A Pretty Mean Machine (Graco Mirage)

Member Name: leopard79

Product:	Graco Mirage
Date:	22/12/02 (685 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compact to use and store, Easy to use, Comfortable

Disadvantages: Difficulty in Using Seatbelt, Awkward folding mechanism, Awkward storage clip

Like others, I bought this travel system in a sale and was impressed with the price of only £100 but it normally retails at around £119. The travel system consists of a car seat suitable from 0 to 9 months which clicks into the puchchair forming a very neat, compact pram. It is easy to control one handed and has a generously sized basket beneath for your light shopping.

The car seat is well padded, with an extra headrest for when baby's really small, and the safety has been proven in a recent fall when carrying the seat (it is sadly not weightless!). There have been a couple of occasions, however, when the car seat has tipped over when driving around a sharp corner which is concerning. This is largely due to the incredible awkwardness of fixing the seatbelt around the back of the car seat, the instructions aren't particularly clear on how to ensure that is sits properly.

Another problem that I've encountered occurs when putting the car seat into older cars, often the seatbelt can be too short to fix the seat in properly.

This factor is redeemed however by the fantastic ease of clipping the car seat in and out of the pushchair, no need to wake up a sleeping baby by taking them out of one to put in the other, and of course the car seat can be taken indoors and become a handy little rocking seat to ensure that visiting friends and family is slightly less stressful than necessary. There is also the added bonus of being able to be fastened onto special car seat trolleys at most supermarkets.

The current models now come with a car seat that is 0+ and for an extra £30 you can buy something called an Autobase which is a base that you keep in the car, locked in by the seatbelt allowing you to click the car seat in and out like you do when attaching it too the pram. It's really simple and means that you don't have to fiddle round with the seatbelt every time you put the car seat in the car. Sadly the older models come

with a 0 car seat, mine was made in 2000 which isn't compatible. If you have bought one recently look on the underside of the carseat, if you can use the Autobase there will be a sticker saying "Base Compatible".

Once your baby is too big for the car seat the main pushchair is also very comfortable. It has a five point harness, which is not as complicated as it sounded when first explained to me, and has two positions to allow your baby to either lie flat or sit up to watch the world go by. It also has the function of being able to lock the front wheels straight which seemed odd until I was up at 4:30 a.m. pushing the pram back and forward knowing it was the only way that my daughter would fall asleep!

The only disadvantages to this part of the travel system come when folding the pushchair away. You have to push a piece of plastic forward while pulling two handles up to actually accomplish this task and this takes a bit of mastering and can be irritating if you are alreasy a little stressed. The other issue is a small plastic clip which is supposed to hold the pushchair together. This clip is remarkably awkward and I have to confess I don't actually use it. The pram stays pretty compact without it though so it is not a major concern.

On the whole the few disadvantages are relatively minor and are substantially outweighed by the advantages. I would be happy to recommend it to potential parents and personally wouldn't consider buying an alternative.

Summary: