My favorite video. Used to watch this when younger, iRobot, Neato and LG played a big part in my life. Thanks for the memories.

the neato started like an F-18 preparing to take off and makes the carpet looks like a world cup soccer field. good job both!

After a couple weeks with my neato, I love it. My first 4 or 5 passes, like yours, yielded LOTS of fiber from the carpet and I could not understand where it was all coming from (brand new carpet). Amazing suction and I love how uniformly it covers the rooms.

i remember when this video first came out like this is kinda nostalgic

I bought a neato 2 month ago after seeing your video. I also own a roomba and I can confirm the neato vacuum is just the better and cheaper vacuum. This is the best vacuum I have ever owned. Thanks for the video.

You're welcome! My pleasure. It was fun to make it, and I'm glad others have found it so useful.

2:46 The Neato sounds like it's taking off lmao

so, 4 years after you posted this video. is your carpet still there os did the neato ate it all :D

Yes, I found it amazing to see what the Roomba would pick up first, and how much more the Neato would pick up immediately afterwards. My parents had bought one for their house before me, and they were amazed by how much the Neato picked up after doing a normal cleaning with their regular vacuum. So, that was my inspiration to do this test and get it on video.

Even though people are saying that this review isn't fair because of the age of the Roomba, I can tell you that even a new Roomba couldn't compare to the Neato. A friend of mine has 2 Roomba's. One for upstairs and one for downstairs. Both are quite new (only a few months). I got the Neato XV a month ago and mine puts those Roombas to shame! I have a young child, and cat and dog that both shed like crazy. There is ALWAYS more than a little dust on my floors just after meal times or from my son tracking dirt in the house. The Neato picks up EVERYTHING. Simply amazing and I paid $100 less than my friend paid for the newest Roomba. It's a no brainer.

Excellent! I have the exact same model Roomba and just bought the Neato thanks to this review.

I didn't know the differences between these two vacuum cleaners. Thanks for posting.

I'd be curious to see if the "dirt" is a different color on a different colored carpet. Seemed the Neato was just tearing the fibers out of your carpet to me.

This is not the best way to perform a controlled test. Here are the issues that prevent this from being a more presentable comparison: - The Roomba model is a little outdated, as you said. - You ran the Roomba first, which affects the amount that the Neato picked up. This happens to not be much of an issue, since it clearly picked up more anyway, but still worth noting for future reviews. I'm glad to see that you ran them both a second time though. I thought that was useful information.

You're welcome! Thanks for the kind comment. A royalty check sure would be nice! I'm glad so many people have found this video helpful. I hope you continue to be as happy with yours as I have been with mine. My first Neato had a problem with hair accumulating deep inside (see my other video entitled "Neato XV-12 Design Flaw"), but the replacement they sent me seems to have this issue fixed.

love my Neato 11. The post for the spring for the wheel just broke on mine. It was either the house keepers or the kids that did it. Just took it all apart and fixed it. It is real easy to work on. I couldn't send it in as I live in Abu Dhabi now, so I had to fix it myself. I love this thing. We call him Mo (From Wall-e). He does get lost from time to time and has died on his way back to charge. Great video.

I have the Neato and I love it. I could not be happier with it

Makes me glad I just bought a neato xv signature pro instead of a roomba. I especially like that it doesn't run into stuff. That's how my last roomba broke it knocked a TV stand onto itself.

Good test. Enjoyed watching the video. I have removed many carpets to find exactly what the neato picked up (those very fine dirt/dust particles) in spite of daily vacuuming.

THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR VIDEO TEST!

Well done video Stevie, they should compare all vacuums that way!!

For me it came down with random vs mapped. Neato's are clearly the winner in this regard.

Great comparison!!.... Thanks!!

Neato looks like super nintendo lol so cool

Thanks for the comment! I agree. While not a perfect piece of machinery, it's still better than my old Roomba. My first Neato (the one in this video) had a problem with accumulating hair deep inside by the motor (see my other video entitled "Neato XV-12 Design Flaw"). However, Neato replaced the unit for free, with that issue apparently resolved. The warranty expires soon, so I hope it continues to perform well for years to come.

thank you ,after watching this great demo video i have just bought and paid for a Neato signature pro thank you for posting this it really made my mind up plus i like the way it comes with a magnetic strip which i can put across my balcony entrance and unlike other false wall gadgets it needs no battery's to stop the neato from crossing in to places where you don't want it to go another plus for the neato nearly bought the d85 but its a heap more money and i can't see any big difference worth that mark up narrrrrrrrrr

"If u have to run it 10 times to clean a room what is the point?" Because its doing it regardless how many times it takes instead of you manually vacuuming.

Thanks for the video. With this info, I just ordered the neato.

We had a lot of issues with our xv-11 and after several replacements under warranty from Neato, we finally figured out that the neato needs to be on a flat surface not on carpet or else it will cause arcing. In one instance of arcing it completely melted the back of the Neato down and left a melted mess on our carpet. Ever since we moved it though, Jeeves (what we call it) cleans very well; better than our Electrolux.

