I was a person who used to sing the praises of roomba for all to hear. We have two cats, and I think they and I tie for shedding hair! Roomba was wonderful for managing that. I used it in addition to my big-mega vacuum, and I was careful to clean it every couple of sessions. But the thing just started to fall apart, despite my only running it about 2-3 times a week. First, the rotating side brush kept snapping apart like a twig. A complaint to them had them sending me 2 free ones and not too long after that they sent out a universal letter letting people know there was an issue and they could get some extra ones. The bumper strip fell off and no amount of glue or tape would get that sucker to hold for very long. Then it began stinking at picking up material until one day it began limping and turning in circles. I was just barely past the warranty date, but I still emailed them asking for what I could do. They basically said, "send it in and pay for repairs" without any suggestions. I did some research online, and it appears that in houses with dog/cat hair, that fur tends to creep up inside the Roomba and get into the gears. And yes, even despite regular brush/tray cleanings. We had to take Roomba entirely apart and we found gobs of hair wrapped up and inside of places I couldn't even imagine how it got there. I mean, what's the point of a vacuum if what it is meant to pick up kills it so quickly? So, we cleaned it out, and it worked okay for about another few months (though it still never worked nearly as well again), when the battery just quit on us. Now I understand that that is just going to happen, but it wasn't even a gradual death. It would show a fully charged light, start running, and inside of 2 minutes suddenly turn red and play the death knell. And frankly, I find it insane that as expensive as the battery is to replace, that it would last such a short time, even with following all the directions for optimum battery usage.
With that, I was done. Did not want to spend so much money to replace the battery of a product that was clearly circling the drain already. Luckily, I had purchased my Roomba with my AMEX which doubled the warranty. So just about 18 months after purchasing one, I got my money back.
It's a great product, but its durability just isn't what I think it should be for a $280 vacuum.
We use it in the basement but not as often. My husband got me the basic model that didn't have the charger/base. We then bought the charger from the Roomba site for $30 and it was so worth it. 
I have a definite love / hate relationship with my roombas (all of them have been named Rosie).
