iRobot Scooba 390

Autonomous cleaning robots? The future is now?and has been for a decade. While it's no Wall-E, the iRobot Roomba has been dutifully vacuuming homes for over 10 years. The iRobot Scooba 390 ($499 direct) is the mopping counterpart to the vacuum-only Roomba and shares that familiar puck-like design. The newest Scooba is bigger and more versatile than the older Scooba 230?($299, 3 stars), taking on both vacuum and mop duties to get your floors squeaky clean, but it's also $200 more expensive. As a tech enthusiast and verifiable sluggard, I was instantly drawn to the Scooba's promise of clean floors with the press of a button. However, while it got my floors sufficiently clean, it was no more impressive than a Swiffer WetJet, and I'd much rather have that $500 for something like, say, the new iPad.

Design, Setup, and Cleaning Process
At first glance, the Scooba 390 is indistinguishable from the vacuum-only Roomba. At 14.6 inches in diameter and 8.6 pounds, the Scooba 390 is significantly larger than the last model we tested?the Scooba 230 was less than half the size and weight, at 6.5 inches in diameter and 3 pounds. There are benefits and limitations to both designs, but more on that later.?

The Scooba 390 resembles a two-tone gray puck, with a silver handle and two buttons, Power and Play/Pause, on top. There is a blue line between the handle and buttons, which also denotes where the two parts of the Scooba separate. Pressing, not pulling, on the handle releases the top portion of the Scooba, revealing the tank for water and cleaning solution, as well as the battery and separate compartments for collected dust and grime.

Setup is simple and straightforward, requiring only three steps to get started: First, plug in and charge the Scooba 390 with the included AC adapter; remove the tank and fill with water and Scooba cleaning solution (four packets are included); then simply press Power and then Play to get started. The tank is separated into Clean and Dirty compartments, and can be filled with just water if you don't want to spend $12.99 on the recommended iRobot solution. Once you're done, empty the tank and clean out whatever debris and hair has accumulated in the vacuum filter.

So how does this robot actually work? The Scooba 390 uses the same iAdapt Responsive Cleaning system as previous Scoobas and current Roombas, which is just iRobot's way to describe the system of sensors and programming that helps the Scooba learn the lay of your floors. The Scooba 390 uses a four-stage cleaning process, which is similar to the previous Scooba's, but adds one essential step?prepping and vacuuming. Unlike with the Scooba 230, you will not have to sweep your place up before running the motorized mop. All of the steps happen more or less simultaneously, as the various brushes and nozzles on the bottom of the Scooba are in order?first the vacuuming ports, then the solution spray, then a scrubbing brush, and finally a squeegee for drying.

iRobot programmed the Scooba with dozens of robotic movements and behaviors. Over 60 times per second, the Scooba calculates which movement to use, utilizing wall-hugging and cliff-detection to ensure that the robot covers the most surface area possible. Watching the Scooba go to work was fairly entertaining, as it executed a wide array of spins, shuffles, straight dashes, and double-backs to cover the floor of my apartment.

If you have a carpet, you'll need to set up the included virtual wall, as the Scooba cannot clean carpets or rugs. The virtual wall is a small rectangular cube that sends a signal to the Scooba to go no further. It takes two D-sized batteries, and you can set the range for the signal to cut off larger rooms if necessary.

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