I was recently given a new "E" 1500 Grit pad to try out to contrast against Abralon. As a test, I applied the pad on my spinner to a 500 grit Lane#1 Maxx Curve. At 500 grit, the ball was burning up too quickly on my THS, and I needed to alter the surface anyway.
I used the 6-side method at about 20 seconds per side. I was very impressed with quality of the finish. The ball reacted very well when testing the cover on the lanes.
Initial Pros:
1) Nice looking result. Very hard to see residual sanding lines at all.
2) Thin easy to use pad.
Initial Cons:
1) No foam backing like Abralon. NEAT has a thin felt backing, so the pad doesn't retain as much water when sanding.
2) If you like sanding with CAB blocks, the combination doesn't work well. After 2 sides of CAB sanding, I ditched the CAB and applied by hand.
For me (initially), the pros out weight the cons, especially if the stuff last 3 times longer than Abralon. I'm going to get all the NEAT pads and experiment more, but I'm guessing now I'll convert when my current stash of Abralon wears out.
I'm curious if anyone has experimented with the new pads and what your thoughts are.