Neato XV-11 All Floor Robotic Vacuum System

This is easly one of our best purchases of the last two years. I was hesitant buying such an unproven v1 product, but the positive reviews gave me some confidence, and 19 months later our unit is still working great.When we moved to a much bigger house, it became apparent that vacuuming it required substantial time and we found that we were not doing it as often as we liked. Neato to the rescue!We start it manually as we first want to prepare and check the house, making sure there are no tiny toys on the floor, chairs are on the tables, etc. It cleans the upper floor in one go, but the bigger lower floor usually requires an intermediate recharge, but the Neato takes care of it automatically and continues cleaning from where it stopped after recharging.The bin capacity is just enough for a big floor plan and emptying the bin is not a problem... I was concerned it would result in inhaling dust when emptying it as for a previous vacuum I owned, but the bin is very small so it's easy to empty it inside a bigger bin without spreading dust around.Our floors are hardwood and we have a few carpets, the transitions are no problem. Neato occasionally seems to get lost or may clean a small area twice, but eventually is always able to clean the entire floor on its own. If observing his path very carefully and for a long time, once in a while there may be a narrow spot that it misses, but it's not a big deal as it's very small, and it will be cleaned next time.While there are many new tricks that future versions could learn for an even better job (for example, detecting any stubborn dirt), the only improvement that is needed to make version 2 perfect would be being able to clean up to the walls: the XV-11 is not able to reach the last inch or so close to a wall and we have to clean that manually (which we do every few cleanings), or to scoop any major dirt to the center before Neato begins. Despite this, the Neato is still such a major timesaver and overall it cleans better than we do, as we can run it very often with minimal effort and it even cleans under our very low European-style bed where we were unable to reach with the previous non-robotic vacuum.Recently we've bought a lower sofa that is just the right height for Neato to not detect it as an obstacle but to get stuck under it. We hope this will be improved in the future, for now we use the provided magnetic strips to mark the sofa area as 'no trespassing'.At some point our unit started producing a screeching sound. The online help directed us in cleaning its rotating mechanism, but it didn't solve the issue. Eventually it was unable to start cleaning and we called customer service, which was quick to answer, corteous and directed us to a generic reset procedure as a first step. For some reason, however, the unit started working again by itself before we attempted the reset procedure, and it has worked perfectly for almost one year after that episode. Must have been some dirt in an internal mechanism that somehow got dislodged.Finally, Neato makes available firmware updates. The update procedure is simple, although you need to get a USB-to-mini-USB cable. How great is a vaccum that improves over time! We first upgraded because we were interested in the new spot cleaning feature that had been added. The update changed the overall cleaning and navigation behavior of the vacuum, so it's even possible it may introduce issues for some situations or layouts, for us it went smoothly and among the improvements we noticed is that the vacuum is now much better at unstucking itself from obstacles and narrow places and never misses returning to the charging base anymore.The XV-11 works amazingly well and packs impressive technology, for a version 1 product it seems incredibly well tested (the only issue we had is that it wasn't always able to find its charging base at the end, but this was fixed in a later firmware that we updated to) and polished and all the implementation complexity is hidden from the user: the user interface and the manual are very simple and the LCD allows Neato to communicate its state and help understand for example the reason it has stopped after encountering a problem like an object getting stuck in it.The Neato XV-11 is more expensive than many other vacuums, but it more than pays back the difference saving us lots of time and contributing to a cleaner and healthier house.

Well, firstly - I really really wanted to like this product because the idea is very innovative and it really aims at automating household work. Until now, I've tried 3 different units and all 3 have had different issues. None of them have worked without any problem.Unit 1: Bought it as soon as it became available on Amazon and got it on Sep 10 2010.Issues: The LCD screen was blank (absolutely no display).The first unit however was very effective in thoroughly cleaning the entire house in 2 passes (clean, recharge, clean). It covered the entire house each and every time without missing any spots. Of course, since it was my first unit, I learnt how to make the house "Neato friendly" and did everything that was possible to make its life easier - Removed cables/wires from the floor, used boundary markers at places where it got stuck and put the chairs upside down on the dining table. The unit was perfect at doing its job, just that I couldn't make use of any scheduling features.One more problem was that since the display wasn't working, I can't really say if it had any other issues like "RPS error" or "Clock reset" (never could set the clock first of all!), but as I said, the unit had no problems once the floor was clear of things that it didn't like. This was frustrating, but I really wanted a working product because "the idea is very innovative".Called Neato support and got this unit replaced (advanced exchange).Unit 2: Replacement of unit 1. Got it around Sep 20 2010.Issues: Clock would reset to "0:00" somewhere during the middle of its work time, the battery level would go down to its minimum and it would be sitting somewhere in a room waiting for human assistance.Though this unit did not have any display issues on the LCD screen, this would not do what it's supposed to do - CLEAN THE HOUSE WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION. I think I remember this unit working properly just once. All the other times (probably 5 times), when I returned from work, I would find it sitting in one of the rooms with a low battery indicator, the clock reset to "0:00" and an error message saying "My battery is low, please recharge me". This was frustrating, but I really wanted a working product because "the idea is very innovative".Returned unit 2 to Amazon. Ordered a new unit 3 from Amazon.Unit 3: Got it on Sep 29 2010.Issues: Got an RPS error once and it has coverage issues.This unit has a proper display, I've not seen its clock getting reset or it stopping abruptly in between its chores with a low battery indicator, but this has problems covering the entire home. This unit has been flawless in returning to its base station. At times, it would go back for a quick recharge after finishing almost 75% of the home, then come out and instead of vacuuming the remaining 25%, it would go over an already vacuumed area for a while, switch off the vacuum (the LCD would read - Finished! I am now returning to my base station) and go home!Now, this unit is obviously going back to Amazon. I am not getting this replaced now, that's not happening. I feel like I've been doing a Beta testing for Neato Robotics at my own cost...ARGHHHH.This is very very very frustrating, but I still really want a working product because "the idea is very innovative".NEATO - Please do something about it. I'll give you guys another shot in 2011, maybe when you have those firmware upgrades available via the USB port and maybe when I see far less complaints.

