Vadim,
I'd suggest keeping the 280 (service it if needed) AND get an Alpha IQ+ (or one of the Maytronics robots). Over the 22 years we've had out pool (25 year old pool now) we've had 280s (two - primary and standby), then a Quattro, and now an Alpha IQ+. I'm going to keep both the Quattro for 24/7 duties during fall and when we are out of town and the Alpha IQ+ for weekly cleans and/or as-needed. I would rather have a 280/Alpha IQ+ "team" though if I had to do it all over again.
When we first got the Quattro I loved it! WAY better cleaning than the 280, excellent dual filter design, really effective plaster/tile flapper scrubbers and much "smarter" cleaning randomness (after 1.5 hours of tweaking flow control and flow direction). So, why do I say to consider keeping the 280 AND geting a robot? Let me start with the cleaning capability for these three Polaris models in our 16,000 gal kidney pool and attached Jacuzzi.
280 - 5 out of 10; great for leaves, worms, and needing to leave out of town for weeks; can leave it in the pool 24/7 (I know Polaris says no), partially cleans floor, pathetic for cleaning walls and tile line; leaf bag great for fall; normal/silt bags work fine for other seasons; RUGGED, RELIABLE
Quattro - 8 out of 10; adds pretty decent wall cleaning and tile scrubbing, dual filter basked is excellent for leaves and fine silt year round; seems better guided than 280 for our kidney shaped pool; gears/internal parts replace the backup hose "lump" of the 280
Alpha IQ+ - 10 out of 10; it truly ups the gave from the Quattro: smartest cleaning pattern by far, NO adjustments required at all (I'm not counting running the automated iPhone app which is required for it to "adjust" it's cleaning schedule to your pool); significant improvement about it reaching entire kidney shaped pool equally; similar to Quattro, flappers clean bottom, sides, and tile line MUCH better than a 280's swinging tail could ever dream of doing
Next, economics:
$ 280 - over ~18 years total cost of 280's (had two), rebuild kits (sometimes full kit, sometimes full kit + new hose), 3 Polaris pumps over the years cost us an estimated $175/year (including tax, ignoring electricity cost). There is a reason that the 280 today - even though it is a really old design - is still (I've heard, can't prove it) the number 1 selling pool cleaner today. It is a very cost effective, robust, and easy to maintain cleaner for those of us that run cleaners 12 months out of the year. (Summer only pool owners have other different challenges)
$$$ Quattro Pro - in 2 years of ownership, not taking great care of it really (same as 280's though) ours needed $280 of parts (fortunately for us on warranty and if you add up all the high-priced gears, transmission, scrubber gear sets, "engine" assembly, that could fail on this thing I would NEVER want to do a full rebuild! It would cost way more than twice the cost of the entire Quattro Pro
$$$ Alpha IQ+ - I'm sure it will be expensive over the years, but as my "use it only when you need it" cleaner I hope it will last at least a few years. It will NOT stay in our pool 24/7, and it will be stored under cover and out of the sun when not in use. Robot owners seem to report expensive motors, expensive cables, and more. I really don't mind paying big bucks to keep this or another plug-in robot in my life as long as we own a pool!
Other thoughts... I am a new robot owner, so maybe the novelty will wear off with our IQ+, but I must admit I'm loving "driving" it around with the iPhone app for sucking up worms, letting it clean the Jacuzzi for 10 minutes (this never worked well with the pressure side 280 or Quattro Pro), and using the "lift" feature to call it "home to Poppa" when I want to remove it from the pool.
Videos of the professional Maytronics robots that have true 3-axis Gyroscopes ($$$$$!) seem even smarter and more surgically guided than the IQ+ (Polaris alludes to pool mapping, but I don't think the best pool robots are as smart as $500 kitchen vacuums have gotten today).
Cheers,
Jim
