Neato Botvac 85 Bv85 Robot Vacuum

The bearings on the brush seized after only a few days of use and then melted the neato's plastic bearing holder. Neato really needs to redesign the this vacuum, it's happened 2 times already and my vacuum is just trashed. They said it was my fault for not cleaning the brush enough but I clean it pretty much every time it runs. Very disappointed in this design issue considering the price. This flaw would easily be solved with a larger sealed bearing or different choice of material for the bearing holder that can take the heat. The bearing holder isn't even removable, it's integral to the main plastic frame so you can't replace or repair it.Other than this major flaw, the robot's lidar mapping is pretty impressive relative to a roomba or other bot-vac that bump-navigates. It also has a decent battery that can do about 4-5 rooms. The less junk you have for it to try and navigate around the faster it will do a room and so it will be able to cover more ground if you're house is sparsely furnished. I highly recommend getting leg extensions furniture that makes them tall enough to let the bot pass under.It does okay but not great around people and animals, often redoing spots over and over if things are moving around. Strangely, it sometimes has trouble climbing onto rugs but can power over much taller objects when it wants to. I'm often impressed at the nooks and crannys it can navigate it's way around.Only problem with programming is that sometimes when it gets stuck (and you help it out by moving it) it seems lose it's orientation so if you don't put it back very close to where it was stuck and in the same direction it will get confused. It will crash into things and forget what parts of the house it's already done. You basically lose the whole cycle and have to start over.I would have given this at least a 4/5 if it weren't for the bearing issue.

We were so disappointed. The setup and start was simple and easy, but it was all downhill from there. It seems algorithmically flawed in several areas. It repeatedly went under a sofa and then got stuck, and it would have been simple for it to back out, but it didn't. That would be ok if it remembered not to go there, but it did not. We rescued it from under the sofa at least 10 times on day one. ( I finally roped the legs off so it couldn't go there). That's not the only place it got stuck. It loves to get stuck in dining room chairs too. Its cleaning path algorithm seems flawed too. The room we had it in was about 30' x 20', in several charge cycles (and many rescues) it never fully covered the room. Some areas it would do over-and-over obsessively, others it totally iggied. The last straw was it ingesting the little spinning edge brush after it just fell off. I tried to push it back on the motor shaft, but it was far too loose to stay on.We were really hoping that this device would do its job. We taped and folded under rug fringes, tilted dining room chairs, lifted all cords, and roped off furniture to help it, but shy of removing all the furniture, curtains, and obstructions I don't see how it could ever complete the task. We returned it.

Update:So once again after only 2 years of owning this boat anchor it is dead like it's predecessor. The infamous error code 3000. Do not buy this product without an extended service warranty if you gamble and buy it at all. I don't care how well it works for the first few months if every 2 years you needs to send for repair or replacement. Over $400 a pop gets expensive real fast. Oh and worst part is how often it gets stuck on the simplest things like a flat based bar stool. Save you money!!!!!!I'm on my second regretful purchase of this product. I thought I was buying a quality product. I was wrong. I've experienced nothing but frustration with both units. So much so that one I will be returning for a full refund. They seem to work great in the beginning then after a few months they become problematic. Doesn't matter how much maintenance you do. Poor quality. Save your money and get something else. If you do decide to take the risk make sure you getting the Amazon warranty so you can send it back for a refund when it craps out. Like I said works fantastic for a while then all south from there.