People got by without automatic pool cleaners for years before somebody decided to make the first one.
Automatic pool cleaners are mainly to reduce the amount of time one has to spend labor wise on ones pool. Running your filter equipment the proper amount of hours based on outside temperature is what keeps your chemicals evenly dispersed and helps prevent algae.
You will of course have to weekly brush the walls and manually vacuum when needed.
Modern automatic pool cleaners have some added benefits besides the reduction of manual labor and the time it consumes to keep up a pool. The better units do actually filter 4 to 5 thousand gallon of the pool water an hour. They scrub the walls and water line. They obviously do the vacuuming. And they do bust up those clumps of Baking Soda on the bottom of the pool that you either have to wait to dissolve or hit with your brush and long pole.
I personally would rather put a pressure side cleaner in my pool then drag out the vac hose, pool vac , and heavy pole (and still have to brush the walls after doing all that). Have you tried not using the leaf canister? IOW, get the big stuff with the Leaf Rake then use the cleaner to do the rest. Have you thought of upgrading to one of the new robot cleaners. The 9300 Sport, Dolphin, Aquabot, Nitro NC51, and others are plug-in automatic pool cleaners. They use very little electricity and do a better job then the other vacs (pressure, suction, or booster) in my opinion.