Thank you as this was very helpful.

Just curious, your Roomba lasted 4 years at the time of this video. Is your Neato still working?

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed watching it, and I hope it was helpful.

Thanks Stevie Tv.

Steve, I really enjoyed your video. I found similar results when I switched from Roomba to Neato. What I would have liked to see is a time comparison for the runs. Your basement had lots of little nooks and crannies, and I'd have been interested to know how long the Roomba took to do the floor compared to the Neato. Now, I'm off to see your Decibel Duel...

Hi Great video by the way but I have had this unit you were the one who actually made me think about my neato and I've literally had 24 of them I've counted every single one I had to send back to neato for repair I have that exact same robot from Roomba I robot and it is working still and the neato it's gone because they do not work as well as they claim by the way great video thanks

I'll check it out when I get back to the states in July.

Wow, this just sold me on the Neato. I've been a long time Roomba buyer but jeeze!

My childhood video

True. If someone would like to let me borrow a later version, I'd be glad to do another comparison.

Thank you! I'll try to be less wordy next time. :)

Dude, your carpet is falling apart!

Thanks for share this video

We have a Neato pet vacuum that's a year or so old and only have 1 area rug, the rest of the house being hardwood & it picks up as much as this shoot out video still - so no it's not picking up carpet wear ! Great vac!

Wow! The Neato picked up ALL this AFTER your roomba vacuumed! think it might be time for me to change mine...

Of all the man cave videos this one takes the cake! Some would say you have a lot of time on your hands - lol. A great video - thank you from a fellow nerd - WELL DONE!!!

I'm with another poster...apples to oranges. It's like comparing the efficiency of your four year old computer with one you just bought. It's computer based with mechanics. Not fair, but I very much like how you presented this with the sheets and all. I have purchased two current machines in the last six months. Yeah, Neato is a "bit" better for cleaning but....Neato got caught up in furniture and wires pretty much every run and also couldn't find it's way back to base. I didn't buy a robotic vacuum to stay and look at it. Roomba wins out, and I am testing oranges to oranges, apples to apples. Felt your utube was genuine and thanks for sharing.

I own a neato and its great. The Neato vacs the entire floor, vs the roomba that bounces around. If you look at the video you will see that the neato strips the floor in lines. It really does a great job on carpet or hard floors!

Comparing 2004 year model robot (Roomba 4xxx) to 2012 model robot (Neato xv-12) is useless. Decent comparison will be a comparison between the XV-12 to Roomba 7xx (From the same year, 3 generations newer than Roomba 4110)

Please do an updated version with a roomba 700 series!

Hey! I loved this video! This is why I got a Neato!

you know you have a good robot vacuum when it sounds like a lawnmower

It saved me. Thanks.

It's been about a years since this clip was posted. Which would you recommend?

Looks like Neato is eating your carpet....lol.... good machines both... I'll stay with Neato.!! Great review and lovelly home.!!

That neato makes your carpet look like a well manicured lawn

Not A Fair Test. Old vs New????? Let's get Apples to Apples!

The Neato just picked up carpet fabric

The roomba uses bristles to snagg up and pull items to drop into the container. The neato has a harder vacuum to pull loose fibers. I like it. I would love to see what it does in a comparison on hardwood.

But what advances have been made in more recent Roomba models?

wow the neato sure picked up alot!

I think the "I've had the roomba for four years" part was pretty important. And different machines pick up differently-roomba may get many things-especially hair-that neato can't while neato may get carpet fluff roomba can't.

Thanks for watching. In which way did it save you?

Nice, I have 5 roombas and thinking the closest model I have to yours is the Red and your ruber part where it actually vacuums is perty beat and the roomba is more of a sweeper you should have a good vacuum as well I have a patriot that is a beast for deep cleaning atleast once a month roombas all the other time :-)

I've tried both roomba 780 and neato. The neato is higher, so be sure to have clearance under your furniture. It also easier gets stuck on cables. Neato also have a problem with glass furnitures (seems like it can't "see them properly") and gets stuck more easily. The suction power of the neato is higher though. It also sounds like an airplane taking off :)

If it picked up that much, 2nd pass, same area, hmmm.. I have 2 neato's. I can run the units, dump the cans, run again and it gets more. If it's really that GOOD, why not get it the first pass?

When the neato starts up it's like a f18 jet and it goes in a pattern and the Roomba goes randomly and changes direction when it hits something

When's Neato coming out with a floor cleaning one? I like the size of the Scooba 230 for bathrooms, etc. but all of Irobot's bots seem a little light on their suction/cleaning power.

I have a Neato XV-21 and it's really good. It's weird that it still managed to pick up a lot on the 2nd run through, I've tried that a couple of times and it's not got much ever but I run it mostly on hard floors. To be fair, you should've mentioned that the Roomba model is pretty old compared to Neato, so this was not really a fair comparison.

