iRobot Verro ~ Pool Cleaning Robot
Your Own Little Mermaid

If you've been wishing iRobot would finally get around to creating an effective pool-cleaning robot, you're in luck: they just did. It's called the iRobot Verro, and comes in two models, the 300 and the 600. Both models are comparable in price to existing top-notch pool cleaners, but instead of plugging into the pool's filtration system, you just plug in its lengthy electrical cord and drop it into the pool. No hoses, no pumps, no installation. Amazing, Verro can clean a typical pool in about an hour, all the way from the floor to the waterline. Unlike most self-propelled pool cleaners, which bumble around until they just happen to cover the whole pool, the iRobot pool cleaning robot cleans systematically, with a purpose.

Big debris is no big deal for the Verro; it just sucks up leaves, sand, dust, hair, and similar fibers and tosses them into a mesh bag for you to discard later. Smaller particles like algae, pollen and bacteria get trapped in a fine filter bag. On top of all this, Verro helps circulate the chemicals in your pool, and evens out the temperature as it runs around; this can save you bucks, because you don't have to run the filtration system as long, and you don't have to backwash as often, either. And if you're worried about that long electrical cord tangling up, don't be; it's got an auto-reverse feature that helps prevent that.

The reason there are two Verro models (besides the basic need to provide a choice) is that the Verro 300 is optimized for gunite pools, while the 600 is best for fiberglass, tile, and vinyl pools. The Model 300 cleans by means of hydro-jets alone, running itself and scrubbing the pool surfaces with powerful bursts of water that it sucks in from the pool. The Model 600, on the other hand, trundles along on scrubbing brushes, and used hydro-jet technology to suck up the debris.

November 2008: Latest updates are in green.

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