We've got to give Wowwee the credit for being the first ones to really give us this kind of capability at this price.  The Arm9 processor,  Embedded Linux, Java for   approx $300  is really a bargain.  I fanboy of the robosapien class robots so I wouldn't suggest switching because you ran into a few bumps.  Robosapien is on a very good trajectory to being the absolute best bang for the buck for a personal robot.  Wowwee just has to work through a few minor issues.

The weakest link in the chain is the Media Suite Software (Visual Basic and Windows),.  That was a mistake.   The media suite should have been developed using platform independent software.  The simplest approach should be using Java.  Linux and Java on the Robot are perfect and will be the foundation for an awesome class of robots.    But the client side sucks! and is the source of a lot of customer dissatisfaction.

The next weakest link is the power supply (which is a tough nut to crack for sure).  After Wowwee attacks these, the sky will be the limit.  So hang in there....  For the price and the capability the robosapien class robots are best you can buy (even with their problems)