Replacement for my sons Balder F290 ??

[stagger321]

Lo there.

My sons Balder F290 Sit-to-stand chair will cellebrate it 5th Birthday next year.
Thus far, aside from the first couple of years warranty/service cover I have managed to keep it running OK with some support from my local Mobility service centre and help from this fantastic forum.
In fact you will see a couple of the threads on this forum I have had to replace the joystick and PM.
As my son uses the chair every hour he is not in bed it has obviously taken a pounding over the years, and its time to look for alternatives

We want to retain the sit-to-stand ability, so after having a quick look around we have 5 chairs on the list. Four of these I found and one listed from our Physio (the Levo)
From ETAC we have the new'ish E890, http://www.etac.com/en/etaccomuk/Start-Page/For-Adults/E890--E895/
A new version of the F290 http://www.etac.com/en/etaccomuk/Start-Page/For-Adults/Finesse-290/
(still badged as Balder after the ETAC takover of the company)
The Otto-Bock Xeno http://www.ottobock.com/cps/rde/xchg/ob_au_en/hs.xsl/24073.html
The Permobile C500 http://www.permobil.com/en-GB/English/C/Products/C500-VS--VS-Junior/
The Gerald Simonds Levo http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=62

We have just tested the E890 in our house - to see how it faired next to the current F290 we have - and the results were somewhat mixed. I can elaborate further if required, but suffice to say it breaking at the top of its height travel caused a bit of a red face for the sales guy, and meant he only just got it in his van to take it back.

Anyway - would like peoples thoughts, suggestions etc.

Cheers

Stagger

[ex-Gooserider]

You don't mention how big / old your son is - or if future growth is likely to be an issue - if it is, then having the ability to modify the chair to match may be a significant factor...

As another option that MIGHT be worth considering in the stander class is the Redman chair - it is a US product, but I know we have at least one other Redman owner on this forum in the UK...

The current Redmans are a 6-wheel design, which I don't care for, (I'm rebuilding an OLD RWD Redman model) and are seriously long, but the design is pretty nice, as they go from full recline to full stand, sit to stand, etc... I'd at least take a look at them if you haven't already done so....

ex-Gooserider

[stagger321]

Hi ex-G.
Yep, your right, I should have said, he is 17 now. Probably about 5ft 6" best guess, and of average build.
So in terms of growth I guess he has probably plateaued.

I will check out the Redman products. Thanks.

All the best for the new year.

Stagger

[ex-Gooserider]

I'd agree, if your son does grow, it probably won't be very much... At least that size should be pretty easy to get stuff to fit as he'd be well within the size range for any small to normal adult size chair...

Good luck in getting him a replacement.

ex-Gooserider