Of all the household chores, I hold a particular disdain for vacuuming. Laundry's pretty bad, but you only have to do that once every week or so. And dishes are tedious, but at least there's a Zen-like simplicity to them. But vacuuming is just the worst. It's loud, it's strenuous, and you have to keep plugging and unplugging the cord every time you switch to a new room (or just see if it reaches, like I usually do, only to come unplugged or knock something over in the process).

Luckily, vacuum robots have been around for the last decade to relieve us of this most dreadful task. And while the very first models left plenty of room for advancement, iRobot has just released the Roomba 790, its best vacuum 'bot yet. Similar to the previous Roomba 780, the 790 adds a Wireless Command Center to the mix, so you can activate your robovac without leaving the sofa. At $699.99 (direct), though, you'll pay dearly for that convenience.

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Design, Accessories, Features, and Setup
The Roomba 790  measures 14 inches in diameter, stands just under 4 inches tall, and weighs 8 pounds, which is similar to competitors like the 13 by 12.5 by 4 inch (HWD), 8.2 pound Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner  (3.5 stars). The top panel is a metallic-looking shade of blue, with gray accents and black sides. It's definitely the best looking 'bot in the biz. Turn it over and you'll find the various brushes and filters that do all the work, along with an easy-to-remove dirt collection bin.

Those brushes and filters easily detach from the base, and the 790 comes with a veritable trove of replacement accessories, including 3 sets of 2 HEPA filters, 3 sides brushes, 2 bristle brushes, 2 beater brushes, brush cleaning tools, and an accessory carrying case to keep it all organized. So if you take good care of your Roomba, it should last a very long time.

The Roomba 790 also comes with a set of three Virtual Wall Lighthouses, which are tiny, battery-powered beacons you can use in one of two ways. In Lighthouse mode, they help the Roomba navigate around your home. Just place a Lighthouse in a doorway with the logo facing forward. When the Roomba has completed the first room, the Lighthouse will help navigate it on to the next one, and then back at the end. Lighthouse mode worked well in my tests.

In Virtual Wall mode, the Lighthouse creates a barrier to block off areas you don't want cleaned. Place it down, then use the range selector to adjust the length of the barrier up to eight feet and the Roomba will stay away. Why block off a portion of a room? In testing the Roomba around my apartment, I used the Lighthouse to block it from running across one particular cord it repeatedly tripped up on. The Roomba has an anti-tangle system in place, so whenever it senses a tangle it automatically stops its brushes and spins them in reverse to free itself. While this worked, I found it easier to block off the area entirely and prevent it from happening in the first place.

The biggest new feature here, and the one that you're essentially paying an extra $100 for, is the Wireless Command Center, which is just a fancy name for its remote control. It uses radio frequency to transmit signals through ceilings and walls up to 25 feet away from the Roomba. The Command Center is about the size of a television remote, and is all black on the top and bottom with a gray band around the middle. It automatically comes paired to use with your Roomba, but it's easy to pair and unpair if necessary.

The Command Center has five primary functions. Most importantly, it allows you to initiate cleaning just by pressing the Clean button, so you can start up your Roomba no matter what room you're in. You can also use it to schedule cleaning, send the Roomba back to its dock, or choose a specific area to spot clean. Best of all, directional keys surrounding the Clean button allow you to steer the Roomba the way you would a toy car, directing it to a particular spot in your home.