Pump dilema

Hi everyone. New here... we just had a safety cover installed and now comes the task of buying a pump for the cover... (never ends).

After looking at several of the "cover" pumps available, ratings and comments were so so I guess... then I got to looking at the small Honda pumps like the Honda wx10 which gets very good ratings... so, for a few hundred dollars more, I could use this pump to drain the pool down below the skimmer in the winter and use it to pump off the cover as well... anyone else use this type of pump for cover water removal? If so, what do you use on the end of the hose to get water off when it starts getting low? Honda pump comes with a strainer but won't be able to go very shallow...

I am new as well and don't know your weather conditions, but I've seen some covers that allow water to pass to the Pool. hence no pump needed. For lowering water level, previous owner has a faucet before or after the pool filter, which will drain out fast when pump is running. I don't know if this is advisable or not, but would like to know.