Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I saw this on TV while I was swiffering the floor and decided on the spot to get it, even though it was still too new at the time to have reliable online reviews (it wasn't even on Amazon yet). At $40, it was worth the gamble and I drove to town to get it. It took some doing: according to the O-Cedar website at the time, only two retailers carried it. I tried two Targets unsuccessfully, and finally hunted one down at Walmart. Initially, for the price -- I loved it. Our hardwood floors are low traffic and the dog sheds little, so once I figured out the few spots the robot would get trapped and fenced them off, the little guy worked like a charm. I was thrilled. Until...the motor burned out after five days. Still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, I assumed I'd happened to get a bum unit and I went to Walmart to exchange it. To my chagrin, I was told that buyers were bringing them back in droves with the same issue and the chain would no longer carry them, period. They gave me a refund instead. I checked on the Walmart website a few days later, out of curiosity, and the O-Duster was in fact discontinued altogether, both online and in store. The upside of the experience for me -- having got spoiled while the O-Duster lasted and then reading cleaning robot reviews as part of my "mourning rites" after it died and couldn't be replaced, I went out and forked over the $400 to get the real thing, the Neato.