For Christmas, I bought a
Roomba Discovery. I LOVE it. Its so convenient, and it just scoots around sucking up all the dust and
puppy hair. I was shocked and amazed (and a bit embarassed) at just how much dust it did pick up! The roomba has just as much (if not more) vacuum power as a regular upright vacuum cleaner. It has no trouble with my rugs (although I hear if you have frilly rugs they can cause trouble), stairs, or furniture. It did get caught on a tshirt on the floor once - but the Roomba just realized there was a problem and shut it self off.
The robot ran great for a while, and then one day just stopped cleaning. I contacted the iRobot customer service, and with no fuss and a less than 5 minute phone call, another one is being sent to our home. Now that's service.
If you're thinking about buying a Roomba, I highly recommend it.