gdgt

I know that the Nest tracks time-to-temperature data, and is aware of outside temperatures. What I'm wondering is if it uses that data to save energy and improve comfort.
Say I get home at 6:00 PM when it's approximately 105°F during the summer. Assuming Nest knows that I get home at 6:00 PM - and I want the temperature to be 75°F when I get home, will it come on at 6:00 PM and start cooling my house (which will take an hour or so in the summer heat) - or will it use its time-to-temperature...

Hey,
Just wondering if anyone knows if the Nest Learning Thermostat would work outside of the US, in somewhere like Australia. Our thermostats here are pretty non-existent, so it would be great to have a decent thermostat.

I live in a four-level townhouse, and our daughter's room is on the top floor. The AC unit is on the bottom floor, and the thermostat is on the second floor (a main level with our kitchen/living room). This usually means that to keep it a bearable 74-76 degrees up there overnight, we're turning the heat down on the main level to 68-69 degrees.

Can the Nest's sensors help with this, or do I just need a new AC system?

Other than the 'pretty' and 'I'm cool' factors, what is so special about these? I almost bought one a while back but held off based on a large volume of negative reviews online when searching (from actual owners).
Biggest complaints I have seen so far are:
If it knows you get up at 7am and like to have the temp set at 70 when you get up, it does not change the temp to 70 until exactly 7am. My current thermostat kicks in ahead of the set point to do its best to get the temp there BY the set point.... Read more →

Now that these are $250 from Nest I really want one. Problem is . . Can I justify it? I currently have a programmable thermostat that I got with a new heat pump just last year. It is a nice Honeywell RTH8500D unit that is a full 7 Day set. It works fine and I have no complaints. The new energy savings features they rolled out today for the Nest look appealing though. So is the NEST worth the large price premium? Will it ever pay for itself considering I already have a nice programmable unit?...