Out of the box the Scooba is almost ready to go and there is a good quick start guide to get you going with the robot. (Though quick is a bit of a misnomer as the battery takes 16 hours to charge the first time you use it.) In the box you get the Scooba itself, one "invisible wall", a battery, charger cable, and a stater bottle of the cleaning fluid the Scooba uses (you will want to pick up some extra fluid as the bottle is only good for 4 cycles). I would have like to have seen a second "invisible wall" unit in the box like accompanies the Roomba (especially since the Scooba costs as much as the high end of the Roomba line). Though depending on the spaces you are cleaning you may not even need the one "invisible wall", more on that later. Another downside to the Scooba is it requires a specially formulated Clorox brand cleaning solution (and using any other solution voids your warranty) which costs up to $6 per bottle (you can get the fluid in bulk directly from iRobot at a discount with free shipping). Fortunately the Scooba only uses two ounces of the fluid per cleaning cycle (up to 200 sq feet), so the cost per cleaning works out to around 37 cents a use so it is not too hard on the wallet. The Scooba is kind of pricey, clocking in as high as $350 though you can find it cheaper if you look around enough (we got ours via Bed Bath and Beyond for $240 with one of the 20% off coupons they send you in the mail) or buy a refurb from iRobot.

The Scooba is incredibly easy to use. Once it is charged, you fill its clean tank with 2 oz. of the cleaning fluid and about two cups of warm water, set it on the floor and hit the "clean" button. It does its thing for 30-45 minutes while you go about your business elsewhere. It signals you when it is done and you pick it up and empty its tank and wash its brush and filter. All in all the clean-up takes about 5 minutes after the cleaning cycle is done. As far as its cleaning ability, the Scooba did as fine a job as regular mopping. Leaving only a few spots that would have required some extra scrubbing anyways. (Though all the "scrubbing" I had to do was wipe them a few times with a damp rag. The Scooba did most of the work lifting the spot). The Scooba is only capable of some light vacuuming, so you still have to sweep/vacuum the floor first (unless you have a Roomba) if there are larger pieces of debris. The only area of the house that the Scooba had any trouble was in the bathroom, where it could not fit behind the toilet because of its size (it cleaned the rest of the bathroom fine and the area it couldn't clean wasn't that large - a warm soapy rag handled it just fine, no mop and bucket required). The only complaint I have is that the battery must be recharged between cycles and the recharge takes between 3 and 4 hours. It's not a deal breaker, there are extra batteries and an external charger available for about another $90 for a battery and the charger. Even if you don't get the extra battery the charge cycle can be worked into your cleaning day work flow, or you can just do one area a day (the Scooba is easy enough to use that it would not be a big deal to set it when you come home from work and plug it back in when you go to bed). In my house, the "invisible walls" were unnecessary as the entire floor was less than the 200 square foot maximum cleaning area and the carpet at the edge of the tile was tall enough to trigger the robots touch sensor. Even though I didn't need it, I tested the "invisible wall" and it worked as advertised, corralling the Scooba in its designated work area.

The Scooba is a nice addition to any cleaning toolbox. I can see it being especially useful to the elderly or anyone that finds hauling a bucket of water around the house difficult. Even full, the Scooba is light enough that almost no one should have a problem putting it down or picking it up off the floor. Though it can also be helpful to anyone who has anything better to spend their time on than cleaning. I would have liked to have seen a second "invisible wall" in the box, as I could easily see someone with all tile or hardwood floors needing a second unit to corral the Scooba. I would have also liked to see a battery life of more than one cycle, but as I said before it is a limitation that can be worked with. Overall, I like the Scooba despite its short comings and would reccomend it to anyone looking for help cleaning around the house. I give the iRobot Scooba 4 out of 5 "G's".

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