Pentair Prowler

[angela_o]

Hi! I think it looks pretty impressive as well, but I can't find any info or reviews on them. The fact that they are supposed to clean any size/shape pool in 60-90 minutes sounds fantastic.
The Dolphin reviews are scaring me a bit, so I'm looking for an alternative robot. I'm also considering a Letro Legend II however, so I am obviously all over the board.

I first found them here, and their price is even better than eBay:
http://discount-pool.com/advanced_se...7e7445&x=0&y=0

[jimwnola]

Their units appear to be contracted out and made by Aquaproducts or Watertech. The power supply, the filter bag, the specifications, the directions, all look the same.

In fact, I see virtually no difference between Pool rover plus, sold at $499 at some places, and Aquajet, $699. One difference you do see is that the tubes are on outside of pool rover plus, and you see pictures of aquajets sometimes showing tubes on outside and sometimes not. It is unclear how the Aquajet will come. The prowler 710 does have the tubes on the inside. I know the pool rover plus also has a metal rod that you put by the front left or front right wheel to control which way the unit turns going backwards. There is no mention of this in the manual of the 710.

[angela_o]

I hate to admit it Jim, but most of that was over my head. I really do appreciate your time, though, and you sound like you know exactly what you're talking about.
Would you be so kind as to point me towards a particular brand of robotic cleaner? I'm afraid my brain is about fried as far as pool cleaners are concerned. Something that does a good job, has decent customer service, and does it's thing in a reasonably short amount of time would be ideal. Something that does all that for $500-$600 would be especially perfect!

Anyone else who has an opinion please feel free to chime in, as well! Thank you all very much for all the help!

[CarlD]

At this point I would have to recommend that you stay away from Dolphin. I have a Dolphin Dynamic that worked marvelously well for almost 2 years, then stopped. Then I discovered how rotten and atrocious their service is. Maytronics doesn't service them. In the US, SmartPools is the service agent for Maytronics and they are incompetent and think people will just go away when they don't fix the units. I have been struggling when SmartPools for 2 months now.

In addition, people are finding that new Dynamics are not working right out of the box.

I finally broke down and bought a Blue Diamond (B/D). It has its issues (such as I have to remove the ladder before I run it) but it is FAR better than the Dolphin was in pure cleaning power. That's saying a lot because the Dolphin, when it ran, was darned good.

The Pentair 730 looks a lot like the B/D DaVinci but with different plastic on top. The brushes are the same blue foam, and the cart looks the same. Even the performance specs are VERY similar. I suspect they may have come from the same plant, but that's a guess. Pentair has a good rep, but to have no more than a 1 year warranty seems flimsy. The B/D has a much longer warranty.

That doesn't mean you should by the B/D and not buy the Pentair. Look, also, at AquaBot and Tiger Shark.

[jimwnola]

Pool Cleaner companies are rather incestuous. One of the 1st was Dolphin. One guy left long ago and started Aquaproducts, which makes Aquabots. One of their sons started Watertech, which makes Blue Diamond. Aqua Products sells its products to various private label companies. The Storm is same thing as Aqubot, the Tempo same as Aqubot Turbo. An Aquabot Bravo is kind of like a Blue Diamond. An Aquajet and a Pool Rover plus are basically the same.

Nothing against Pentair, but these products are pretty much the same thing as products already out. So, you won't find anything about the Prowlers because they are "new," but you can look to very similar other company models to read about what to expect. The 720 and 730 are going to be like Blue Diamond models or Aqubot Bravo's. The 710 is like an aquajet or pool rover plus.

[angela_o]

Hi Carl! Thanks for the reply! I've been reading about the lack of customer service provided by Smart Pool, and I intend to spend my money elsewhere.
I've been looking really hard at the Aquabot Turbo, but it only has a 1 year warranty too.

Thank you Jim! That's very useful info. It will enable me to much more easily compare prices and models.

[angela_o]

Having still not decided on a cleaner, I thought I might revisit this thread.

OK, after reading everything I can find here on robotic cleaners, I am honestly quite nervous about buying any of them. The problem is that I talked them up so much trying to convince my DH that we needed one, that he now thinks we need one. Who knew?
I have found this comparison chart, and it does mention the Prowlers on the very bottom:
http://www.pooldrstore.com/roboticcl...risonchart.htm


Do I really need something that cleans the walls, or is it relatively easy to just scrub the walls and have a bottom only robot? That one thread with the scrubbing, bike riding noodle thing, sounds quite interesting.
I'm tempted to just get a Pool Rover Plus. They're relatively inexpensive, work quickly, and will satisfy the need we now have for a robot. We will have a free form, gunite, 32 X 18 and 14, kind of kidney shaped, pool with no ladders.

Is there any reason why a Pool Rover Plus would not be a wise choice?