Yes, we have a 15 year old Kirby, and it's very good.  Yes, we have a Dyson pet model, and it's better than the Kirby.  We got a Roomba this weekend because it's too time consuming to keep up with vacuuming or sweeping up beagle fur three or four times per week.  The Roomba did a VERY good job today on its maiden voyage.  The battery charge lasted well over an hour, and the battery did not go dead, Roomba was simply done.  The only negative is that the debris container needs to be cleaned out every fifteen minutes or so...when the floor is dirty.    But we're going to send the Roomba out on a mission every day, so things should remain very manageable - at least that's what we're hoping.  That is all.

Is that the movie with the chocolate factory?

I have one of the original ones, and it does do an impressive job... but it's so old now the battery (second pack) is kaput.  It will make it 5 feet off of the charging stand before it gives the death tone.  

Gonna have to get another battery soon.

Oh, get a few bottles of the canned air dusters....  You'll need to take the Roomba outside after every couple cleanings and blow it all out.  It gets all kinds of dusty up under it.

Yes, they work great.  But every 2-3 months I have to take mine completely apart and clean dog hair out of the drive gears.  The fact that I have two large dogs that lose hair like a depressed emo chick probably contributes to this.  They are a huge time saver.

I also have to take mine apart to clean hair out of the brush's drive gears.  The first set ruined itself after enough time.  Actually the gears were fine but some gears' axles rode in plastic supports that wallowed out and caused misalignment of the gears.

I still like the unit though.