| Dale,
I like the stroller a lot - it looks pretty good, actually. I went online and read a few reviews on amazon.com; its highly rated too, although there seem to be two consistent drawbacks (if you read the lower rated reviews) - particularly the weight and the fact that people dont think they can get use out of it beyond 1.5 - 2 years. If you dont mind those (Im also only going to get 1.5 - 2ys out of my configuration) - the price is great, to be honest. Do you have anyone in the US who could go and check it out at a store for you, or have you seen it here in HK?
In terms of cheaper single prams, there are pretty affordable ones (standard umbrella style) at Mothercare or B2B, but they are not recommended for kids under 6 - 9 months, since they dont offer much of a recline position. If you want a single stoller that works for an infant, you are probably looking for something second hand (I would peruse asiaexpat & geoexpat), because the new ones are pricey - as they come with the infant carrier option or bassinet. For this, you might just want one of those single frames which allows for an infant carrier.
All in all, I made a few changes to my own stroller/car seat situation, for a few reasons:
1. I didnt feel comfortable buying a stroller without first test driving it.
2. I realised that I could never really carry around two infant seats at once - and since the P&T only accomodates one, there was little reason for purchasing two.
3. The infant seats without the base are a bit more work to get in and out of the car, which sort of defeats the purpose of a click in, click out solution.
4. I found something called a 'convertible' car seat which can accomodate an infant from birth to about four years old, as they are both rear & forward facing.
Anyhow, I decided to go with the P&T Sport, which is available in HK. The vibe looked awesome, but I couldnt properly weigh the cons that I read about online, and the few stores I called in the US seemed to just want to sell the stroller to me, instead of giving an honest opinion - aghrrr. Since it only accomodates one infant carrier, I purchased one Maxi Cosi plus its click in base for the car at B2B, which maximises the usefulness of the infant carrier. Then I purchased a convertible car seat (Maxi Cosi Priori - only available in the US), which I can use for the second infant, since I have to transfer that child to the flat bed in the P&T anyway; it was US$200, but since its good for several years, its a much better buy than the infant carriers. I found a great tote (lillebaby) which is the only carrier that I found where the infant can remain in the carrier, and the car seat buckles over the carrier, which means I can buckle out of the car seat and move directly into the flat bed of the stroller. In any case, I put it all together last night and Im pretty happy - not just that it all seems to work, but that Im not constantly obsessed with strollers & car seats! But still happy to bounce ideas off with you - since I think you're still in the weighting stage...
Anyhow, Ive gotten a lot bigger in the past 4 - 6 weeks, so if you think you're big now, just wait. I went to the Dr yesterday, who was happy to tell me I had gained 7 pounds since my last visit 4 weeks ago. The way I look at it, its for a good cause, so I cant much complain.
I did see the pics...babycenter is a great resource; my sister in law recommended it to me a few months ago. I think Im familiar with almost everything on that website!
I met up with a few impending mothers in the June - Sept due date group. If you have time, you should come along to the next get together.
Sarah  |