I had a Hayward phantom from when the pool was built. It's just a skimmer, which is nice after I mow the grass, but it does nothing for the silt and sand and debris once settled on the bottom. I now have a Polaris 280 now and I love it. I no longer have the problems with sediments on the bottom. It does a great job sucking them into it's net as well as everything else on the bottom. Leaves, small pool toys, goggles, everything that isn't on my top two steps is caught.