Combi Zeus opinions?

fyrfightermomma · Aug 28, 2009

An old friend from high school just contacted me on FB. She said she knew I knew alot about seats and wanted my opinion. They had a Combi infant seat and wanted to get a Zeus for their yet to be born baby (older 2 year old is in a RFing MA). SHe is very pro RFing but I don't know for how long. I think probably 2 or 3. She said she knew it RF'd 33 lbs so I think shes fine with that.

She wanted my opinion on the seat but I know zero about it.

So tell me what i Need to know and the good/bad/ugly.

Thanks!

NannyMom · Aug 28, 2009

All I know is it looks alot like a CCO. Sorry

But I was thinking about this seat today. Wishing I had that or the Orbit (does the toddler seat RF?) for BabyS. It's a pain buckling her when the SS1 is already in the car.... but she's so heavy to carry in the SS1. I'd love to be able to turn her towards me to put her in.

fyrfightermomma · Aug 28, 2009

So whats the difference between the Zeus and the Orbit? They both turn?

LISmama810 · Aug 28, 2009

Since she's talking about a 33-lb RF limit, I'm assuming she means the new Zeus 360, not the older Zeus Turn. (Or whatever they're called.)

The previous Zeus is easily one of my least favorite seats of all time. The manual was confused about whether it had a 20 or 22-lb RF limit. In any case, the seat was so small that kids would likely outgrow it before 20 lbs or before a year, so then parents would have to either buy a new seat or FF before they should. (The seat did have a 20-lb minimum to FF, but the RF limits were a real catch-22.)

Someone (Kecia? Murphdog?) is working on a review of the new one, but until then, there's not a lot that we know for sure.

I haven't seen the new seat in person--just a few photos, so I don't know how substantial the changes are. The seat does look a lot like the Coccoro, so although kids will likely make it well past 20 lbs, they probably won't make it to 33. I can't say for sure, though.

The turning feature is neat, but barring a 2-door car or a caregiver with a disability that makes loading kids difficult, I don't really see the point, especially given how much it costs.

LISmama810 · Aug 28, 2009

The Orbit is actually an infant seat, meaning the bucket comes out of the base. There's a separate toddler seat option.

The Zeus is a convertible--the seat is not removable from the base.

(Read about the recent controversy with the Orbit.)

The Orbit is a breeze to install. The older Zeus was a nightmare. Not sure about the new one.

The Zeus is also not FAA approved.

safeinthecar · Aug 29, 2009

NannyMom said:
Orbit (does the toddler seat RF?)

Yes it does. AAMOF, if you go to the Orbit web site and watch the video about the Consumer Reports fiasco, you can see the dude's (engineer? CEO? someone high-up anyway)kids in the rfing toddler seat. The oldest kid looks to be about 3ish.

Unregistered1 · Aug 29, 2009

I saw the new one at a conference last month. My impression was... okay, it's an interesting concept... but it's not something I would pay the arm and leg that it costs for, unless there was some specific reason we needed the turn feature... and even then I think I liked the orbit better. It's quirky, the turn feature gives it some installation quirks that you might not figure out without reading the manual. I really think in most cases it's just a lot of bells and whistles that cost extra money and take extra time to figure out... most people would be better off with a plain old traditional convertible seat.

joolsplus3 · Aug 29, 2009

www.carsesatblog.com has a Zeus they've reviewed briefly (I don't have time to find the page it's on, but it's easy to search).

In a word....? Bulky.

Combi Zeus opinions?

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