Archive for the ‘Strollers’ Category
Carseats and stollers: one more try
Written by jlz on April 8, 2006 – 5:39 pm -So last week we were so excited we went ahead and gotten the car seat and stroller from Babies R Us.
After we came home, I started doing more research and found this site that could have saved over $130, no tax and no shipping!!!
For that much $$, we decided to go ahead and re-order the Britax Marathon car seat (Portland, $219) and Peg-Perego Aria (Safari, $159) from this site. We promptly returned the other ones to Babies R Us.
Today (<1 week) both the car seat and stroller arrived and I got both of them setup and ready to go.
In search of strollers - Final decision
Written by jlz on April 2, 2006 – 4:53 pm -A while back I wrote about the Peg-Perego Aria MT Stroller. After much discussion and research, we have finally decided on it.
The Aria is pretty easy to put together. It took me maybe about 5 minutes to pop all the wheels, canopy and cup holders in.
We looked at quite a few strollers as you can see from my stroller series. We looked at a few more recently, including the 2006 Maclaren Techno XT Stroller.
The Techno XT is actually my favorite, however I was outvoted based on two reasons. First, it’s $100 more than the Aria. Second, it’s 6 lbs heavier than the Aria. B33b3r is fairly petite, so #2 is quite important to her.
The Techno XT definitely met ALL my technical requirements, including a canopy large enough to cover most of the stroller, large wheels for easy maneuverability, comfortable seats and others. So if money and weight are not issues, get this one. High recommended.
Posted in Equipment, Strollers | 2 Comments »In search of strollers: Peg-Perego Aria
Written by jlz on December 4, 2005 – 8:51 pm -We had another field trip to check out more strollers today. This time we went to Baby Super, a baby and kids superstore in San Jose. They have quite a selection of baby stuff, including a lot of strollers.
This time we checked out a Peg-Perego Aria stroller.
The one we saw had the same color as the picture shown above. It is the lightest of all the strollers we have seen. This one weighs in at 10lbs. The basket in the bottom is quite big and was very easy to reach from the back.
Beeber, my wife, liked the harness straps on the Aria better than the Mosaic LX as they are a bit wider and thicker. The straps are probably not as easy to twist.
We moved it around for a bit and it seems fairly easy to manuever. However, according to MANY of the Amazon reviews, this is is not true. Almost every single review mentions how difficult it is to move around.
The canopy is similar to the Mosaic LX that we looked at. It only comes out enough to cover the top and doesn’t offer much protection from the elements.
The opening and closing of the stroller was somewhat awkward I felt. It definitely required two hands to operate. I had a difficult time getting it open most of the time. The good thing about the collapsed position is that the handle bar can be pushed down. When pushed down, the stroller takes up less space in the trunk and it can also stand on its own. I can see the self-standing feature being quite useful when you are trying to juggle many things.
Also, the seat of the Aria is about 1-2 inches wider compared to the Mosaic LX as well. My mother-in-law thinks that will make the baby more comfortable.
The thing I really don’t like about this stroller is that it feels FLIMSY. As I was pushing it around, manuevering around corners, I can feel the stroller shaking. It just doesn’t feel really safe.
The other thing I don’t like about it is the padding on the seat. The padding is probably the thinest of all strollers I’ve seen and you can feel the plastic base.
The price for the Aria is ~$199. With a infant seat, it would run $350-$400.
Overall, we liked the lightweightness of the Aria. But with all the other shortcomings, this is probably not going to be our choice for now.
Posted in Equipment, Strollers | 3 Comments »In search of strollers: Graco Mosaic LX, Graco Quattro Deluxe, Peg-Perego Pliko P3
Written by jlz on December 3, 2005 – 4:27 pm -We went over to Babies R Us and checked out some strollers today. Spent most of the time checking out three of them:
There were several considerations we had in mind when looking at the strollers. First is weight. The stroller cannot be too heavy or beeber (my wife) or my mother-in-law would have a difficult time opening and closing it.
