Peg Perego Prima Viaggio - maybe I can save you a few $
Written: Oct 27 '04 (Updated Jan 09 '08)
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Pros: High quality. Good ratings.
Cons: Bad handle. Lame canopy. Price.
The Bottom Line: Get this if it is part of your travel system, otherwise you can get more for less.
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| some_guy5's Full Review: Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seat - Metropo... |
The Peg Perego Prima Viaggio is a rear facing, detachable base infant car seat that also combines with many Peg Perego strollers to form a travel system. This product is high quality and gets good safety ratings. I bought it as the other half of the travel system to my Peg Perego Pliko P3 Classico. The car seat snaps right in and out of the base or the stroller with little effort.
As far as features...
The Prima Viaggio has the adjustable base to make it more likely to fit in your car and a level indicator to help you make sure it is installed properly. Models 2003 and later come equipped with the LATCH system for error free , easier installation. You can also buy extra bases so that you can easily pop the infant seat into multiple cars with no trouble. The adjustable base works with the level indicator. Look at the level indicator on the side, if the little ball is in the green zone, then the seat is sitting properly. If not, you can use the adjustable leveler to try to get it equalized. If it doesn't adjust enough (every car is different) you can roll up a towel and stuff it under the base to augment the leveler.
The Prima Viaggio has a serious 5-point safety harness. This one can get a bit confusing, like pretty much every 5-point harness I have ever seen. With practice it gets easier and now I don't consider it much of a hassle. The harness is padded on the shoulder straps and the strap that comes up through the legs. This makes it more comfortable, but I suspect it also contributes to making the baby hot, which I discuss elsewhere in this review. I think the harness is secure and I feel good about how safe it is.
The fabric is soft and washable and appears to be of very high quality. I like the looks. The seat also features a removable padded hood that helps stabilize a newborn's head until the neck strengthens. My baby always seemed to get hot in the car seat until she was old enough for us to remove the hood. That solved the problem of her overheating.
The adjustable canopy is one feature I feel is a negative. It is very limited as far as how much of the seat it will cover and from what I can tell only blocks the sun 15 or 20% of the time even when it is fully extended. Don't expect it to do much for you. Just make sure you always drive in the one direction that it actually blocks the sun from. When used as a travel system this canopy will cover the portion of the baby not covered by the canopy of our Pliko P3. That is really the only positive thing I can say about it.
The handle is the basic one found on most infant seats. It is just a solid hard plastic U-shaped bar. The handle has three adjustable positions. One to carry the seat, one to fold out of your way, and an additional position that folds down even with the base. This gives the seat extra stability if you want to set it on a table or something. I really prefer the idea of the strap you can sling over your shoulder or the handle that is rotated 90 degrees so you can actually carry the seat without twisting your wrist uncomfortably.
The maximum size and weight are pretty low. They max out at 26 inches or 20 lbs. Babies are going to grow out of this more quickly than a lot of infant seats. Take note of this before you cough up the big bucks for it.
If it wasn't for the fact that this was the complimentary travel system piece to our stroller I wouldn't have bought it. Overall I am happy with it, but I think you can get more bang for your buck.
Please also see my review on the Peg Perego Pliko Classico travel system compatible strollers at
http://www.epinions.com/content_159690886788
or my other car seat the Britax Roundabout at
http://www.epinions.com/content_172947705476
or my third (and hopefully final) car seat the Britax Marathon at
http://www.epinions.com/content_178835197572
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 140
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
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some_guy5
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