So which one would you recommend then? thanks

I thought the same thing. But if you think about how the Roomba goes first and the Neato goes second, it's impressive that the Neato picks up whatever the Roomba didn't. :P

The latest (Nov 2013) Consumer Reports says Roomba 760 does a better cleaning job than Neato XV-21 or LG 790R albeit that the Roomba takes five (!) times longer. Complaint about Neato was that it could not pick up paper very well. Now if the Neato could be programmed to do a couple of passes or more, it might do a better job. And the paper pickup problem is weird to me. All in all, this video was a convincer for me - thanks Steve.

I did a lot of research before purchasing the Neato and it gets much better reviews than Roomba. I use it to clean tile and linoleum floors.

Swap out the beater brush for the pet hair brush on your Neato. I did that with my XV-11 and I found it does a much better job with carpet than the beater brush it came with. It seems the original beater brush it has works great with hard floors and it's alright on carpet, but the pet and allergy brush will get what the beater won't.

looks like this Neato is very effective destroyer of carpets.

Neato should send you a royalty check. My decision to purchase the Neato was heavily influenced by this video. I'd say 80% of the reason I bought it over the Roomba was because of your review. The other 20% I based on Amazon reviews. Just got my Neato in today. My wife vacuumed yesterday with our Dyson. After we ran the Neato, the results were very similar to your's vs the Roomba. Thank you.

Even though its a big difference, u should buy a new roomba, and do the test again. Like everyone is saying, its not a fair test when its old vs new. Im jusy saying.

u can get the Neato X-14 for $300 at costco...its basically like the x-12 but just rebranded for costco.

I am not sure that that kind of power vacuuming is good for a thick pile carpet. In the long term it might destroy it if used frequently. Was all that dust?

I noticed that you had the neath for a while... Does it work it's way through the house well? i.e. Once a room is complete will it move to the hall... Then next room... So on and so on? I have noticed that some people with the Roomba say it works by bumping its way around...

which more complete model of neato you guys could let me know, thank you

thanks for the video. what about prices

Now see which one rolls down the stairs better.

Correct, so the advantage was to the Roomba who got 'first' crack at all the dust on the floor. This just shows how badly the Roomba does after it did its clean, that the neato picked up so much!

Maybe you can weight the debris in grams and compare that between vacuums. You can get a scale for silver or gold on Amazon for that.

The Neato is picking up carpet, not dirt/dust. Its actually damaging your carpet. It must be a flaw in the design of the brushes. Overall the cleanup of each is probably similar, but even if its not, the "dust" you think you are seeing in the neato is your shredded carpet. I've got lots of experience in this area, dont use it anymore unless you want to continue tearing your carpet up.

I can understand your doubtfulness (seeing is believing), but I made sure both were empty before starting the tests.

Childhood video❤

Neato does a much better job than my old Roomba Discoveries (same as yours). I find it to be a much better vacuum when it works. It's still sort of first generation, so not very reliable. I've had to have mine replaced about 3 times due to RPS errors, and an LCD screen that went out. Each time, Neato sent me out a new robot with a pre-paid return label for the old robot. I highly recommend getting any robotic vacuum at a place with a lifetime warranty, like Costco or Hammacher.

Very informative, thank you ! Neato vainqueur par KO !

I want one.

I couldn't believe how much dog hair the Neato Botvac picked up from carpet that had never used a robot vacuum cleaner. 3 months/ love it... Roomba vs Botvac Review Photos 01/28/2015. www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18315 The Neato Botvac is suppose to be better than the XV series. Great video.

I don't care about sound, I program my Neato to clean when I'm working... What I care about is that it does the job, clean.

Good enunciation.

I am a fan of the Neato but this video should be put in perspective. The tested roomba is an old model without aerovac (I think) so it is normal that on a carpet with high hairs Neato is more effective. On a short hair carpet or hard floor with a last generation rommba with aerovac roomba might be a bit less bad. But anyway, people, buy Neato it is the only real effective vacuum robot.

2:55 what that noise for

Strikes me that using those automated vacume cleaners just wear you carpets out,as most of what I can see that both picked up looked like what you would get if you kept scrubbing away at your carpet.So my question would be how many years of wear n tear do these AutoVacs cost your carpet???? For this reason I would like to see an 'Vibrater' type of attachment so as to beat the carpet and release the grit in the pile without the hi speed rotary scrubbing action which I believe wears your very expensive carpet out long before it's time?. Cheers all Only My Opinion based on geusswork and logic!.

That's iumpressive. A few thoughts: On the upside, the Roomba is, as many people remarked here, a broom sweeper, the Neato (god I hate that name...) is an actual vacuum cleaner: it's bound to be more thorough. As for the possible downside, I can't help but wonder how much of what the Neato picked up is lint and fluff from your carpet. I hope it doesn't wear it out too quickly... And yes, Robots are great :-D

I had a Roomba for a couple of years, but gave it away. It doesn't really vacuum, but only sweeps. Long animal hair is very problematic for Roomba as the roller is quickly snagged and stops. It appears from your video that the Neato is really a vacuum and picks up much more than a Roomba could ever sweep up.

Have them both run, The roomba can pick up the stuff first, then the neato can clean up the lint

Not vacuuming twice are you?