Interesting authorized dealer comment about Active 30i and S300i.

[AnAltruist]

During my search for an S300i/A30i, I called a lot of stores. I have no dealer closer than 50-60 miles away so I was happy to pay for reasonable shipping costs.

One of the store owners I spoke with mentioned his opinion on the A30i and S300i. While he made it clear that they were essentially the same unit, he said they are made in different manufacturing facilities and, in his opinion, the S300i had a slightly nicer manufacturing facility and that might be reflected in the build quality. At the same time he said that he doesn't have service issues with either and no problems recommending both models.

I'm not aware of any price difference at that particular store (though a different store was able to sell the A30i for $50 cheaper than their S300i). I suppose either a) he actually had some industry awareness or b) the S300i had better margin. Who knows!

Just curious if anyone else encountered that opinion while shopping for a cleaner.

 

[steviek]

During my search for an S300i/A30i, I called a lot of stores. I have no dealer closer than 50-60 miles away so I was happy to pay for reasonable shipping costs

What are your reasons for not going with
Doheny's Discovery Powered by Dolphin....

Im heading to pool store this afternoon and will ask about the s300i/a30i, if you hv others questions let me know and I'll pass along.

 

[Geebot]

Odd that a dealer would carry both (essentially identical) lines, I thought they were intended for different channels.

 

[AnAltruist]

What are your reasons for not going with
Doheny's Discovery Powered by Dolphin....

I wanted the flexibility of multiple cycle times though I'm sure I'll use the 2.5 hour cycle the most. I had spent a lot of time reading before choosing the S300i and I didn't know what the differences were in that and the Discovery (also I ended up purchasing the unit before reading much about the Discovery). I also knew I wanted the caddy. I think I was in decision fatigue. I'm sure I would have been happy with the Discovery and purchasing the caddy separately but at that point I just needed something so I could start cleaning.

I actually found several stores that could get either the S300i or A30i but in most cases it sounded like they could order either direct from the warehouse. Only one carried both in their store.

 

[Pool Amateur]

Hi AnAltruist,
I have active 30i, can you schedule multiple cleanings per day? if so let me know how to do it, it is one of my gripes. You can see my opinion here. Or do you mean multiple time levels? I set mine to 2.5 but when I turn it off seems to default back to 2.0 hours and getting Bluetooth to connect is a pain. Sort of wish I went with M5/M500 that I could have bought for about same price but at different stores. I did not because I read that M5 is so aggressive that it caused pin holes in liners and I have an older liner that has some damage already.

 

[AnAltruist]

I'm not aware of multiple cleanings per day versus a weekly cleaning schedule. I drag the robot out of the garage, run the cycle, take it out, hose it off, then place it back into storage. CBB77 posted a review here and also talked only about weekly cleaning schedules. He might be a better reference since that thread was started a year ago. I've only had mine a week.

Dolphin Active 30i review