I am approaching 2 months of managing a pool without pump/filter/etc. I've only been using my Dolphin A20 and liquid chemicals. I would say a reliable robot is invaluable because the robot and your own efforts can maintain your pool. Check with Margaret at Marina Pools and Spas. Looks like they're out of a lot of models, but she is very helpful. She can find a good model for your budget, she won't just give you the most expensive one.
+1. She talked an IRL buddy and myself out of the more expensive model. She had the expensive ones so it's not like she was just trying to make any old sale.
I love it! I wasn't expecting much at this price point, but it works pretty well. I would say it gets about 90-95% of the mess. We run it a few times a week and then on the weekends I manually vacuum to get any spots that were missed. Run time is around 90 minutes and it does take 5 hours to charge usually. But still totally worth it. We used it all of last summer and for our spring clean up. This year, the spring clean up was minimal, but I have used it four or five times and it is still functioning like new. And cleanup of the robot is a breeze. The top pops off, a quick dump to remove the debris, and a hose off of the filter. It picks up dirt and sand, pine needles, and bigger leaves. And if it only lasts a few years, it is cheap enough that I am okay with that.
