First off, congratulations on job very well done!

You actually have two questions here. 
One, should you update to the new software and
Two, should you update to the new hardware.

For the first, download the free EV3 software from lego.com and look at the programming workload you'd have to do to re-enter all your programs into the EV3 (I have not heard of and NXT importer as yet, but I may have missed it). The interface is different for EV3, but the concepts are very similar. Math is easier to do, and data wires are similar, but presented differently;  some people have not liked how the new flow looks, but I kind of like it. Since this is a no cost step, I suggest you do it first and decide if the programming is something you want to take on now that you have so much done.

For the second, I never did a comparison on motor speed, but I did see some teams at the championship using both EV3 and NXT motors with an EV3 controller, and they seemed to work well together. What I've read seems to indicate that the large motors are pretty similar, - its the small motor that adds some interesting versatility. I saw some EV3 robots at the championship that used the small motor and it looked like it enhanced the compactness. That said, I think the big advantage of the EV3 is the controller (memory, processor speed, etc), but if you accomplished as much as you did with what the NXT provides, the rebuild may not be worth it.

One thing to note is that the EV3 parts are not drop-in replacements for the NXT ones. The interface the is the same, but the pin holes are located in slightly different places and are not always the same type (they replaced some of the round "pin" holes for cross axel holes on the motors and sensors. Also, all the pieces are slightly different dimensions. All said, expect to completely rebuild the robot soup-to-nuts. 

Again, once you commit to the hardware, you've also committed to the software, so make that determination first.

I'll see if I can't get a test going tomorrow, but someone may well beat me too it.

Good luck in St Louis!  Make us proud(er)

Brian


On Dec 9, 2013, at 7:35 PM, Kilmer Fll wrote:

> Hello! It was a great pleasure meeting so many different teams yesterday at the State tournament!
> 
> 
> As our team will be participating in the World Festival this April, we are thinking about using the EV3. We can see the potential in it, such as a better processor, but we are not quite sure if it would be possible to start learning more about the new software and reprogram everything (we've been using the NXT for 4 years, and are more comfortable with it.) Most notably, we've noticed that EV3 robots seem to be a decent amount faster than the NXT 2.0
> 
> Today, while browsing YouTube, we came across this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLEisteJUcs) which demonstrates how new EV3 motors are compatible with the NXT brick.
> 
> Our question is: If EV3 motors are connected to an NXT, will they be faster than the older servo motors which come with the NXT kit? If you have any experience regarding this, or have both an NXT and EV3 kit and would like to test it, please share your thoughts.
> 
> 
> Thank You,
> Team Positive Aftermath #6371
> Aaraj, Alex, Vishnu, Siona, Sanjana, and Zach 
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