Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have had the roomba 650 for about a year now and just got the XV-11 so I thought it might be good to let people know my experience with the 2. First let me say that I am a BIG fan of both but I will compare/contrast the 2 and hopefully help you decide if you are on the fence. Cleaning: Both of them do a very nice job of cleaning and you will be surprised by how much dirt/dust/pet hair etc you get. While they are pretty even on this i give a slight edge to the XV-11 as it is a bit more powerful and will pick up "clinging" stuff better than the roomba. Both dust bins are comparable (in volume) with the Roomba being a bit bigger and easier to empty due to the XV-11 having to have the filter removed to empty. Not a big deal but Roomba a bit easier to empty. Winner = Tie. 2.) Battery life. Roomba wins here hands down with battery life, with a catch... The roomba easily runs 45 mins - 1.5 hours on a charge. Both will need a bin emptying either half way through cycle (roomba) or when it gets back to the base to recharge (XV). XV-11 is about 30 mins. However the XV-11 does say that the "Battery life will improve after a few uses" in the manual and since its new i have only run it about 4 times now. The catch is while the roomba lasts much longer per cleaning the XV-11 goes back to the base, recharges and then goes back out to where it left off and continues. So, while roomba last longer once, the xv-11 finishes any job started. Winner = Roomba 3.)ease of use/ Smartness. Both of them require you to pick up the floor a bit from debris, especially any type of chords, cables or tangle type of things. The XV-11 is WAYYYYYYYY smarter. The roomba goes around the room in a random pattern and bumps into things (gently) turns, re cleans the same spot and continues on its random way. It cleans this way very well and will get a room done. The XV-11 comes off the base and maps the room then proceeds to clean the room by avoiding obstacles and it does more of a smart pattern. It starts around the edges and then turns and cleans in a line, more like you would do it manually with a upright vac. I noticed it often cleans sections of a room in this manner and then moves on to another section but the rooms in my house are not completely square and have a lot of "stuff" in them. I think in a completely square room it would map, go around the edged and clean in a line back and forth, like the manufacturers video shows. In my experience it does this but in smaller sections, probably due to the barriers and furniture in the room. Winner = XV-11 NOTE: one thing my Girlfriend really liked is she said this when talking about the XV "That one looks like the room was just freshly vacuumed" i.e. the "lines" on the carpet looked like a person did it where the Roomba is very random and has a lot of circular lines and randomness. 4.) Who gets stuck more? The truth of the matter is they both do. The roomba gets stuck more often though. Roomba problem areas are chords, cables, speaker wire, video game cables, edges/angles and especially bad on sliding glass door frames. Now having said all that if you know the problem areas and block them off it will run flawlessly. So you are required to be aware of what it gets stuck on and block access to them. The Roomba has the electronic barriers that block off things like stairways (i dont have any in FL but most places do) and you can block off rooms to clean. I use the roomba for the living room/ family room area and block it off from the kitchen and front of the house. It works well in the area i that i define for it. I have speaker wires running on the floor around the edge of the area and it would ALWAYS get stuck on those wires and just keep running over them like it thought it needed to clean something. It also 100% of the time gets suck on the sliding glass door frame. The door frame has a slight dip and once it hits it and gets off its center of gravity it gets stuck. Another bad spot is angles i have a table that has legs that slope up, the Roomba tries to go up the leg to clean and again once it gets off its center of balance it gets stuck. Cool thing about the Roomba is it tells you "Roomba stuck please move to new location and press clean to resume" the XV=11 doesnt have any "voice" instructions but it does have a nice text display that tells you everything that is going on with it. With roomba at least you know its stuck cause you hear it. XV you just have to listen for it to stop working. Ok so now that i spent a LOT of time on the roomba getting stuck, the XV -11 does too, just not nearly as much. Again this probably goes to the "smartness" factor of the Neato model, it's just plain smarter. By mapping a room and avoiding obstacles it hardly ever gets stuck, so far the only spot ive seen it get stuck is the angled table leg i described with the roomba, XV goes up the leg the same way and keeps trying to clean this table leg on