Automatic Litterbox Central

Hi All!

Just wanted to let you all know that it looks like the Litter Robot will have a little competition coming soon.

A new automated box similiar to the Litter Robot will be available in late 2005. It's called the "Litter Revolution". Here's the website and info: http://litterrevolution.com

I have an LR and love it, except for the size constraints and shallow depth of the tray. It looks like the Litter Revolution will empty the poop into a bag located in the back... That might eliminate the problem of the LRs globe dragging through the poop pile and making that messy track along the globe.

I couldn't find any pricing info, but they hint that it will be less $$ than the Litter Robot.

I e-mailed them for pricing info and for the inside dimensions. Might be a good one to watch!

-Sharon

The manufacturer of the Litter Revolution got back to my e-mail for more info.

They said the unit will be between $199 and $249 and they are hoping to have units available by the end of the year.

"The drum is approximately 22" in diameter and the inside screen takes up only a few inches on the top portion of the drum, but the entire
circumference is still available to the cat."

They are recommending the unit for cats 20 lbs. and smaller.

For more info contact:

mailto:info@litterrevolution.com
Linda Shriftman
VP Development & Sales
Litter Revolution, Inc.
579 Echo Ridge Court
Reno, Nevada 89511
775-851-7781 Phone
775-851-7782 Fax
http://www.litterrevolution.com

Just an FYI!

-Sharon

While I love the idea of competition it looks to me like they copied the LR and tweeked it in certain areas. I hope the fine folks at LR are up to the challenge and keep pace because I am forever grateful for their original pioneering spirit that brought this idea out in the first place.

I just hope the litter revolution works better than the litter robot does. My litter robot stops halfway through a cycle way too much, leaving my cats with nowhere to go! Except for my couch, of course.

I think the folks at litter robot need the competition so that they can start working on a better version that doesn't have this same, HIGHLY FRUSTRATING problem.

It looks interesting, and competition is the true mother of invention. However, I love the litter robot. It would have to get a good amount of highly favorable press for me to consider switching.

From what we've pieced together from vague explanations of how it works, it's not much of a LR design rip off. The drum doesn't rotate and it relies on passing a screen or scoop through the litter just like the LitterMaid and other automated litterboxes. We'll have to wait and see if it can avoid all the problems with this method.

i'm interested, but it better be bullet-proof. it will have to pass the early-adopter consumer test; i threw away enough money on littermaid and purrforma, i won't invest another 200-250 dollars in an unproven machine. which means if it comes out in late 2005, i'll consider buying one in late 2006 or early 2007.

the litter robot looks huge, but i think the it's is going to have to be the one. at least it has an 18 month warranty if it doesn't work acceptably or is just too big for the living room in my small condo! I like that the revolution looks smaller and less conspicuous, but frankly i'd put my cat's litter box on the coffee table and build a shrine around it if it meant not having to clean it by hand.

It only needs to be as good as LR to make it worth it. LR at $300+ is too much for most people.

I wonder what sort of vague explanations you've gotten. In the pictures, you can clearly see a round drum and a gear setup. The base contains rollers--why would it if the drum doesn't turn?

I would like to see more explanations before I conclude that the unit just passes a screen through like the LitterMaid. I may not be much of an engineer, but I don't see any evidence that that is what the Revolution does.

speedwell wrote:I wonder what sort of vague explanations you've gotten. In the pictures, you can clearly see a round drum and a gear setup. The base contains rollers--why would it if the drum doesn't turn?

I don't see any rollers in the base. The vague description says it does have rollers but doesn't say what they're for. The gears could pass the screen through the litter without rotating the drum. It's impossible to tell and they better tell if they want my pre-order money.

If the drum does turn it think it would work well. It eliminates the need for a separate storage area for the screened litter making the unit much smaller, and there's no need for the motor to reverse since all the litter is screened and leveled in one revolution. They've also eliminaed the liner which I'm not too confident about since it seems like clumping litter could build up on the bottom pretty easily. Maybe the screen also has some kind of scraper for this.

mlrtime wrote:It only needs to be as good as LR to make it worth it. LR at $300+ is too much for most people.

If it's $250 there's not a whole heck of alot of difference in price vs the litter robot. In a country where many folks don't blink on paying $100 and up on their cable bills a month, if you're considering paying $200 and up for a litterbox its shortsighted to have issues spending $50-$100 more for a proven product. If you are able to put aside 200-250 clams then you can certainly wait a month or two (or six) longer and have the balance if needed. I still get hot at the fact that I threw $150 out the window on a litter maid a few years back; Knowing what I know now about both the LM and the LR (And if I never owned either I could look here and pretty much come to the same conclusion about the absolute inferiority of the LM vs. the LR) I would be a fool to purchase the LM over the LR because it costs half as much. The LR is multitudes better than the LM both in ease of use and design/durability, and worth far more than twice as much as the LM, IMHO. Hopefully, this new box is as good as the Litter Robot. I'll be tickled pink if its better, and will perhaps get one then. And if it "just" as good as the LR then the folks at LR will either drop the price or make improvements, or will eventually lose their shirts. Well, that's my 2 yen about saving money today only to spend it tomorrow.

Cheers,
D

As I concluded in my positive review for Epinions:

"The only possible reason someone might hesitate is the price. Here's the way I look at it: a very conservative estimate, with two cats, would peg the LR's life at five years. Add in the litter savings. That's less than $5 a month for all of us to have a constantly clean, odor free, discreet litter box with a minimum of cleanup by humans.

Would you pay someone $5 a month to come in and clean your litter box three times a day?

Of course you would. In a heartbeat."

I'm wondering why there's no There There. It's an extremely skimpy website, which means:

It's the greatest thing going, they aren't savvy enough to tell anyone online.

It's got some serious problems and they don't want anyone to know until enough people have gambled on it to make their nut.

The clear thing might be just for demo purposes, because I think it would be a bad idea in operation. My cats seem to like the LR because of the privacy, in part. And I want to see as little litter as possible.

adkpam wrote:It's got some serious problems and they don't want anyone to know until enough people have gambled on it to make their nut.

Or they can't show us how it will work until they decide how it will work because they haven't finished it yet.

I like the clear drum. My cat sticks his head out of the LR anyway and I like the sight of clean litter so I know the damn thing is working.

I like the idea of it being clear as well, as long as the litter is kept clean I don't care if you can see it or not lol. Also, one of my cats won't use a litter box if it's covered since my other two like to stalk her sometimes when she's using it, so for this reason I particularly like that it's clear.

In the other thread with the recent email from the L. Revolution people, they stated that there was a purpose behind not posting much information on their site at this time. Considering the fact that they're not actually selling them right now, I find no fault in the lack of information there. If they were actually attemtping to sell them while giving so little information I would be more concerned.

I did also notice that they've now said that they anticipate releasing them in early 2006... In the original correspondence weren't they quoting late this year? So, maybe they are having difficulty of one form or another. Regardless, I would rather they post-poned the release until they work out whatever is going on instead of sending them out there for their first customers to deal with.

That being said, I still intend on being one of the first to purchase one.