Neato Robotics XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner - US$428.83 Delivered

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  ocoolio on 02/05/2012 - 14:15

  -1

  I mean, no offence, but what's wrong with this country?

  I purchased my vacuum for $50 from bigW and does the job very well.

  I never felt so overpaid that I wanted to buy a vacuum cleaner for 10x more… (and would strongly disagree with anyone who says ~$500 for a damn vacuum is a good deal!)

  Maybe that's just me and vacuum cleaner is the new diamond on the finger of the house :)

  • 

    pilchard on 02/05/2012 - 14:20

    +5

    your $50 vacuum does not vacuum the floor by itself. This is a robot.

    • 

      scampy on 02/05/2012 - 14:22

      +2

      I have a wife for that… (gets ready for the barrage of negs!!!)

  • 

    Forgot69 on 02/05/2012 - 14:26

    I agree that a $500 vacuum is a bit over the top BUT I can assure you that the difference between a cheapie from BIG W / Kmart to a reasonable Electrolux/Miele/Dyson etc. can make the task a lot less tedious, just from my personal experience.

  • 

    IsometricBacon on 02/05/2012 - 14:49

    +1

    I have a XV11, and believe me, I can tell you it's awesome.

    Whenever I go out, I simply push his button, listen to his merry jingle then leave the house. When I come back, everything's clean. Unlike other robot vacuums, the Neato finds his own way around the house using laser mapping, and you don't really need to be around it.

    Now if only I could find a gadget that would do my ironing for me, and my completely automated life would be almost complete.

    • 

      check on 02/05/2012 - 14:53

      These robotic units seems to have a small capacity.

      Doesn't the dust container get full before its finished?

      • 

        hellbound on 02/05/2012 - 15:01

        most of them can return to their base station and empty their container when they're full

      • 

        takezo on 02/05/2012 - 15:04

        Its quite small but more than enough for a single clean. Cleaning 2-3 times a week results in about 1/2 -2/3 full on most typical runs.

      • 

        IsometricBacon on 03/05/2012 - 09:24

        In regards to the Neato, you generally need to remember to change the waste bin after each clean if you haven't run him for awhile. (He does the entire house). I usually empty it before I turn him on the next time around.

        It's a pretty simple process on the Neato. The bin pops off the top, you can empty the contents into your kitchen bin, then pop it back into place. Doesn't take more than a few seconds.

        If you use the auto timer function though (you can automatically set them to go off at certain times of the day/week) - you'll have to remember to do it more often!

  • 

    takezo on 02/05/2012 - 15:06

    The Neato along with my Dyson DC35 have been the best purchases I've made in years. Means what used to take an hour or 2 on weekends, now takes about 10 mins. Not to mention the fact that our floors are clean pretty much 100% off the time which is otherwise impossible if you have pets indoors.

    • 

      ferguscan on 02/05/2012 - 16:38

      I hear you. I have a DC35, and it's the duck's gonads. Pondering one of these, but not sure I can justify it for a small place like mine.

      What kind of m^2 do you use the Neato to cover? Do you use it across multiple floors? How is it at avoiding falling down the stairs?

    • 

      SteveAndBelle on 02/05/2012 - 17:15

      Funkigreendog, as an owner of one how would this go vacuuming up balls of fluff from strict indoor-only Norwegian Forest Cats? They have soft long fur like a Maine Coon or Ragdoll and although the cats are absolutely incredible I have to say their fur makes a hell of a mess, especially on carpets. Being indoor-only you basically end up with a carpet of fur on top of your normal carpet/rugs within a matter of 1-2 days.

      Would be very interesting to hear your thoughts because I can picture the supplied spinning brush becoming clogged in less than a minute (as per all other vacuums we've bought with similar spinning brush systems). We mainly have hard floors but do have some carpeted rooms or rooms with rugs and the cats just aren't allowed in them full stop.

      • 

        takezo on 02/05/2012 - 18:44

        +1

        @ferguscan…not sure of the exact dimensions but we are in a pretty large 3 bedroom plus study double story townhouse. The downstairs has all the living areas and study (floorboards) whilst upstairs is carpetted and has the bedrooms. We alternate doing up and down stairs. Neato goes for about an hour and a half downstairs, and then returns to the base to recharge before continuing for about another 15 minutes to comple the clean. It completes upstairs on a single charge and returns to where we started it from. No problems at all with stairs.

