Interesting read

[CarlD]

You will notice that suction side cleaners are the cheapest, ranging from $100 to $300

Pressure side cleaners are in the $300 to $800 range especially if they have booster pumps.

Robotics start at $800 and generally go up to $1800, though for commercial grade ones the sky's the limit.

So the popularity of the cleaners directly parallels their cost inversely--the more expensive, the fewer are sold, regardless of AG/IG.

[Pool_Mike]

suction side cleaners are junk or at least my polaris is!!

Polaris telling to to put the jets on the returns down all the time if I was to make sure my cleaner circulate around my pool and clean properly. You want to know the truth? *****Yea right!!!******

[fcfrey]

For what it's worth --- I had a Dolphin Diagnostic which was nothing but trouble , Sold it on Ebay and bought a top of the line Aquabot (T-4) cost double the Dolphin but is worth every penny. Put it in the pool and forget about it. Come back an hour or two later --- Clean pool .

My advise ----- Buy the best once --- not the cheapest 5 or 6 times.

[mas985]

I have a suction side that works pretty well from this company:

http://www.thepoolcleaner.com/2xpoolcleaner.html

The downside is that when the solar is on, the cleaner does not work as well. It is difficult to set the suction properly for with and without solar. If I had to do it over again, I probably would go with a robotic so I could run it at night without having to run the main pump.

[fofa]

I have a suction side that works pretty well from this company:http://www.thepoolcleaner.com/2xpoolcleaner.html

The downside is that when the solar is on, the cleaner does not work as well. It is difficult to set the suction properly for with and without solar. If I had to do it over again, I probably would go with a robotic so I could run it at night without having to run the main pump.

That is the one (well the 4x4 actually) I have been looking at.
I don't have solar nothing, But do you mean a solar blanket, or solar collectors?
Actually my navigator has been a pretty good cleaner, just wore out after 5 years of running around the pool (go figure, plastic against plaster). I actually have not heard anything bad about the Thepoolcleaner, but information is hard to come by. I was hoping for something at least as good as the navigator and a little better at leaves and acorns. Something I can leave in all the time.

[mas985]

By solar I mean solar collectors. The issue with solar is that it adds return head (i.e. PSI goes up) which reduces the flow and also reduces the suction somewhat. I can adjust the amount of suction to the cleaner with a valve but I do not want to do that for each time the solar is on or off so I must make a compromise of somewhere in between. Too much suction on the cleaner is not a real problem but the pump can draw in air when the suction is too great. Again not a real big issue.

The best thing about thepoolcleaner is that it requires less suction than most other cleaners so for a low HP pump or with solar, like me, it will still work when the suction drops a bit. However, when the suction drops, it moves slower and will not climb the walls as well. Still not a bad trade off.