Well got my new replacement Neato in yesterday. It arrived with the 3.1 firmware straight from Neato!!!
I picked the option to set a new battery, and allowed it to charge overnight.
Results???
52 minutes out the box first time, excellent considering I've always struggled with ~38-42 minutes even with a new battery replacement!!
The way it handled the first floor was very interesting. Before it would attack a single room (sometimes repeating areas), get stuck sometimes, and then move on into another room.
This one was all over the place tackling the perimeter, Within the first run out it had been in 5 of the areas, clearing the perimeter and even partially finishing out the rooms.
On the second charge it went back to work hard, and knocked out in the inner surfaces, moving from room to room.
It's back at it's base to get ready for it's 3rd run. I have full confidence it will finish the run before the battery is even up. THIS NEVER HAPPENS, it always has to give up before completely finishing even with 3 attempts. This extra run time is helping for sure.
Even though the floor was recently completed by my other Neato VX-21 (moved from upstairs) the bin was filled with dust and hair. With the new feature to get closer to the walls, those areas were never getting fully cleaned. Now it knocks it out.
I'm not sure if they received an even better battery set, new hardware, or the firmware is affecting the time but very impressive!
The best thing was at least this run out, it didn't get stuck in places where it got stuck before.
Go NEATO, great that this thing is becoming better and better with ever upgrade. I'm hoping this one I will be able to leave un attended in the future and NOT get stuck.
