I’d like to know a bit more about the energy consumption of either one. Of course taking in mind that one is probably faster than the other. So it should be in energy consumption per clean square meter.

I’d be interested to know if that protrusion on the XV-11 causes it get stuck under couches where the Roomba’s smooth top doesn’t.

How well does the neato do edges / along the walls?

I’d be interested to see how well it can travel in straight lines, pass to pass. Not sure how you can convince it to do that, but the site shows it going back and forth in fairly “straight” lines in the middle of a room, so maybe it will do that on it’s own. This would really be an efficiency boost over the Roomba. If you somehow could get footage of that, that would be even better!

I guess its not so easy to do, but I would be very interested if possible to compare a long exposure of its search path with a Roomba like in this page. i.e.
http://www.botjunkie.com/2009/05/19/more-long-exposure-roomba-pics/

I can see some sense in approaching dirt in a carpet from multiple directions as one of the directions could perhaps more easily free the dirt from the carpet. The Roomba pattern however at the walls seem to have gaps, unless it runs for a long time.

Another question is simply how loud they are compared with each other.

@Dirk-Jan That’s a question for the engineers, I’ll see what I can find out.

@Robert I should be able to test that.

@Ben I’ll test that as well.

@Randy Will be taking video of the cleaning pattern.

@Zool I’m going to try and do one of those long exposure pics, which should illustrate the differences in cleaning patterns. I don’t have a decibel meter, but I can certainly tell you which one seems louder.

I’m mainly interested in the Neato because I’m hoping the cleanup process will be a lot easier and it will not just wrap the pet hair around the brushes and wheels like Roomba. Don’t know if you have a pet, but my biggest problem with the Roomba is the cleanup process. Pet hair gets wrapped around every brush and wheel. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to clean the Roomba after each use.

I’m wondering if the lasers on the XV-11 are safe or if they could damage your pets eyes?

@Dirk-Jan
I met with a Neato engineer about a month ago, and can answer a few of your questions.

The XV-11, as you guessed, requires a lot less energy than a Roomba to drive around and get full room coverage. What’s cool is instead of letting it run twice as long, the Neato engineers decided to put a real vacuum inside.

The Roomba uses brushes to agitate dirt out of the carpet, flicking it into the air where it is sucked into the dust bin. The XV-11, on the other hand, functions like a real upright in that the vacuum sucks dirt right out of the carpet. This approach reduces dust during cleaning, and actually gets more dirt out off your floor.

Hi Evan, A question from one of the Japanese readers relayed to you. Because of the edges (or corners) that the XV-11 has, is it easier for it to get stuck among furnitures/obstacles compared to the Roomba?

Sorry to keep interjecting here..

@Norri
Two things: the corners allow the XV-11 to sweep inside wall corners more effectively. While it can conceivably get stuck easier since it isn’t a full circle, the path planning from the laser rangefinder and quick reactions from perimeter infrared sensors move the robot around furniture, instead of scraping against it. This larger amount of data allows it to plan turns accordingly.

@Anthony I’ve been wondering the same thing. I saw a video interview with the Neato CEO in which he explicitly mentioned that dirt and hair are less likely to stick to XV-11 brushes (vs. Roomba brushes) on account of enhanced suction.

So I guess that’s a sign of good things to come.

When and Where will these be avaliable for sale. Can Australians purchase these’s…??