I've had this thing for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it. Now although it won't replace vacuuming entirely (it can't do the impossible such as vacuuming behind doors, or moving objects such as garbage cans out of the way to get behind them), it does a REALLY great job at dusting the place. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with hardwood floors everywhere, and it works wonderfully. I set it to run twice a week while I'm at work, and I love coming home to a clean apartment. It takes about an hour and a half of vacuuming time to clean my average-sized apartment, with maybe 1-2 charging breaks on top of that (it takes it about 15-30 minutes to charge). So far it's only got stuck on me once, I got home and it had pushed a dining chair a bit to close to the wall (it's pretty beasty), and then went around and got stuck in that gap. Absolutely no regrets, I would recommend this product especially to people who don't have kids/don't have multi-level homes, but I think everyone should have one!

I purchased one of these vacuums when they first came out and with some minor repairs kept it working for four years. That robotic vacuum worked great. Unfortunately it finally failed and i have now ordered a new one four times, twice from amazon.ca and twice from costco.ca, and all have had the same issue, which I believe is the battery.The instructions say to charge the unit which should take a few hours before the first use, with all the units I ordered they charge for ten minutes and say they're fully charged, but when you start a clean cycle they run for a minute or two and then stop saying they need to return to recharge. Each time they recharge for a short period and clean for a minute or two. I attempted to contact the Neato company support, but have had no reply other than an email saying not to reply and that they got my message. I have read on robotic vacuum forums that this is a common issue with the Neato vacuums, yet the company has done nothing to address the issue. were it not that I had owned one previously that worked well I would never have bothered to order it a second time much less four more times. I have no doubt that if I had continued to have Amazon send me replacement units I would empty an entire skid of units without getting a good one. I also have no doubt that Neato knows all about these issues but has no intention of recalling the units and addressing the issue. I recommend you avoid these units and if you really want to own a Neato vacuum purchase the latest version the botvac before they sit on the shelves very long and the batteries fail.

It does an OK job and picks up a fair amount of dust each time we run it. However, it seems to have problems navigating our irregularly shaped apartment sometimes. It also seems doesn't clean corners for some reason, even though the rectangular shape of its front would make it theoretically possible. Another problem is carpet cleaning. Whenever it turns a corner on the carpet it leaves behind fuzz, so we have to clean up after it. It does fairly well on hardwood though. All in all it makes keeping the apartment clean a lot easier. Apart from that it's just fun to watch.

I purchased this item on May 20 2012 from Amazon dot ca and Henry is still cleaning February 2017.I personally like this (My first) robotic vacuum. I bought it for a lot less than the price today. (As of this writing)- I have bought several NIMH and lithium battery packs over the years from Amazon.I strongly recommend the longer lasting lithium battery.- I had purchased the optional carpet bush which I found was quieter on wood floors and picked up lots of debie.This brush was harder to clean then the multi rubber stipe brush that came with this vacuum.Also the additional brush uses more battery power and has to recharge more often.- I had updated my Neato 11 with the cornering software when it was available at Neato.- I only use this vacuum when I am at home with it. As the vacuum can get stuck on items in its way.- This model does not have side brushes, so does not always pick up debi tight against the wall.- This model has sensors for large items it may run forward into. Sensors for not falling down stairs.- This model uses some sort of laser and mapping software to manage the surface area of the room it is presently vacuuming.- This model will back up if it gets stuck, and try a few times to get out of a jam.If unsuccessful the vacuum will quit, and a non stop beep for you to go and find the vacuum.- I clean my vacuum inside and outside with a hand held vacuum.- I have never called Neatos service.- I have mostly learned about my Neato 11, from YouTube videos and Amazon reviews.Thanks for reading my review.

The instructions say to charge the unit which should take a few hours before the first use, with all the units I ordered they charge for ten minutes and say they're fully charged, but when you start a clean cycle they run for a minute or two and then stop saying they need to return to recharge. Each time they recharge for a short period and clean for a minute or two.