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Robomower Review
Note: This review was written what today seems likea lifetime ago. We have opted to leave it on the web as a reference for those who may be looking at a used or new-old stock RL-1000.
The RL-1000
When we first opened the box, we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the unit and how well engineered it appeared to be. The unit itself weighs about 79 lbs with the battery installed and measures 35 inches long by 26 inches wide with a height of 12.5 inches. The color is pretty nice shade of yellow (now green). The manual controller has an easily seen red stop button and is conveniently located on top near the center of the unit.

Of course we had to get a look at the blades. Upon turning the mower on its side (do this on grass), we found three separate blades recessed into bowl shaped chambers. The blades resemble a food processor blade more than a traditional lawnmower blade but at 5800 RPM, anything will cut grass. These blades are far from flimsy and should last at least a season. One really well thought out feature here is that no tools are needed to remove the blades. Just pinch two tabs and pull! Reinstalling the blades is just as easy. Just push them on.

You may be wondering how you move a nearly 80 pound mower around if you need to store it or move it to another mowing area. The unit includes a corded remote that easily pulls from the top of the mower. It works kind of like a game controller in that there is a four way directional button and buttons to turn the blades on. This is very handy for manually mowing areas too small for the mower in automatic mode. It also doubles as the programing device by way of a LCD screen (now backlit for easier reading).

The tires on the unit have treads that look like snow tires and give the mower a rough and tough persona. On the flip side, the rubber bumpers round off the edges and give it a sleek look and feel.

The safety features go much further than any traditional lawn mower. If the unit front lifts or one of the bumpers are pressed, the blades instantly stop. The fact that the blades are recessed and the center blade is set way back shows that a lot of thought was put into this during design. In addition, the low weigh of the blades and their location pretty much eliminate the possibility that any objects will be thrown. According to publicly available statistics, 70,000+ people are treated each year for lawn mower related injuries. As of the time of this review, none were the result of robotic mowers! With the tens of thousands presently operating, this is pretty darn impressive. To avoid tampering there are two levels of lawn mower security. The first is a "child lock" that requires that you press two buttons on order to get the unit to start. The second is a security password that requires a four digit code to be entered if you want to operate the unit. Neither interferes with regularly scheduled operation.
Well enough of looking, time for the Robomower install!

Enclosed with the mower is 750 feet of wire (incorrectly stated as 1000 feet on a few websites so plan accordingly), the manual and installation DVD. Also included is the Roboruler. This can be found in a slot located in the top of the foam "clam shell". It is easily missed so be sure to look before calling support. In the box containing the dock, you will find the pegs, power supply and dock components.

 
Finding the best location for the dock is the first order of business. Since every lawn is a bit different, we won't go into details here. It just has to be within 50 feet of an outdoor electrical receptacle. Most people place it in the back yard in a spot were it is not too obvious. If you want to hide it, a trash can screen (or hide) can be purchased at your local home center and it does a nice job of screening the unit and dock from view.
Laying the wire is pretty easy. You just use the provided "Roboruler" to place it the correct distance from an edge and stake it down. We found it easier to remove the wire from the box and unroll it while slowly walking. This reduced the "coil" so it laid flatter to the ground. Stakes should be placed every 2-3 feet or so In areas where a good amount of foot traffic is expected, one every foot is a good idea so no one catches a toe on it. One thing to be aware of is that it is much easier to install the pegs after a recent rain. Sun baked hard soil is sure to cause you to break more than a few pegs while driving them in. Once the loop is complete you just connect it to the dock as shown in the manual (now a DVD). Our initial installation took about 2 hours and was actually completed just as the light of day faded.
Letting it go
Excitement won out over sense so we went ahead and pressed the start button in the dark. The unit left the dock and proceeded down the wire as we excitedly followed. After about 50 feet, it abruptly stopped as a result of cutting the wire. In the morning we quickly discovered the cause. First of all, we had the cutting height set way too low. Second, we did not check for low spots that were masked by the grass. After walking directly on the wire to find valleys in the terrain, we added a few more pegs, adjusted the height, and tried again. This time everything went well. The Robomower followed the edge, docked for a moment, turned into the lawn and started mowing. The mowing pattern can be described as a "W". With each successive completion of a set of "W" passes across the width of lawn, the unit then changes its angle and continues the "W"". If you want to visualize this, imagine erasing a chalkboard in W patterns and changing the W from vertical to horizontal with each pass across the board. The theory is that you will eventually get it all and for the most part it does. If you stretch the unit to its operational yard size limits, you may occasionally find a small, un-mown patch. You can either manually cut it using the manual controller or let it go until the next run. Our initial run was about 3 hours and did a pretty impressive job. We did have to tweak the wire placement in a few places but that was it for the most part.
Going Fully Automatic

We fully expected to be faced with something as frustrating as programming a VCR when we took on this task. As it turned out, it took about 5 minutes to set the mowing days and start times. If you have a more complicated lawn some other options are provided that allow you to set up secondary zones like a split front yard or areas separated by a fence by utilizing a stand alone perimeter wire signal switch. In addition, for coverage assurance on larger lawns, you can set the mower to automatically start from a different location each day that it runs . Advanced options allow you to choose just where those start points occur.

The following day the unit left the dock right on schedule and dutifully went about its task. Once the Robomower had completed it's run, it located the perimeter wire and returned to home base for a recharge. We ended up actually reducing the run time a bit and then set it to run every other day.
Once everything is set, you can pretty much forget about the mower for the summer. We do however, get a nice reminder that our robotic buddy is on the job when we arrive home to a tidy lawn. Hmmm... What should we do this weekend?
Additional UPDATES

After using a number of successive models we have learned quite a bit more about where this mower works best. Contrary to the manufacturers site, we believe that the RL-1000 is best suited for lawns of less than a half acre, especially if you have very well fertilized grass or a good number of grades. If you want to push it further, we would recommend that you purchase an extra battery and fast charger to allow more than one mowing operation a day as required. Since you cannot schedule more than one automatic run per day, the Robomower must be manually started. This is as simple as dropping in the other battery and pressing the "go" button.

Rain Sensor
The RL-1000 now comes with a rain sensor that prevents the mower from going out in the rain and tells it to return to its dock if it gets caught in a shower.
The RL-850 does not need a rain sensor since it is manually deployed.

Low Cut Blades
All we can say is WOW! Although these blades cut at a lower 2 1/2 inches, they provide a superior cut. In addition, they require that you set the mowing height to its maximum. This provides better ground clearance so the Robomower is much less likely to get stuck on uneven terrain. We have decided to include them free with every RoboMower that we sell.

ROBONOTE:
We not only sell robotic mowers, we use them as well. We believe that they are good for the environment and promote domestic bliss.