        @steveandbelle….we have two tonkinese cats. They are shorthairs although they do shed a lot. This was the main reason we got neato, as we would vacuum and two days later there would be hair all over the floors. We never have a problem with hair getting stuck in the brush (also handles my wife's long hair from the bathroom no problems). From what I have read these are much better handling pet hair than the roombas.

        The only thing I would say is to verify the return situation. I copped 2 faulty units before getting a good one (which has been going perfectly for 5 months). Luckily I bought from buy happier and they covered shipping costs both ways as part of their 3 year warranty.

  • 

    bamzero on 04/05/2012 - 13:56

    I guess you need to try one and see :) For me personally, I'd rather spend a bit more upfront and not have to spend time vacuuming instead. Admittedly while the missus did the vacuuming before, and now the robot is my job, that's still one less thing for her to do, which makes my life easier in the long run ;)

    As a gadget lover I'm also amazed at the tech smarts they've put in to this robot at its price point.

    All that aside, if you ran this after you cleaned with your $50 vacuum, I reckon it would still pick up some stuff you didn't know was there.

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  cynix on 02/05/2012 - 19:36

  Does the charging station work with all voltages (100-240V) or is it 110V only?

  • 

    hajonez on 02/05/2012 - 19:49

    Cynix, the charging station works with all voltages as it essentially is just a 'cover' for a 110 - 240 volt universal power brick. The charging station is designed to be clicked open and it's really easy to replace the US power cable with a standard 3 prong clover-leaf style plug such as the ones used for many laptops. These can be bought from places like Jaycar for $6.95. Of course, if you don't want to change to power cable, it's just a simple matter of getting a basic US to AU power adapter.

    • 

      cynix on 02/05/2012 - 19:53

      Excellent. Thanks for the info.

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  Neatoboy on 02/05/2012 - 20:14

  A positive from me because it's a Neato vacuum! (I'm not associated with this company in any way!)

• 

  khomeini on 03/05/2012 - 09:29

  I got my Neato all of 2 months ago and I have to say it's one of the best investments I've made in my pathetic little life. (As you can tell it falls under the "my chore" category - and it's made life alot easier with my dearest wife!)

  Seriously guys - the Neato is awesome. It vacuums all tiles/floorboards/carpets all really well in the house. It does have a smaller bin but you can empty this easily & I empty it after it's had it's run for the day. It picks up dust everytime it vacuums, be it in a days time in the same area's and still it manages it - never knew a house could accumulate dust so quickly.

  I was actually worried how it may work at my house which is quite open plan with larger areas but the Neato does it well, it works by sections and doorways and once finished with one section goes on to the other, all in neat little lines… till it's completed all the house.

  Things to watch out for
  - You have to pick everything little out of the way, ie. childrens toys, socks, clothes etc… Neato will go around larger/solider objects but smaller stuff it's go through, socks it'll try eating & then get stuck on (toys we won't even go there).
  - even though it says it does edges/sides, it doesn't really. You'll either have to do this with a normal vac or use your hands. Not at all a showstopper.
  - Won't do stairs obviously… you can use normal vac for this.
  - Sometimes it gets stuck on our barstools sloped feet - positioning of barstools fixed this, and last week it got stuck with curtains which had a fray - fixed by removing fray.
  - once in a while it doesn't find the charger (especially after being stuck somewhere) and gets close to the charger but then gives up. You just have to push it back to charger to charge again. (1/10 runs it does this).

  Sorry for the full review but I have to share. And seriously, i'm going to buy this if it's at this price for my parents (i paid an extra $50 more dagnamit!).

  Anyway if you do buy encourage your children not to think of it as a toy (my 3yr old throws balls at it!) but at least she now picks up everything as soon as she hears it start up and rushes back to the sofa to hide from it.

  Hope this helps.

  PS. Yes you can simply use an US/AU adaptor or change the cable from JCay as mentioned by Hajonez.

• 

  krish1404 on 03/05/2012 - 10:55

  Ordered and eagerly waiting for my first robot vaccum….

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  bamzero on 04/05/2012 - 14:04

  Way to go Aimtofind on the hugely inflated "regular price" (Their special prices are regular retail prices listed on the Neato site)

  If anyone wants to read up more on the Neato there is a long thread about the XV-11 on WP http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1639062