will undercut the Roomba in marketshare.

Yes, its cheesy and a cheap knock-off but then again so are most components in the PCs people are using to view this message.

Re:You brought it on yourself

[GigsVT]

Are you are saying he is planning on having more kids? He already has 10, the 5 sons and 5 daughters. All the sons are named George Foreman.