Butterfly Amicus Prime - Thoughts?

Storytime...

I'm 29 now, have a table, and a little room in my basement to play. Table tennis has been a passion of mine since I was a kid. However, I usually end up letting it fall to the wayside as I live in an area where not many play competitively (Toledo, OH) and I end up falling back on my other passion; weightlifting.

But now that I'm getting older, I want to put more focus on my health/agility/cardio, as I don't get in much cardio with lifting.

With my work schedule, it's difficult to make to play with others....and finding those who want to excel/progress with myself. I do see myself eventually playing in the local clubs around me (all about 1.5 to 2 hours away)

I'm thinking of buying a Butterfly Amicus Prime to begin training with at least an hour a day 4 times per week. I know this won't be as effective as multi-ball with a physical person. Has anyone been able to really progress with mainly a robot? My goal is to eventually hit 2000 in a couple years if I stay consistent.

I know the Amicus Prime is a newer model (best price I can find is $2100 to my door), but the Amicus robot has been around for some time. Can anyone suggest a comparable robot that can deliver all the training aids the Prime can fulfill or the Amicus pretty much the top robot out there?

Thanks in advance

Yeah back in 2010-ish I had a Newgy 2055 or whichever one had the small lcd screen and programs. It worked decent for training. However, only one wheel was not ideal as spin/speed are together. 

Before I get into the details on the Robots, I say go ahead and buy a robot for training.   I never really played TT much growing up and started up about a year ago.  A table was placed in a break room at work.   My life schedule does not really lend itself to hitting a club and having a coach.  With my work and commute I am away from home at least 13 hours per day.  I also have a family that takes priority over spending time in a club.   If I did not get a robot for home use I would not be able to enjoy this sport at all.  One of these days I hope to be able to get some coaching on the weekends, but for now training videos will have to do.   I would say, I wish that I would have video taped my self more often in order to track my progress and keep tabs on my technique.  So again...  I say go ahead and get that robot.

Now for the robots, I chose to avoid the Amicus Prime.  Functionally it is basically the same as the Pro, you just get a bluetooth controller instead of physical dials and buttons.  I had a lot of bluetooth issues with the 3050XL and that was one of the few reasons why I returned the unit.  The Newgy felt cheap in comparison to the Amicus / Power Pong robots.   I play 30-45 minutes a day when at work (during lunch and breaks) and practice another 30-60 minutes a night when at home.  If I am home on the weekends I usually practice another 1-2 hours per day over a few sessions.

I can create slow spinny serves, slow spinny loops and pretty much any other type of shot.   Is it perfect? No.  Can I create all types of serve and shot variations? No.

I had some issues with the original controller for my PowerPong robot, but it was replaced immediately by PowerPong.  I have not had any issues since.  I have only adjusted the wheels once since then.  If you can get a good price on the PowerPong 3000, you may want to consider getting it over an Amicus.  PowerPong warranty is handled in the US, while the Amicus warranty is handled in Germany.  PowerPong also offers a longer warranty.

Good luck.....