How’s that for a catchy title? Well, when you’ve walked a billion miles in circles in one day, creativity flies out the window. Many thanks to the faithful on the east side of the country who have stayed up to catch the latest news (or who have insomnia and just need something to read, lol).
I’ll start with the Evenflo Symphony. It’s a 3-in-1 seat, 5-100 lbs. But wait! That’s 5-35 lbs. rear-facing, 20-40 lbs. forward-facing with the harness. The booster can be used 30-100 lbs., but I see no reason to start using the booster at 30 lbs. unless you have an unusually tall-torsoed child who outgrows the harness by height. The harness is permanently attached, so it’s pretty much spot-clean only. The cover can be removed without having to unhook the harness–it unvelcroes from the front and peels off. Very nice! The harness is also the same infinite slide harness adjustment used on the Triumph Advance: it adjusts with the red tabs over the child’s shoulders so it’s always a perfect fit. The harness tightness adjuster is an a-lock adjuster with an adjuster strap between the child’s knees, like you’ll find on any front adjusting car seat. OK, that’s the standard stuff. What’s so special about the Symphony? Why it’s the LATCH system. Notice that I call it a system. “System” implies that it’s more, that it’s cool. And it is. When you attach the LATCH connectors to the vehicle LATCH anchors and press down on the car seat, it’s installed. Voilà, that’s it. The system is closest to the SafeGuard Child Seat in installation. It is currently in stores (Babies R Us was mentioned) and retails for $199.99.
Another Evenflo seat that looked pretty cool won’t be introduced until early next year. It’s called the Big Kid Amp. It’s essentially a backless Big Kid booster, but in 3 super bright, super shiny colors (magenta, red, and blue, if my memory serves me correctly), and will retail for $24.99. No pictures for this one since it’s not on the market yet. Inside narrowest dimensions are 11″w x 16.5″d.
We do have lots and lots and lots of pictures: Darren was whipping out his phone camera at every opportunity. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a technical difficulty this evening uploading them, so the Symphony pictures are all you get 🙁 . One funny is what happened when we immediately walked into the doors of the show. We were no more than 3′ inside when we got out our cameras to take a picture of the floor. On the lower level of the show, the doors are about 10 stair steps higher than the show floor, so it’s a nice vantage point to see the miles (literally) of booths. Darren is wearing a Media pass and I am wearing a Buyer pass. The only people allowed to take pictures are Media and this rule is strictly followed. I kid you not when I say I had no sooner taken out my camera when a show worker walked up and told me I couldn’t take a picture (Of all the booths! We weren’t even near any products!), but Darren could. So as she watched, I handed him my camera and he took the picture for me. LOL!
We did visit other booths, really we did. Like I said, we have lots of pictures. I’m trying to decide if I want to talk about what we saw without including the pictures. Hmmm. Let’s see. The Strada booster was at Chicco. They’re still working on tweaking it to Chicco’s high standards, so they’re looking at 2nd qtr. of 2009. We went by Mia Moda and talked with a rep who’s a tech, but we’ll go back tomorrow for a more in-depth discussion. We swung by Britax, of course. Some new covers there (One that I like in particular, lol. I’ll let you think on that one for a while.), and a new seat called the Advocate, but I’m sure you’ve heard of that by now ;). We also stopped by the CARES Harness booth. That’s the FAA-approved harness for use on planes. We talked to the owners of the company and the inventor. Oh, did I not mention the Clek oobr? Yep, lots of pictures of that great seat. Including some of the inside of the seat and of an actual kid in the seat. She was so cute 🙂 . They have a great fabric on the oobr called Crypton that is fantastic at repelling water. Just wait–you’ll have to see it to believe it. There’s also a cute story behind how Clek got its name.
But for now, I’m wiped and I’m sure you just want to see the pictures I do have to show you. Stay tuned for fun tomorrow :D.
We will have a full Evenflo Symphony review within a couple weeks!
I did ask if the Symphony LATCHes in booster mode and as of right now, it will *not*. They will continue testing but that was the one thing they had to put on the back burner to get the seat out to market.
Sorry! My dog tackled me as soon as I walked in the door and hasn’t let go of me–we have separation issues. Doggy behavior class starts Thursday!
We forgot to ask if the Symphony LATCHes in booster mode, but I am attending some kind of special Evenflo event tomorrow and I’ll ask then.
The harness on the Sym tucks underneath the cover when it’s in booster mode.
What about the new Radian?! We need to know about the new Radian!
Thanks for all your reportage! I’ve been to a convention there too, and can totally relate to the “walked a billion miles in circles” sentiment.
Man, if the Symphony harnessed to 65 lbs with 18-inch slots, that would be the greatest seat… I adore the SafeGuard’s “self-installation” LATCH.
Will the Symphony LATCH in booster mode? (Sorry if I missed it.)
And probably a dumb question, but if the harness is permanently attached, how do you remove it for booster use?
great report… I’m just really disappointed that Evenflo didn’t give it a 50lb limit for the harness… then it would be perfect.
I have to say – I’m impressed with evenflo. I know they will get flack for the 40lb harness weight… but it’s not that horrible since it has 17″ top slots… or higher… most kids will be right around 40lbs when they outgrow the top slots, so for the average user, this is a nice choice. I’m just excited to see a manufacturer, who I think might not have put as much thought into their products a few years ago, really try to break the grounds on new items.
We had a lot more good stuff today! Heather now has all the photos and notes from yesterday and today (Thank you Heather for taking notes, not sure how I made it through college with my note taking ability). Hopefully she will have time tonight or early tomorrow for an update! We’ll fill-in more details later this week.
I’m dying to see more pictures!
I’m surprised the woman didn’t try to tackle you when you brought out your camera. lol
So, uh, it’s like a whole day later, where’s the pics?
Or, it will be, at about 10:30…
Can’t wait to see those pics!!!
Has Evenflo not heard that anyone who is anyone doesn’t bother with new seats with a 40 pound harness limit? LOL The LATCH system sounds cool though. And the 35 pound rf limit is good. Can’t wait for more pics!
Can’t wait to see more pics!
Thanks for the report, Heather! The Symphony looks nice, especially all the EPS foam, and I like that it has an a-lock adjuster instead of the Triumph/Generations knob adjusters. However, it’s disappointing that it only harnesses to 40 pounds, and the top booster setting isn’t as high as it needs to be, either. The easy LATCH system sounds cool, though. It might be a good seat to recommend for grandparents who have trouble installing and/or using a seat properly.
So we possibly have to wait almost a year for the Strada? BIG thumbs down on that, especially since we’ve been hearing about it since Lifesavers 2007.
I can’t wait to hear more, and see more pics. Thanks again, for the great summary of Day 1!
Great report! Worst case, I dumped them all on a USB jump drive to give you tomorrow, Heather!