a slope and then just dies and gets stuck on the leg and never can find it's way off of it. As a test i took 2 throw pillows, laid them across the sloped coffee table legs and the XV went around the pillows and never attempted to go up the table leg. So the XV is definitely a lot better in the getting stuck area, but there are still some spots it will get stuck. Barrier for the xv -11 is kind of dumb (strange since the unit is so smart) it uses a strip of black rubber material that you roll out across doorways or areas you want to keep it out of. It works just fine, but seems like Neato should have something more electronic in nature like the roomba has. Now having said that, the roomba barrier control units cast about $30 and the Neato black ruuber thingy cost $26 for 13 feet. Seems a bit pricey for rubber stripping, but that is what they use. it comes with probably about 13 feet of it in the box and as i said works just fine. So, Winner on getting stuck is HANDS DOWN the XV-11 5.) extras/cool stuff. For Roomba you can get a remote(extra) which is neat but I found i never use it. You can however have the remote nearby and "help" it avoid obstacles or clean a specific area. Roomba has the "voice" that is a neat feature as far as warning when it gets stuck, signaling it's about to clean and plays a little "da, da da dat dat dahhhh" when its done cleaning. The Roomba also cleans corners and edges better than the XV partly because of its shape (round) and it has a side cleaning brush that tosses stuff on edges out from the edge to be gobbled up by the Roomba. I do have a few rounded edges in my house and Roomba is really good at that. Cool stuff on the XV is the display is really easy to use and although it's only text it has everything you need displayed. Easy to set times to clean, tells you what it's doing, tells you when its going back to the base to recharge etc. The best thing about the XV though is its smartness, cleans an area, then returns to base to recharge then it will go to nearly the same spot it left off to start cleaning again and it's cleaning pattern is so much more efficient. Last "cool" thing i can think of is the cleaning under obstacles. Roomba can go under a couch that has enough room under it even if the "flaps" of material go to the ground the Roomba will push right under it and clean under the thing and come out the other side. XV does this too but only on things that are "open". By "open" i mean under tables and things that have a clear path, if the material of the couch, chair, table cloth goes to the floor the XV wont "push" it's way under it to clean and it will go around. Some might feel this is a benefit. Both clean well under my king bed, plenty of room for them to go under it. Both return to the base well, XV gets there really quick as its smarter and the Roomba wanders a bit but eventually finds its way home. They both have a "Spot" cleaning feature where you can pick it up place it on or near a spill and it will clean. Roomba goes in a circular spiral outwards and the XV cleans a 4x6 pattern. Winner = Roomba just a few more cool things. 6.) Maintenance. XV -11 i can't comment on yet because I've only had it a few weeks but the Roomba is fairly easy to take apart and clean the rollers and brush. It gets a lot of hair and strings wrapped around it like any vacuum does but it has a neat little cleaning tool that cuts through the hair and you can clean them out. I've had to clean them about once every 2 months but i dont use the roomba daily, more like 2 times a week. The brushes are easy to get to and clean but they still get hair and string right near the edge of the brushes and rollers that is nearly impossible to remove. XV "looks" like it's not to hard to get to but i havent had to clean it yet. One of the hits I read online was that it was a bit harder to maintain. Winner = Incomplete 7.) Noise. Roomba is loud but manageable, i can even still watch tv with it running i just turn the TV up. The XV sounds like an airplane engine, especially on tile. THAT THING IS LOUD! However it is also very manageable on carpet. Noise factor doesnt bother me as i usually run them when im away or ill run one when im in the opposite room. I think the XV is so loud due to it's more powerful vac though so as i said i can put up with both. Winner = Roomba (quieter on tile) So, hope this lengthy review helps you decide which one works best for you. I have about 2000sq feet in my house and the XV cleans the front foyer, formal dining room area and kitchen (all carpeted and a bit of tile). Roomba is in the living room /family room/hallway. We have 2 pets and it really helps keep the day to day dog hair up off the floor. my personal opinion is the XV works better in rooms with a lot of stuff in them as it is so much smarter and avoids obstacles so good. Along with a powerful cleaner. The Roomba works best in a room that is more open, less obstacles and can clean a lot longer on a charge.