new homeowner with pool...help!

[PoolDoc]

Another point to consider is location -- robot pool cleaners can perform acceptably in pools with little or no vegetation nearby, or indoor pools. But they do not handle leaves, seeds, or grass bits well and clog quickly. If you have trees near your pool, you probably can rule out use of a robot cleaner.

Welcome to the forum!

[CarlD]

I go with Big Dave's recommendation that you learn how to manually take care of your pool using the B-B-B system we advocate. It will take ALL the mystery out of pool care and you'll find it's very, very easy.

Once you do that, installing salt-water chlorine generator is merely a convenience which will NOT save you money. However, once you have one (and get a good one!) you will love having it.
I ran for many years just using bleach and other chlorine types. Only last season, I installed an SWCG because we're away a lot more than we were, and it has been great for us.

Still, get your pump and filter and manual maintenance cleared up first BEFORE you take on SWCGs and robotic cleaners. Knowledge is power and WILL save you money, time and heart-ache.

There are numerous robotic cleaners. I'm a big fan of my Blue Diamond. It sucks up leaves and other debris at a surprisingly effective rate. But it does get stuck on my ladder (I take the ladder out). My old Dolphin didn't get stuck but I had severe reliability issues and their service wasn't nearly as good as the BD. To be fair, though, my experience with Dolphin was 6 or 7 years ago and I gather they've improved customer service. All of these robotic cleaners use similar technology, with either 2 or 3 motors, 1 as the vacuum, the other 1 or 2 for the drive (2 for the split drives, they turn better). They mostly all "sense" the pool walls by the increased electrical demand when the motor hits the wall (clever!)