Swimming Pool Cleaners

Choosing an automatic pool cleaner that suits your needs can be a tough decision. Every year it seems someone is coming out with something new. You know the cliche "build a better mouse trap".
I have been in the pool buisness for 13 years and this is just my opinion and what I would personally look for when choosing a cleaner.
1)  Is it going to pick up the trash that my pool gets in it?

Which do you use most?  The vacumm or the leaf rake?
Think of the suction cleaner like an automatic pool vacuum cleaner.
Think of a pressure side cleaner like an automatic leaf rake.
If you have a pool surrounded by trees that shed a lot of leaves, a suction side cleaner is not going to be the best choice here, period. If the area is sandy and a lot of small debris gets in the pool,a suction side pool cleaner is great for this. Be aware that all debris picked up by a suction side cleaner is trapped in your pool filter, pump basket or skimmer basket, so you may require more frequent backwashing or filter cleaning. On the other hand if you're just manually vacuuming it up anyhow, it's still going to the filter.
The mesh bags on pressure side cleaners won't catch small debris like sand and silt. There are bags made for this purpose, but in my experiences they clog quickly and weigh the cleaner down. The finer mesh also restricts water flow through the cleaner and in a lot of instances will hinder it from climbing walls. Pressure side cleaners are simply not the best choice for smaller debris.
Robotic cleaners have the ability to pick up smaller debris and also have a large enough capacity to adequatly remove leaves to a degree. There are so many brands out there and I am not familiar with each and every one. the Aquabot is one I can speak of through experience. It seems that I have lately seen quite a few reviews speaking poorly on Aquabots quality and dependability. I personally haven't  had that experience with their products. But I haven't had any customers that have bought any new aquabots lately. So it is entirely possible that their quality isn't what it used to be, I can't say.. The drawbacks I can say about robotic cleaners is the initial cost is high and you probably won't be able to make repairs yourself and parts usually have to be ordered.
2)  Can I get parts for it?
Kreepy krauly is one of the most sold suction side pool cleaners on the market. As such there is hardly a pool store (no matter how small) that doesn't carry replacement parts for it. There are so many different models of pool cleaners on the market these days most small pool companies just don't have the capital to keep parts for every one in inventory. The Kreepy Krauly Classic is very simple in desisn and anyone with a little mechanical ability can service it.  Yes it's noisy, but most people have timers set to clean their pool at night so who cares. It works and it does about as good of a job as any suction side cleaner can be expected to. I know this may sound like an advertisment for Kreeepy Krauly but you have to face the facts. I'm sure had someone else been first they would have been the more popular brand.
Polaris, and to be more precise, the Polaris 280 is my choice for pressure side pool cleaners. Again the same is true. Parts are readily available, it's simple to work on, it's very dependable. I have personally seen these cleaners operate for 10 years with just regular mantenance. The Polaris 380 would have been in here, but it's not as popular, not as many places keep parts in inventory and I personally don't like the belt drive system it uses. They wear out, stretch, slip and break.
I'm not going to comment on robotic cleaners at this time because I know there are brands and models that I personally am not familiar with that have a good track records. I will let the readers make selections as to which make or model may be the top recommendation for this class pool cleaner.  
I do hope that this article has been informative for anyone searching for a pool cleaner. I am in no way saying that another brand may or may not perform better, I am just stating my personal advice that I would offer to any of my customers.