Good to see that the happy owners outweigh the unhappy. I’m in for one. Unfortunately I seem to have waited to long and didn’t get the color combo I wanted. Oh well, if that’s the worst thing to happen today then I’m doing pretty well.
I’ve have the XV-12 for several years. It works well enough, though it has trouble with horizontal furniture legs (i.e., when the legs travel somewhat parallel to the floor before resting on it), sometimes trying to travel up them.
You don’t need to do a regular vacuum before using it, though you might need to send it on several cleanings.
BTW, Neato has abandoned firmware updates, so no new features or fixes. See: http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18925#p134166
$10 more than the last time I ordered it (in Feb) and it was oversold. 
Pretty stoked that I have another (more expensive) shot at it today.
I have the older version of this and it has vacuumed our house every day for almost 3 years. Some warranty repairs first year but the last replacement has worked really well. You have to set it up for success (use borders where it can get stuck, pick up junk, etc) but once we did it has had zero problems. We have 3 cats and floors with both carpet and tile and we empty the bin every evening. When it slowed down about 6 months ago we spent $35 on new batteries and now he runs like new.
A++, would buy another robot butler.
They do sorta work but simply aren’t worth the trouble.
If you have long hair the brush has to be taken apart every time it runs. We also try to keep minimal clutter on the floor but you still have to arrange things before it runs. Which means we only used it once a week or so thus requiring 3 - 4 empties of the dust bin while its going.
I think its best to avoid brushes on wood or vinyl floors as well. I like a vacuum that you can shut the brush off and has one of the swiffer type attachments.
This will also leave pet hair all along your baseboards. We used to walk along with a broom and try to sweep it into the neatos path.
I also had the common c10 capacitor failure so I wasted a afternoon taking the thing apart.
Robot vacs can get under things like your bed but again can leave pet hair and stuff around the baseboard and posts on furniture anyway so this point is kind of moot.
Much happier with going back to a upright for every vacuuming. The chore is faster and I can do a much better job. These are a fad that imo are a waste of money even though I did really like mine at first.
Got ours from Woot about a year ago with the exact same sale. Came looking sharp, even though it was a scratch and dent sale. The only problems we’ve had are those mentioned: It likes a tidy floor.
My husband actually brought it up last night, funnily enough. It’s changed the way we clean (picking up every night before bed in preparation for it to run at 2am), and it’s forced us to keep the house in better shape, which is awesome. And it cleans carpets every bit as well as my upright full Dyson, which is impressive. I only have to pull the Dyson out for stairs and things like dusting baseboards, ceiling, cabinets, etc.
It does super well cleaning the tile and laminate in our home. We prefer it to the Roomba. It does a better job at cleaning and it has the programming feature that our Roomba in the same price range does not have.
Not lying: My husband said he thinks our robot slave is the single best purchase I have made in our entire marriage. That should tell you something.
Only white and purple left!? That was my first choice! It looks like an SNES.
Eats batteries but you can find them for cheap on ebay or amazon. Be prepared to shell out about $30/year on battery and filters
I’ve had a XV-21 for about 3 years (perhaps longer)? I love it. It does a great job picking up dog hair (primary reason I got it) and picking up dust under furniture… really does help. I still try to run the vacuum about once a week, there are just places it doesn’t reach (around lamp bases, etc.)–BUT, HUGE difference from before, house feels fresher. The only downside I found was the battery failed after about a year. I purchased a replacement, but not from neato—that was a mistake, that did not last long at all. From a little research online, I found some people complained about the battery life. One person suggested letting the battery charge, then disconnecting the charger, until it was time for the vac to run and then recharge—they claimed that way, the battery wouldn’t get fried, seemed logical for me. For the price, you can’t go wrong, it is a great unit, LOVE IT!
I had the same problem on the battery. Found someone who suggested disconnecting the charger except when you are actually charging the batteries—they claimed the batteries failed because they are getting fried. I’m trying that now, just put a simple timer on the cord to the charger, only let it charge about 60-90 minutes a day… seems to make a difference, I’ll know more in a year!
DONT buy this. I made the mistake of buying one from Woot. Kept throwing error codes and died. Contacted Neato. Was told too bad. Give us $35 to diagnosis issue then we’ll charge you to fix it.
No issues with Roomba.
This little robot does a great job, he’s vacuuming my room right now. I am very happy with him and his pet hair vacuuming my hardwood, tile and rugs. So glad I got one this time around.