Hello Robot Shoppers!
After about 40 hours of research, I decided to go with the Dolphin M500. I looked at many including commercial types. Most commercial were out of my price range and after getting in the house and measuring the pool myself I found the pool was slightly smaller than the seller had said which allowed me to open my options up to the higher level residential models. The main points in my decision are the dual motors, the split brushes, zero turn ability, the third brush, the anti-twist cord, and top filter access. I did appreciate the top access basket type for extra leaf capacity of some models, but I could not find that feature combined with the other features that were important to me. I knew I did not want to have to turn the unit over to access the filter as in the bottom access types. The double filter of the M500 is easy to access and clean and holds plenty of leaves as well.
I was also interested in the Dolphin Triton Plus which is similar to the M500 but does not have the third brush. Ultimately, I went with the M because I was able to get it a mile from my house where I will have immediate service with the 3 year warranty. I paid $250 more for that level of service ($1400 including tax) over what I would have paid for the Triton with a 4 year Assurion extended warranty that I would have to jump through a lot of hoops to be able to use and it would involve shipping.
I ran the M500 tonight and so far I'm very impressed. I'll be updating my experience with the M500 throughout the season and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Crystal
After about 40 hours of research, I decided to go with the Dolphin M500. I looked at many including commercial types. Most commercial were out of my price range and after getting in the house and measuring the pool myself I found the pool was slightly smaller than the seller had said which allowed me to open my options up to the higher level residential models. The main points in my decision are the dual motors, the split brushes, zero turn ability, the third brush, the anti-twist cord, and top filter access. I did appreciate the top access basket type for extra leaf capacity of some models, but I could not find that feature combined with the other features that were important to me. I knew I did not want to have to turn the unit over to access the filter as in the bottom access types. The double filter of the M500 is easy to access and clean and holds plenty of leaves as well.
I was also interested in the Dolphin Triton Plus which is similar to the M500 but does not have the third brush. Ultimately, I went with the M because I was able to get it a mile from my house where I will have immediate service with the 3 year warranty. I paid $250 more for that level of service ($1400 including tax) over what I would have paid for the Triton with a 4 year Assurion extended warranty that I would have to jump through a lot of hoops to be able to use and it would involve shipping.
I ran the M500 tonight and so far I'm very impressed. I'll be updating my experience with the M500 throughout the season and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Crystal