I want it to be easy to use.
My mother gave me a Roomba vacuum for Christmas, and I just love it. It's very easy to use, just turn it on and it goes by itself, around furniture and any obstacle and turns around when it gets to the stairs. We have tile and area rugs (like under the dining room table, etc.) and it doesn't do so well on the rugs. For the tile and wood floor, it's great.
If you would like to have a new cordless drill for your birthday, get your hubby a vacuum, or maybe a new toilet brush or better yet some bubble bath from bed bath and beyond.. Cook him a good meal and pamper him a bit he will like it a bunch better than a vacuum cleaner.
Your husband wants a robotic vacuum for his birthday? That's a strange gift, especially for a man. In our house household appliances are a no-no as gifts.
Call me crazy, but unless your husband is way different than mine, I don't think he will be too thrilled about a vacuum for his birthday.
