Love reading all the stories here, btw. One topic that continues to intrigue me is the love / hate with Aiper. Seems like a lot of problems, that I typically associate with Asian made poor QA products: "the first two died, but the 3rd is a charm," then the battery fire stories, and fake reviews. All this followed by a deluge of members buying the S1 robot. So, something is not totally broken.
I will preface my remarks by saying, I am sold on the surface skimmer solar-powered skimmers. The Surfer S2 and the Betta SE are good contenders.
That said, I have a rather basic pool footprint, and started by looking for a vacuum model. The Zodiac line seems like a good starting point. They claim to climb the walls, but do they really? This could be a good starting point. $350 to $500, and I am not sure if I can see the difference between the X6 and X8. I do not see comments here in this forum on the suction models. Maybe too plebeian. But, seriously, this group seems to appreciate basics that get the job done, as well as bells and whistles, so why no love for the suction crowd?
If I choose to go with a powered robot, the corded variety seems to offer more power, and less worry and less money (generally). The Evo is $700 and has good reviews. The Dolphin line a little more with similar reviews. Upside is I can program it to sit in the water and run on the days that the skimmer does not, and then hope that the skimmer can avoid the cord.
Then, there are the cordless robots. Pay a little more, but there is the hassle of removing and charging and throwing it back in, but these avoid conflict with the skimmer bot. But, it is hard to imagine paying $1,000 or more for a floor sweeper. Yes, getting the tile cleaned at the top of the waterline is nice, but the corded variety does that as well, and probably better (?). Or, go with the S1 and hope I get one that does not break over the summer. AND, I can get a bundled price with the Surfer S2. Oh, and there are the $2,000 bots. Wow.
Add to this: I am looking forward to using my pool, and understand that some weekly and weekend maintenance is needed, but what if I am working, or go out of town? If I have a robot, do I use a backup suction cleaner on a timer?
So, open to comments. This is an odd decision tree. Changing to salt water chlorinator was an easy choice.
I will preface my remarks by saying, I am sold on the surface skimmer solar-powered skimmers. The Surfer S2 and the Betta SE are good contenders.
That said, I have a rather basic pool footprint, and started by looking for a vacuum model. The Zodiac line seems like a good starting point. They claim to climb the walls, but do they really? This could be a good starting point. $350 to $500, and I am not sure if I can see the difference between the X6 and X8. I do not see comments here in this forum on the suction models. Maybe too plebeian. But, seriously, this group seems to appreciate basics that get the job done, as well as bells and whistles, so why no love for the suction crowd?
If I choose to go with a powered robot, the corded variety seems to offer more power, and less worry and less money (generally). The Evo is $700 and has good reviews. The Dolphin line a little more with similar reviews. Upside is I can program it to sit in the water and run on the days that the skimmer does not, and then hope that the skimmer can avoid the cord.
Then, there are the cordless robots. Pay a little more, but there is the hassle of removing and charging and throwing it back in, but these avoid conflict with the skimmer bot. But, it is hard to imagine paying $1,000 or more for a floor sweeper. Yes, getting the tile cleaned at the top of the waterline is nice, but the corded variety does that as well, and probably better (?). Or, go with the S1 and hope I get one that does not break over the summer. AND, I can get a bundled price with the Surfer S2. Oh, and there are the $2,000 bots. Wow.
Add to this: I am looking forward to using my pool, and understand that some weekly and weekend maintenance is needed, but what if I am working, or go out of town? If I have a robot, do I use a backup suction cleaner on a timer?
So, open to comments. This is an odd decision tree. Changing to salt water chlorinator was an easy choice.