I am so far out before I need to worry about this, but I guess it is never too soon to begin my research. A lot of my friends have Bugaboo's but live in center city or NYC. I am thinking a Bugaboo is impractical for the 'burbs. I like the idea of something you can snap a car seat into. Something good for long walks on the pavement in the city and burbs, good for shopping indoors, and definitely easy to get in and out of car, closing up etc... What kinds should I start researching?
I also like how the Bugaboo has the basinet for walks in the neighborhood- do others come with basinets too?
Re: What kind of stroller systems are the best?
I have the bugaboo chameleon. love it. this is my third child and we have previously had the gracco, maclaren double, peg perego, and an umbrella stroller.
Wish we had the bug from the beginning. True, it is a Pain getting into and out of the car, but so was the gracco. They all take up a good deal of space, but we now have a honda van, so not a big deal for us. With a regular car, not sure how the bug would fit.
Bassinet was a nice feature and we used for about 3-4 months. I would also consider the UPPA baby. The newer model has a bassinet and it can be used as either the bassinet or seat without swapping the fabrics (so can use the bassinet in the house but have the seat on the stroller). I didn't get the UPPA because the organic cottom fabric lining on the bassinet looked like it wouldn't hold up to lots of use - as the display in the store looked, well, yuck.
As for the bug, we actually got a great deal from here because we choose a retired color.
https://store.pacifieronline.com/
good luck!
We have something similar to this but in green
https://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=chicco&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2274244758627683685&ei=_asCS8XKFsimnQf6zoxr&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=image&resnum=7&ved=0CDAQ8gIwBg#
We went to BRU and tried all different strollers out... then I went home and researched them. I picked the Chicco w/ the car seat that snaps in the base (car) and the stroller
I love it.
I loved my Maxi Cosi Foray stroller and Mico car seat. I used it for everything - walking around town, mall trips, working out etc. It was awesome
However had we known we would have two so close together from the beginning, we would have gotten our Phil and Ted's sport and bought the doubles attachment when we had DD. You can buy an attachment that makes it compatible with carseats
DS 3.12.08
DD 7.11.09
DD 8.01.13
We got an Inglesina Zippy. It's compatible with infant seats so you can use it as a travel system in the beginning. It has an endless amount of features that most strollers charge extra for (boot for winter, rain cover, adjustable cupholder, infant seat adapter, snack tray, etc) and can easily be adjusted a bunch of different ways (taller, shorter, 4 position seat recline, removable canopy, etc). It's totally solid and rides really well.
The best thing about the Zippy is how easy it is - you push a button with one finger and the whole thing collapses and folds up in one motion. It has a very tight fold so it doesn't take up much room and has a handle on the side to carry it.
It gets Baby Bargains best reviews. I absolutely love it. There's a video review of it on youtube if you look up Inglesina Zippy 2009.