Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After a four-day, most-bang-for-the-buck, bells-and-whistles dismissive comparison of the more popular dirt-sucking robots (e.g., Neato Botvac 80, 85, D85, and Connected; Roomba's 600, 700, 800, and 900 series; Samsung PowerBOT), I finally asked Santa for the Neato Botvac D80, and after its inaugural run, I am happy and relieved to say that I am very satisfied. I am a embedded software engineer who develops the low-level software applications for sensor-based autonomous mechanized systems similar to robotic vacuums; so after monitoring its first job for me and not being able to even begin estimating how many lines of code would need to be written in order to provide the highly-complex algorithms used to run this bot, please understand that it's an amazing time that we live in. I am very impressed with how the Botvac spins around to bounce its lasers in order to scan an area of a room into sections, and then proceeds to run along the perimeter of the section and finishing off the job using a raster-based pattern similar to how the pros paint a wall and satellite trackers search for a bird. It's quieter than I expected--less than or equal to a hand mixer, I would say. I had to rescue it a few times after its brush got jammed up by my more lighter rugs, which have flimsier edges than the ones that the Botvac had no problems working over--I'dve been over-the-moon if it managed such an obstacle, but taking into consideration that it ain't no C3PO, I'm not knocking it. I did rescue it after getting wrapped up on the low-hanging pull cord of a set of Venetian blinds, but the user's manual did warn that it would be necessary to stow away obstacles like this. It did wiggle its way out of tight predicaments like the legs of my five-chair dining set--much to my relief from the reports by some of the more dissatisfied reviewers. I was almost disappointed when its first attempt to return home placed it under the wrong end table, but after a minute of rubbing its charging contacts against the wall, it realized that it was in the wrong spot, exited out from under the end table, and bee-lined it to its nest under the correct end table. As far as its ability to suck up dirt--a big thumbs up. It sucked up dust bunnies, cat and dog hair, laundry soap powder, and sand. It choked on a Walmart sales receipt, and zip tie; and zoomed over some stuff fine particles resting in the tile joints; but gobbled up a twig that fell off the Xmas tree and a scrap of wrapping paper.