Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I couldn't find any reviews anywhere for this model when I purchased it and am surprised there still isn't a single review showing up on Amazon. Info in the box - There isn't any information specific to this model on the box, in the paper manual, or on the disk. No mention of how long it runs on a single charge or about the suction compared to other models. It does mention that charging time is 2-3 hours. Charging Station Placement - As with the other models, you need to place the charging station along a wall 3 feet from corners or obstacles on either side and the area 3 feet in front of the charger should be clear of obstacles. Luckily, I found a place like that, but there are probably lots of people who can't. Menu - The menu is extremely simple to use. It asks about the language you'd prefer, asks you to set the time, and then you can schedule up to one cleaning time for each day of the week. You can also set it to spot clean a 4 x 6 area. Testing Area - I tested it out on my very dusty dark colored hard wood floors. All of my furniture is high enough off the floor for the Neato to scoot under. We have two wool rugs in the area to be cleaned. The dining chairs were put up on the table to make it easier for the Neato to get under the table. Speed - It's definitely not fast, but at least it does use a well defined pattern instead of going over the same spot again and again. It takes 15 minutes to clean my large dining room. Sound - It has a rather throaty low pitched sound that I don't find annoying. The volume is at a reasonable level for a vacuum cleaner. TV can be watched while it's running if you turn the volume up a bit. It didn't scare the dog much. Run Time - When started from it's base, it will run for 20 minutes then return to charge. Once it's charged, it will to back to where it left off and clean for another 20 minutes then repeat this one more time. If it hasn't finished after 3 sessions, it just goes back to the base and it's done. No where in the literature does it say it runs for 20 minutes, but I've timed it through several rounds and it's always the same. It charged overnight and still only ran 20 minutes. I'm not positive, but I thought I read somewhere that other Neato models ran 90 minutes at a time. Area Covered - I'm disappointed that it can't complete my dining room, kitchen, and family room in 3 charges. My rooms are large, but I would expect it to be able to do at least 1500 sq ft. What this means for me is that it can't automatically clean this area. I'll have to pick it up off the charger and carry it to the areas it doesn't normally reach, take it back to charge, and then carry it back to finish up. Navigation - Overall, navigation is good but it's far from perfect. In 2 days of messing with it, we've had the following issues: it got lost in a spot of bright sunlight once, it failed to find it's base once (found it 5 times), it bashed into a few things while neatly going around others, it got stuck under the entertainment center (I suspect the legs confused it) a few times, it didn't clean an odd shaped area of the room (sort of an L shape going off to a short hall), it tried to climb up the china cabinet, and it left good sized circles of dust around some pieces of furniture. The ceiling in the rooms we ran it in are 15 ft high and that didn't seem to cause it any trouble. Dust Bin - Our wool rug under the dining table sheds horribly. The dust bin filled up completely several times, but only once did it notify us that it needed to be emptied. Once the bin is full of fuzz, it starts jamming the intake. Once it starts filling up, the Neato starts barfing up a pile of fuzz every time it goes over an obstacle. The edges of my rugs and the areas where it drove over the flat part of the chair legs (flat metal piece lies on the floor) are surrounded by piles of fuzz. Suction/Exhaust - Suction seems reasonable, but not stellar. Maybe I'm being unfair comparing it to my Dyson canister vac, but it's not remotely in the same league for suction. Several times I noticed it blowing dust from uncleaned to previously cleaned areas. Things I still haven't tried: Tile Kitchen/food messes Carpet Drops We've never had a robot vac before, so can't really compare it to others. So far I'm really disappointed that the vac won't be able to clean this section of the house on it's own (it doesn't cover enough area), that it misses dust along the walls in places, that it leaves big dust rings around furniture, and that it barfs up fuzz around the rugs and anything it drives over. I'll update my review when I've had a chance to check out more, but figured since there are ZERO reviews available, people might want info ASAP. _______________ 5/7/2013 I eventually gave up on the battery and called Neato (open 24/7). They shipped me new batteries which greatly helped the situation. I can't tell you if it runs 90 minutes now, but I know it runs at least 45 minutes. Unfortunately, other issues have prevented it from running longer than that. For some reason I don't understand, it sometimes gets stuck under the