I do have a Rebel, and it
is a suction cleaner. I had my Polaris' pressure line switched over to suction line for the Rebel. I can't say one did better than the other, in terms of cleaning, they're about the same. I, too, don't have a lot of leaves or dirt flying around, so at least in that environment the Rebel keeps my pool very clean. If I was building a pool, I'd run that extra line, no matter what I thought I was going to use for a vac. I'd also make sure it was plumbed with sweep 90s, just to reduce the possibility of jams. You might never use it, or you might, but you certainly can't add one later. Who knows what the future will bring, and you might need an extra port in the pool for something.
It is true that the Rebel connects with a hose. But they all connect with something, so I'm not sure how that is a factor. What
does matter, to me, is that that hose is underwater, and not a power cord running across my deck. That is the deal-breaker for me for a robot.
Another consideration is the weight. I run my Rebel every night. So I don't have to think about when to put it in or not. During the 6+ months of off-season, I don't think about my vac at all. During swim season, I usually take it out of the pool when guests swim. It's very easy to remove, as it is very light. I've heard robots are quite heavy, and I would not want to have to pull one out regularly. Even if you think you might leave a robot in 24/7 (is that even recommended?), you still have to drag it out of the water to clean its collector bin. No thanks. A Rebel's "collections" still have to be dealt with, like any cleaner, but that happens in the filter pump basket, which, for me, is a considerably easier task than dragging anything out of the water. Plus I can see at a glance when it needs to be done. Just more convenient for me.
The other big "argument" for robots is not having to run your pump to vac. That has a lot less merit to it than most think. My vac run is part of my filtering run! It's not like I'm running my pump extra just for cleaning. I do have to up the RPMs for the vac, but it's also filtering the water at the same time. Or chlorinating with my SWG. It's not the vast increase in electricity costs that it is sometimes made out to be, if it's scheduled correctly. (Full disclaimer: I have PV solar, so I no longer pay for electricity so none of that even matters to me anymore.)
Then there is the cost of repair and replacement. I have replaced my Rebel's leader hose (that 18" piece), and its wheels, so they do have wear and tear. But not like what
@JoyfulNoise describes of his robot, yikes. Plus there are rebuild kits for the head itself. And even if it became totally kaput, you can replace the entire head for a few hundred. I expect my long-term cost of running a Rebel to be significantly cheaper than a robot, when you add everything together over time, even counting the extra electricity.
OK, so all that being said, here's the caveat. A suction cleaner requires a suction port. A suction port can be dangerous. Potentially it can kill someone. If the port is left open, and the pump is on high, a pool pump can eviscerate someone stuck to a suction port, or drown them. I
have heard of robots killing people, but I think that might have been a movie! I've protected against this possibility in several ways: I run it only at night, my suction port has a proper safety flap, and I split its suction with my skimmer's port while vacuuming, so, like a dual main drain system, there is never 100% suction at that port. Plus I have an automated valve that disables the port completely except while vacuuming (so it's never active during swim times). While it is possible all those safeties could be defeated, with some bizarre set of circumstances, I feel it's not any more dangerous than having a big body of water in the middle of a residential backyard. But it is something to be aware of.
If you put a Rebel, a Polaris and the best robot in front of me, and I could choose one for free, I'd choose the Rebel.
When they invent a robot that is cordless and can crawl itself out of a pool and park itself in its charging garage,
and empty its collector, then I'll get a robot! Hey, my Roomba can do all that, so it's just a matter of time that someone makes a pool vac that can. A PoolBa! (I better copyright that!!)