Robot vacuums work best in small spaces and 4,000 sq. ft is going to give it a hard time for sure. Whatever limitations it may have, at the end of the day, iRobotâÂÂs Roomba is still the best robot vacuum and changing to Neato or any other alternative is just not going to give better results. I couldnâÂÂt clearly understand why you canâÂÂt limit the Roomba to an area but I guess there is something wrong with your lighthouses and they are not working the way they should. There are two possible reasons why the virtual lighthouses may not be not working: 1-)They have a range of about 6â 6âÂÂâÂÂ. If the gap you set them to cover is larger than that the robot vacuum will find the spot where the lighthouse ray cannot reach and pass through. The solution to this could be to put two lighthouses 6 feet away from each other but two of those so close can confuse the robot. Another solution is to place some object in the middle of the gap where you do not want the Roomba to pass and place the lighthouses on both ends so their rays donâÂÂt make contact. 2-) Roomba 530 is not compatible with lighthouses. But if you have lighthouses they will still work as virtual walls. You need to set to wall. This post was edited by patricc on Thu, Sep 25, 14 at 13:40

I don't have area rugs with fringe so the Roomba handles them pretty well, I pick up the smaller ones by the door that I use to keep the dogs from tracking in from the yard. Low pile is fine - I don't let it run on one rug that I have that has long loops, I'm sure it would stall. I understand if you have black rugs or rugs with dark edges the Roomba won't go over them because it thinks it's a drop (like a step). It uses a sensor to watch for stairs and such and will stop when it gets to them. To elaborate on the Scooba a bit more for those who are curious, yes, it does a wash more than the Braava which only pushes around a damp cloth. You set it up to clean a "small room" or a "large room". It has a water reservoir to which you add cleaner. The cleaner is not sold in my area so I buy off Amazon. BestBuy is supposed to carry it but not my local store. iRobot also has it on their web site. It doesn't take much cleaner - I only add a small amount to the water. The I set up my lighthouses/virtual walls to keep it in the area I want scrubbed (and obviously not on the area rugs). It runs around a bit to get a feel for the space and then it starts - it lays down a thin film of water as it goes, it vacuums and puts down the water, goes back and forth and in circles, using the brushes I suppose, then it goes back and vacuums up all the left over water. So the floor is pretty dry by the time it shuts off. It's a bit entertaining at the end as it shakes itself off, kind of like a dog. You then dump out the water from the dirty side of the tank, rinse it out and pull out any hair. You can then add more water to the clean tank and top off the cleaner, and recharge it. I found it does need another small area rinsed out or you will get an error code, but easily done. The dirty water is noticeably dirty so it is doing something to clean the floor. As I mentioned, the manufacturer warns against other cleaners. and other users have posted that the unit will fail if caustic cleaners are used, as it will damage the unit. I have sprayed windex on the floor ahead of it with no issues. It's not a perfect solution as you will still need to damp mop your baseboards and tight areas occasionally, but I do like it for my bathroom and I have on occasion used it on my engineered wood, but I follow it with an old towel and wipe up excess water so the wood does not absorb it. If you, or your family members have long hair, I would definitely recommend doing a quick vacuuming or Swiffer run first to pick that up before running the Scooba, as it will pick up hair and then you will be very unhappy pulling it out of the reservoir and brushes. It is also not very quiet so don't think you can run it while you take a nap.

I’d like to purchase one of these. Since my back surgery and hip surgeries, mopping the floor is difficult for me. We have all hardwood floors. Do any of you have any experience with these and could provide some advise?

I have a Roborock S5 Max and run it about every 5 days on wood floors. It works very well for me, but I have a sparsely furnished home and no rugs. Take a look at your floor space and get an idea of where a robotic vac can and can't go. Some are better on carpet than others, so if you go for it, be sure to read reviews.