entertainment center even though it's just fine other times. Several times now I've found it asking me to clear the path when there's only one thing in front of it and all other directions are open. It's also just plain got lost several times. The shedding rug is still an issue, though I guess it's probably more on the rug manufacturer than Neato. Just yesterday I received a longer magnetic strip which was just barely long enough to block off the dining room. That seems to have done the trick to avoid the rug (but the room isn't getting vacuumed). Not once has it made it through a full 3 round cleaning run or completed the rooms on that level (kitchen, dining, family, small hall). Even with the dining room blocked off, it never made it to the kitchen. I'll eventually figure out how to make that happen, but it may require one or two more of the long mag strips. My house is extremely open and the furniture is well spaced. If it doesn't just work here in what seems an ideal setting, I don't see how it would clean multiple rooms successfully for anyone. We have tried it on the carpet and like how well it does. It picks up a lot of fine dust and some fuzz. It's not fast, but it's thorough. It does use a pattern, but the lines it leaves would probably drive an OCD owner to drink. The lines can get very strange even in the hallway. It's very apparent that 1/5 to 2 inches around the edges do not get vacuumed. The Neato body is wider than the area vacuumed. Again, I want to mention that the sound the vac makes isn't annoying. Last night I turned it on downstairs and then went to bed upstairs. It was barely noticeable. Overall, it does vacuum fairly well. It just seems to need an awful lot of intervention. Perhaps thinking that I could set it to automatically clean and come back to find the vacuuming done was unrealistic, but I think it's fair to say that's how it's advertised. If you have questions about how the Signature and Signature Pro models are different from the others, check out their Facebook page. Neato seems to do a very good job of answering questions. The Signature Pro is the same as the V21 with a different color. It comes with the new animal type roller, an old style roller, and two of the newer filters. It does not have any improvements in suction, motor, fans, body shape, etc. Here's the best way to explain my experience trying to vacuum the house to prep for a party. Ideal 1)Pick up cords, papers, clothes 2)Start vac or let it run as scheduled 3)Find clean floors and vac at charger (empty bin) Realistic (in my opinion) 1)Pick up cords, papers, clothes 2)Start vac upstairs from a charging base (necessary to charge so it can finish) 3)Find clean floors on that level and vac on charger, empty bin, and move to next level (or have one for each level) 4)Repeat 1-3 for each level Reality 1)Put it in the master bath and shut the door - this works well if I remember to pick up the lightweight floor mat 2)Put it in the master bedroom, move it a couple of times, help it find it's way twice, empty bin 3)Put it in the laundry room, find that it ate a hole in my Gelpro mat, pick it up and take to charger 4)Close all the doors in the upstairs hallway & place it at one end, pick it up when done (also automatically did the office) empty bin & put on charger 5)Completely skip vacuuming the kids' rooms because they have blankets, cords, papers, etc on the floor and that junk gets stuck in the Neato 6)Do the stairs by hand with the Dyson canister vac, 7)Set the Neato on the entry level (does a good job on the thin rug, but noticed it won't pick up the paint chips from when I was preparing to paint the front door) - it'll do the entryway and the guest bedroom in one charge, charge the Neato 8)Run around with the Dyson and get everything left around the edges (repeat on each level) 9)Set it in the living room after moving picking up cords and moving things to prepare, after it gets confused, pick it up and move it to another section of the living room, put it on the charger, 10)Use the Dyson to vacuum the one step between the entry level and the living room and the 7 steps between this level and the lower kitchen/dining/family room, (charger is on lower level) 11)Start it from the base, help it by fixing it's position several times, give up and just start moving it to areas to clean and using the "spot clean" function, vacuum the edges it missed with the Dyson (see #8), 12)Give up and use a broom for the kitchen. With the time it took to charge in between several times, this was nearly an all day adventure even though I did have time here and there to do other things. Also forgot to mention that every time I picked it up I emptied the bin and checked the roller for hair. Can't tell you how much I want the little guy to be successful in his missions. It's cute, the menu is great, the bin is easy to empty, the sound is good, it's fun to watch, Neato was very nice on the phone & sent new batteries without any hassle, Neato is great about talking to customers on their FB page, the vac snuggles with it's charger, and I don't have to do all the work myself. It's just not there yet.