Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Neato XV-12 All Floor Robotic Vac
$299.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

Who would win in a fight, this or a Roomba?

Previous Woot

$399 on Amazon with a bonus pack of replacement stuff

Not a good number of reviews though

Hint....Mother's Day...

ThunderThighs wrote:but it won't arrive in time.

have the flying monkeys bring it?

Brace yourself.
The Nintendo Comments are coming.

I bought this a couple of Woots ago and really like it! The vacuum has great suction and you can "set it and forget it". The best thing is it forces me to keep my floor tidy, not the easiest thing for a bachelor to do!

ThunderThighs wrote:but it won't arrive in time.

Then haul out the ancient upright vacuum and clean those floors for your Mom!

CNET video review: http://cnettv.cnet.com/neato-xv-11/9742-1_53-50081793.html

Gotta be careful with these things around pets. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWMkOwq2qIU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

ThunderThighs wrote:They're off trying to find their mother.

will we get a video on that?

When dog meets robotic vacuum

I too got this a few woots ago. Love it. No joke, I have it scheduled for Saturdays and when I came home today my floors were vacuumed. I literally used it less than 12 hours ago.

zlassiter wrote:$399 on Amazon with a bonus pack of replacement stuff

Not a good number of reviews though

The reviews that are there seem good, though. Maybe this is a newer version of the XV-11

This also comes with the same bonus pack, and is actually new (not a typical Woot! refurb) for $299....so you'd save about $100 over amazon, depending on tax, shipping, etc. I'm really trying to decide if I can justify this, because I've been thinking about getting a robot for myself, after I got my mom a Roomba from here awhile back and she loves it!

How well does this transition from hardwood to carpet? Will it be able to climb over the floor divider without getting caught?

If you own one of these, do you still use a regular manual vacuum?

Also just noticed, these things are NEW! Nothing like a new vacuum smell.

But is it powerful enough for a cat to ride on it?

I know this will sound a little strange, but I actually got one in the last round (5 weeks back?) to use for robotics experiments - you can hook up the USB port and turn on diagnostic mode, then directly control the motors and read all the sensors, including the laser scanner, if you want to do your own custom house-mapping project... then when you're done, you can still use it as a vacuum :-)

The XV-11, XV-12 and XV-15 are identical except for color and the plug end on the XV-15.
Source: Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neato_Robotics



Here's the manual for the XV-11 (identical except for color):

http://www.costco.com/Images/Content/Misc/PDF/559138.pdf

lichme wrote:How well does this transition from hardwood to carpet? Will it be able to climb over the floor divider without getting caught?

If you own one of these, do you still use a regular manual vacuum?

Also just noticed, these things are NEW! Nothing like a new vacuum smell.

joshinthesecond wrote:Who would win in a fight, this or a Roomba?

NEATO.....have had about 15 roombas, now only run neatos....

I assume heavy dog hair (German Shepherd) would ruin this thing? It just about kills our Dyson...

Well, here's the proof. This is definitely something that attracts rage claws.

lichme wrote:How well does this transition from hardwood to carpet? Will it be able to climb over the floor divider without getting caught?

If you own one of these, do you still use a regular manual vacuum?

Also just noticed, these things are NEW! Nothing like a new vacuum smell.

after owning about 15 roombas, the neato is SUPERIOR....it will climb over transitions, and goes great from my hard floors to area rugs.....i am a believer....

Funny how the product video that woot! posted had the closing tag of "only available at Target" ... ya, that was funny.

have had about 15 roombas over a nine year period (many purchased from woot)......the neato is FAR superior......the 'smart' cousin of the roomba......two neatos can clean my floors better than 6 roombas......WAY less maintenance......a fabulous vacuum......i have all hard floors with 3 area rugs, and have been more than pleased with the cleaning......

ericshmerick wrote:I assume heavy dog hair (German Shepherd) would ruin this thing? It just about kills our Dyson...

No it will NOT ruin it - that's what made this better than a Roomba for me. The Roomba's spinning brush would quickly get all clogged up with cat fur (and honestly, my hair - I have a giant head of hair!), and eventually died. The Neato has a rubber brush that doesn't get caught up with fur and has MUCH better suction, so when it's done, the dirt cup is filled with fur. This thing REALLY SUCKS! I've only had it about a month, but am really happy with it.

Bought one of these the last go-round to replace my first-gen Roomba. A truly excellent piece of engineering; three goes with this (all of which can happen while I'm away from home) does as good of a job as busting out the upright vac and doing it myself.

Although they're far better when you glue googly eyes to them.

I also got my Neato a few Woots back. My cocker spaniel sheds constantly, and the Neato does a great job of picking up the fur. I have it scheduled for 3 days a week. My floors are mostly hardwood with large area rugs and two rooms with tile. The Neato has no problem transitioning onto the different surfaces. Emptying the dirt bin is simple, and the filters rinse off easily. (I rinse them outside with the garden hose.) The only negative is the noise it makes. It sounds like a jet plane taking off when it starts up. However, I gladly put up with the noise because I seldom use my Dyson anymore.

So we have little kids that leave little kid crap everywhere - barbie clothes, legos, torn up school assignments, etc, etc. I'm guessing this thing is pretty indiscriminate & picks up everything. What size crap does it pick up, and what does it leave behind for the billy lids to pick up?

I've been checking woot daily for this very thing. Now I'm a little nervous to actually buy it. My Roomba from a Brick of Carbonite is still going strong after several years so is spending $300 vs free a good investment?

Bought this at the last woot! deal, and my family is loving it. We treat Neato like a pet now. There's something pretty awesome about leaving the house with crumbs/grass/dirt all over the living room/kitchen floors (5 kids under the age of 10) and then coming back to a nicely vacuumed house. If I had another $300 to burn, I'd get one for our basement, too. Well worth the $$$$!

I bought one from woot 3 months ago. We love it. With 3 cats a vaccum running every day even under the bed etc. is a life changer for us. We have a 3/4" transition from wood floor to tile and the neato climbs right over (sometimes it backs up and tries again once or twice to do it.) From what I understand it's the same as the XV-11 (different color).

Got one last time it came up here on Woot. I'm amazed at it's effectiveness. But there's one room in the house (the living room) it has trouble with unfortunately. We just happen to have mission-style furniture and low-to-the-ground couches that trap the Neato halfway underneath. It might be hard to picture but basically there's enough of an opening that the Neato attempts to drive under, only it gets stuck halfway in and can't get back out again.

I measured and realized that our couches are designed to be 3" higher in the front — I guess so that the incline is leaned back when you sit on it, sort of like a recliner. I've looked into furniture risers but so far the only solution is to set the magnetic tape at the halfway mark under the couches. I wish this wasn't necessary because I need the tape to establish recognized doorways, as the layout of our house is sort of open and I think it sees practically the whole floor as one room (which is fine, but it does mean it takes longer to finish and must stop to charge itself in between sessions).

This is probably not sounding like a ringing endorsement but I actually would recommend the Neato to anyone. Just measure the height of your furniture if you want to be sure you won't have the same problems. And be aware that you may have to work on Neato-proofing your home before you can "set it and forget it." But, as I said, it's nothing some furniture risers (or an additional 15' of magnetic tape) couldn't fix. It really is amazing how well this sucker functions under the right conditions. And the convenience of not having to vacuum yourself is well worth it.

... So Woot decided that a good Mother's day gift would be a vacuum cleaner... Not just an ordinary vacuum cleaner but one with which to say, "Hey Mom, we don't need you anymore."

GG woot!... Seriously... a vacuum cleaner for Mother's Day... Where are the toilet brushes and dish soap? Might as well make the package complete.