Second is safety. It must have enough padding and 5 point harness. The straps shouldn’t be easily twisted and should be fairly easy to put on.
Third is price. I don’t mind spending for the baby but if obviously price is always in everyone’s mind when buying all these baby equipment. If two strollers have similar features and are both safe, why not buy the cheaper one? (I am usually not one to spend $$ on just a brand.)
Graco Mosaic LX
The first one we checked out is the Mosaic LX that I saw earlier in the week. I really liked the looked of it so I figure I should spend a bit of time seeing how it works. The one we saw at Babies R Us is the lotus color like the following image.
The Mosaic weigh about 19lbs and it was very easy to maneuver. I was able to open it with one hand, but required two hands to close it. When it’s closed, it’s very compact and shouldn’t take up more than a 1/3 of my trunk space. The padding was fairly good, but not as good as the Peg-Perego Pliko P3 stroller that we saw. The Mosaic LX can handle the baby up to 40lbs.
The one thing we weren’t 100% happy with was the canopy. It only comes out enough to cover the top of the stroller.
We were hoping that it would come down some more to protect the baby from the wind blowing directly at the baby. This Amazon image seems to indicate that there might be accessories that you can get to cover the stroller. In this image it seems like some type of rain protection.
The seat back can be adjusted using a lever and strap system, which seems a bit cheap, but fairly easy to use nonetheless.
The Mosaic LX is also available in a Travel System format.
We aren’t sure whether we really need the infant seat or not yet since we plan to get a convertible (see my research on In search of car seats). But even with the combo, the cost is around $190. Without the infant seat, it’s about $130.
Peg-Perego Pliko P3
The second one we looked at is the Peg-Perego Pliko P3.
This one is even lighter than the Mosaic LX. It weighs about 15 lbs and can handle the baby up to 45lbs. The Pliko has the most padding and probably will be the most comfortable for the baby. The canopy also comes all the way down to cover the baby. The seat back can also be adjusted to three different positions using a lever. The handle bar can also be adjusted as well, even though that wasn’t really our main concern.
The Pliko P3 seems more difficult to open and close compare to the Mosaic LX. I have to use both hands (plus a foot sometimes) to open and close it. I also didn’t like the fact that when closed, the inside of the baby seat is outward facing. This means if there’s rain or something falling or spilling, it will get into the seat where the baby will be sitting/sleeping.
The one thing we didn’t like about the Pliko P3 is the basket. You cannot put things in it or pull stuff out from the back. There’s two aluminum bars blocking it from the back. You can only reach it from the front. And even then it’s still pretty difficult to use.
The other thing we didn’t like was the price. It will cost me $290!! If we were to get an infant seat that goes with the stroller, that will most likely cost me another $200. I guess that’s the cost of a brand name made in Italy.
Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe
The third one we looked at is the Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe.
This is a full-size stroller, compared to the lightweight stroller like the Mosaic LX. We probably spent the least amount of time exploring this one because of the weight. It weights much heavier (I didn’t even look at the weight number) than the other two. I had hard time opening and closing it. There’s just no way for Beeber and her mom to move that thing around.
We pretty much stopped looking at this after that.
Conclusion
So so far given the 3 criteria I have setup, the Graco Mosaic LX is definitely the winner.
We will have to probably do something about the canopy though. Probably will have to make or buy something that covers the stroller.
Still more strollers to see yet, so no decisions have been made.
Stay tuned…
Posted in Equipment, Strollers | 4 Comments »In search of strollers: Graco Mosaic LX
Written by jlz on December 1, 2005 – 3:40 pm -One of my task is to find a stroller for anZel. I haven’t done a whole lot of research but I have been hearing lots of good recommendation for Graco products. So I went to their website to check out their products. Found this really cool looking and compact product called Mosaic LX Stroller.
It seems to have all the right features plus it seems very easy to fold down and store. The cost is about $130.
Does anyone have experience with this product?
Posted in Equipment, Strollers | 1 Comment »