questions about irobot create

edit

Hello, I'm interested in getting a Create for a project I'll be working on, and wanted some information about it from somebody that already has one:

1. How much weight can it safely carry? I talked with Irobot's tech support and they told me the maximum is 5lb, but searching on the internet it seems like this limit is actually not as strict as it appears to be. I'm asking because I'd need to put a 3kg laptop on top of it, which would mean ~3.5-4kg if you also consider the kinect and eventual supports for both. I guess I could use a netbook and send the data I need to another computer, but I wanted to avoid the additional overhead of the wireless link.

2. For how long does it run using AA batteries? I'm inclined on not getting the battery pack, since I'd be using the robot in europe, so I'd also need a transformer if I went with the battery pack option.

Thanks!