March 2012 --A Robot On Good Behavior or "To Serve Man"

                  
Quotes from Bender - the Robot Star of Futurama

• "Who are you, and why should I care?"

• "What kind of party is this? There's no booze and only one hooker."

• "I was thinking Benderbrau if it's an ale, Botweiser if it's a lager. "

• "Ahhh, what an awful dream. Ones and zeroes everywhere... and I thought I saw a two."

• "What do you mean 'we,' flesh-tube?"

• "I guess a robot would have to be crazy to wanna' be a folk-singer…"

I have had Neato #3 for three weeks now and its' good behavior continues.  Unlike Bender, the robot quoted above, my new Neato gives the impression of an entity wishing "To Serve Man".  It has been a force for good and I have nothing to report except Neato #3 is doing a great job.  It rarely gets stuck or loses its way or fails to make it home for dinner (plug itself in).   I wish it could play cards or cook but it can't or doesn't want to.

I will confirm with Neato Robotics my understanding that the warranty starts over every time they send out a replacement.  Until something happens to break the monotony of consistently good reports, here is a video link of a cat using a Neato for a carnival ride.

Kitty rides the Neato--  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ61wofTRY

► 0:44► 0:44

Her is another pretty good YouTube Neato review.  This site also rates the other major robot vacuums and has some entertaining vintage vacuum footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmxXcnuA19s

3-9-2010 Info From Neato Robotics Customer Service

I just got a clarification of the warranty dates for the Neato.
*The one year warranty does reset every time Neato sends out a replacement.
*The 1 or 2 year extended warranty is added to this date
       -However the 90 day window to purchase the extended warranty ends 90 days after the original    purchase date.

Also, I noted in a previous post that the latex blades on the beater brush are fragile.  As it stands now, you have to order the whole metal beater bar for about $40 to repair a torn blade.  I am told that within a couple months the company will be selling replacement latex blades which are easily changed.  Neato did not have a price on this yet, but it will be a lot cheaper than buying the whole beater asembly.

3-20-2012 NEWS * XV-15 & XV-21 plus Upgrades for the XV-11

Everyone has heard there is a XV-15 Neato and now there is a just announced XV-21.  Least we  XV-11 owners feel we are headed towards the dust bin of history, I have a few facts that should cheer us up.  The Neato XV-11 equipment design and 2.6 operating system are still current.  The mechanical, structural and software systems are identical.

The XV-15 is white, but everything else is the same.  It has been re designated to market in Europe.  The XV-21 is has a different color (misty white and purple), but the internal systems are also identical to the XV-11.  But there have been changes. The latex blade beater bar has been replaced with one that uses  bristles and the filter has been upgraded.  Neato Robotics is referring to the XV-21 as their "Pet Owners and Allergy Suffers" model.

 And the good news is that the XV-21 beater bar and filter will fit your XV-11.  The new roller simply swaps for the latex blade one and the new filter snaps into the XV-11 filter holder.  I have been told that both are available for $60 or $30 for either one.  The below is a link that gives more detail on the Neato XV-21 and the conversion parts.   http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/neato-xv-21-bot-20120312/

Other than that Neato #3 has been working great.  I only have two more day to pick up the extended warranty and so am worried that this good behavior may be a trick.