bit-tech Shopping: Bissell SpotBot 1200B Deep Cleaner

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Week

Strengths: Easy to use, works well, portable

Weaknesses: A bit loud

Summary: I love this machine! With multiple cats, having to clean up hairballs is a fact of life. And, of course, given the option to cough up a hairball on the easy to clean tile floor or the carpet, the cat always chooses the carpet.Not a problem any more. The SpotBot really does what it says it will do. Just put it on the spot, press the button, and leave it be for a few minutes. Spots are gone. The carpet remains wet, however -- I either blot it a bit with a towel, or use the hand want to extract more water. But, considering all the time it saves and the great job it does, it's a minor issue.Highly recomend!!

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Portable, automatic, does a good job.

Weaknesses: A bit bulky, does use solution quickly.

Summary: After being utterly fed up with the Bissell handheld carpet cleaner I have (the terrible spot lifter) that broke soon after its purchase, I decided to spend the money and buy the spotbot. Plus I have cats and primarily carpet, so this was a necessity in my house (not willing to lug out the big carpet cleaner for little messes). After initially having problems spraying, I checked the Bissell message boards and found out how to solve this problem (apparently this is common in new units). It basically involved a lot of trying the pump on the handheld cleaner to get it going and it finally did. After that annoyance, the machine was very easy to use and is basically a hands-free little carpet cleaner. It took care of a few spots on the carpet (with no work from me - yay!), was very easy to fill and empty and I like the handle for portability. Extremely user friendly (not a whole lot of confusing buttons, and everything tucks back into the little holders. It is a bit bulkier than I expected, but that's fine, it does a good job. Also, it does use a lot of solution, but you can use less than is recommended (with more water) and there is no problem for smaller stains. I'm going to use some simple solution or other cleaner anyway which is a bit less expensive than the bissell products (sample sizes come in the package). All in all, I'm very happy with the spotbot. UPDATE: I'm changing my review to 5 stars as this little unit has been indispensible in my house to clean up pet spit up, paint splatters, spackle, spills, etc. It works like a charm and gets the spots out in no time - plus I've used it now with various cleaning solutions (for carpet cleaners) and they all work very well. It even picks up water spills too - super!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Small

Weaknesses: None

Summary: I too bought this carpet extractor because of its compact size. My family has owned Bissell and even Castex industrial cleaners before, but I just needed something to clean small spills and messes. This fits that category perfectly! At first I wasn?t sure of what to expect with the ?set it and leave it? feature on the SpotBot, but now I really like it. For small areas, it works great. The only issued I can see is that it leaves the area wetter than if you detach the hose and use the handheld to suck up the extra moisture. I also read this and other reviews on the Spot Bot before I went and picked it up. Someone had written about the cleaner being expensive and using a whole bottle. Well, first of all the reservoir is small anyway; it?s a compact cleaner! The main reason I didn?t want to lug around the professional extractor. Second, there are many solutions available other than just Bissell?s; Simple Green is an awesome cleaner, and if you have pets like me, Nature?s Miracle. Other than that, I am very happy with my purchase.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 7 Days

Strengths: Lightweight, Very Effective, Price

Weaknesses: None!

Summary: I bought this machine because of the size. Hauling out our huge carpet cleaner was a chore and I just needed something to clean small areas. This cleaner works great! It's a little loud but who cares. It's gotten out stains that I have tried to clean with many different bottled products. It's very easy to use and fits anywhere. I liked it so much I went and bought another one to give as a gift.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Removed my spots as advertised

Weaknesses: Uses a lot of solution - $$$

Summary: I had some spots on my stairs that had been bothering me for quite some time. I wasn't able to clean it by scrubbing. My friend has a SpotBot for his vomiting cats and swears by it. So when a deal came up for one of these, I nabbed it. Indeed, it does as my friend says it should - remove spots. Whether it be on the automatic setting or more labour-intensive method, the spots can and do come out! My only concern is the amount of Bissell solution this thing uses - depending on how many spots you have, it could really end up costing a pretty penny!