Asus Robot Is The Ripped-Off Netbook Of Vacuums
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Wednesday, 30 of December , 2009 at 3:42 am
There are two things that are notable about this robot vacuum from Asus, and sadly but unsurprisingly, neither of those two things have anything to do with its fundamental design or method of operation… It’s just another rip-off of iRobot’s Roomba. The first notable thing about this robot is that it’s $150. This is cheap, yes, but not cheaper than you can find a lower end latest generation Roomba for, if you spend a little time looking. And it’s not like you’ll have any other option if you live in the US, since there’s no chance that the Asus robot will ever be available here.
The other notable thing, I guess, is that it has a UV light to disinfect the floor as it cleans. And, uh, it has some kind of slot that emits fragrance (nice fragrance, I assume). And a remote. In other words, some gimmicks. And I’m sure it vacuums adequately.
What I don’t really understand is why, when a robot like this comes out, everybody talks about it in terms of competing with the Roomba. This IS a Roomba, which is why it’ll never be sold in the US. iRobot put a bunch of energy into developing a reliable and effective design for a household vacuum robot, and if companies outside of the us want to copy them, fine… But competition is something like the Neato XV-11, something that says, “we’ve got our own ideas about what makes a good vacuum robot.” If you want to pay $150 for a bootleg Roomba, then by all means, do that… But it’s still a bootleg Roomba.
[ Taiwan Economic News ] VIA [ RSN ]
Comments (6)
Category: Consumer
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Comment by amodedoma
Made Monday, 4 of January , 2010 at 5:57 am
To say that this is a Roomba is like saying all vacuum cleaners are Hoovers. Just because it has the same size and shape doesn’t mean the mechanical design and engineering that went into it is identical. This article makes little or no mention of what makes it different from the Roomba or any of it’s characteristics, which obviously would be more interesting and informative, instead it mentions only that it’s too similar, which in reality is only an opinion.
Comment by Hugh Mann
Made Tuesday, 5 of January , 2010 at 5:07 am
Agree with amodedoma, article does not mention if it is any better at picking up dirt, longer battery life/range etc etc. You can’t call 2 cars “too similar” just because they look the same from the outside, and it’s the same here.
Comment by Joe
Made Thursday, 7 of January , 2010 at 7:54 am
This is competition. Just because they’re making something almost identical to the roomba doesn’t mean they’re not competitive. If they can make a roomba identical to iRobot’s but for a cheaper price, then the benefit of competition is to drive down robotic vacuum cleaner prices. If ASUS can undercut iRobot and still make a profit, that suggests that iRobot either has a huge profit margin (and is ripping off consumers) or inefficient. My guess is that iRobot has both problems as their patents guarantee them a monopoly in the US for a period of time. Not that I’m against their patents…
Comment by Cathy
Made Wednesday, 13 of January , 2010 at 11:37 am
Ahmm…I like the shape and interface of the product. Hope, it is of high quality ‘coz I bought before same with that but it was easily out of order. By the way, great video there..I was encourage though.
Comment by RVC Baron
Made Wednesday, 14 of April , 2010 at 1:23 am
What nobody seems to remember though is that the Roomba is a copy of the Electrolux Trilobite launched almost 2 years earlyer but in Europe…
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