Ok Bbcw I talked to my son. First of all robot mowers are really only effective on a very flat yard with few obstacles like trees and shrubbery. The other options are a regular ride on mower and a zero turn. The regular mower is easier to use and better on hills but as you said, you would have to get out the old push mower to get around the trees. Now the zero turn, which turns 360 degrees on the spot, are great for mowing around trees, etc. They do take some practice to operate properly. They don't have a steering wheel but, rather, a hand control for each hand, so it requires a bit of coordination. For instance hills. You have to go straight up and down whereas with a regular mower you can go sideways across the slope if it's not too steep. Price wise: a robot mower starts at around $1600: a regular ride on runs around 2500 and a zero turn starts at $3000. (I remember when that would have bought a new Chrysler with a couple hundred left over)