Help me to choose a w/chair

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Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby Tuchy » 24 Feb 2014, 21:02

Hi,
Let me describe myself a little: I am 33 years old female, 85lbs , with muscular dystrophy, I am using right now a power wheelchair and I want to buy a better model. Right now I have Invacare M51 -mid wheel, which is not bad, but is pretty slow outside (4mph, I barely cross the street). I am looking for a compact but strong wheelchair, that is not going to break easy, outdoor/indoor for street but also for mall.
My choices are:
*Permobil M300 - the dealer told me about it, they said is perfect for me.
*Permobil C350 - I like this model because or rear wheel feature, but what I really hate at Permobil is that they offer just 1 year of warranty.
* Bounder Narrow - seems very well build and good warranty, but old fashion look and dealer said is hard with the service.
* OttoBock B 600 - is looking so perfect but is german and hard to find reviews about it, the dealer didn't even hear about it. I really like the style of it with lights and easy access at battery, speed, good warranty!

Which one do you think is the best?
Thanks
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby alan1961 » 24 Feb 2014, 22:10

Hi have a look at my recent post I am waiting for some reply's on these chairs.
It looks quite sturdy and got a speed of 7mph. Check the link for details.
I have a invacare tdx which keeps getting grounded and stuck over uneven or soft terrain.
Cheers Alan.
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby ex-Gooserider » 01 Mar 2014, 12:09

No experience w/ any of these, but for the most part chairs are like most other electrical / electronic devices - you get some "infant mortality" failures, but if it lasts past the first month, it will probably last a long time... I haven't heard much about any brand of chair being outstandingly worse than others for overall reliability...

That said, Permobil does have a reputation of being harder to service because they hide the guts under lots of fancy but time consuming to remove covers. Permobil also seems to do more tricky stuff with position sensors that are harder to fix if they go wrong, or keep you from doing what you want with the chair...

Bounders are reputedly built like tanks, but tend to be bigger than most and some have odd-ball controllers.

Pride products are best avoided for reasons that are discussed here ad nauseum...

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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby davidpaul » 04 Mar 2014, 20:45

I would steer clear of any Permobil product, my son had one which they couldn't fix, then they accused my 10 year old son of abusing the chair and cancelled the warranty, over priced over complicated and very poor after sale's service.

We have 3 pride quantum 600's one is used for school and one is used for down the woods or were ever and the 3rd one is for parts, I can't understand why people say they are not any good my son loves his and it the best chair we have had, simple to maintain lot's of used one's on ebay for parts, the p@g controller can be serviced in this country for a fraction of the new cost.


In my opinion the "technicians" that fix them have more to do with creating problems than the chair.
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby LROBBINS » 04 Mar 2014, 22:43

Ah, now I see why you can re-program your son's chair -- you have the P&G controller not the newer Curtiss. CIao, Lenny
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby Dblshotz » 21 May 2014, 10:47

davidpaul wrote:I would steer clear of any Permobil product, my son had one which they couldn't fix, then they accused my 10 year old son of abusing the chair and cancelled the warranty, over priced over complicated and very poor after sale's service.

We have 3 pride quantum 600's one is used for school and one is used for down the woods or were ever and the 3rd one is for parts, I can't understand why people say they are not any good my son loves his and it the best chair we have had, simple to maintain lot's of used one's on ebay for parts, the p@g controller can be serviced in this country for a fraction of the new cost.


In my opinion the "technicians" that fix them have more to do with creating problems than the chair.


Your son is very lucky and the exception. Pride procucts are garbage and the q600 which i have personal experience with is absolute trash. the fact you have 3 attests to this. if it was any good youd only need one.
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby Burgerman » 21 May 2014, 10:56

I think all CHAIRS are much the same, built from parts like controllers, motors, batteries, wheels and tyres, chargers etc all just bought in from a group of standard industry suppliers. They, pride etc, basically make a frame...

Prides stuff isn't built better or worse, but they are big on hype, marketing and have about 4 chairs for every niche to take best advantage of any rules regarding payment, And very closed shop on things like programming etc. You cannot get hold of an essential OEM programmer for any modern high end pride chair. Its all under lock and key. And that alone makes it a waste of time to me.
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby falco peregrinus » 21 May 2014, 14:57

In my opinion, the ability to reprogram the chair EXACTLY how you want it, YOURSELF, is mandatory in considering purchase of ANY chair - because very few dealers/ techs/ manufacturers seem to be capable of programming/ producing a chair that is adequately responsive to joystick commands.
Secondmost important consideration is availability of parts and expertise to fix problems. That's the real stumbling block in getting a chair, because most wheelchair techs are totally out of their depth if your problems are any more serious than a flat battery or bald tyres. And very few of them have adequate programming tools either, let alone training to use them correctly.
As a general rule of thumb, the heavier the chair, the more punishment it can take without failures and the better it will handle conditions between home and the shop, rather than only being usable at home and at shop.
Make sure the chair you get can take decent-size batteries, so you can be guaranteed of decent range. There are a LOT of chairs around now that can only take small or medium size batteries, and you can't physically fit in a decent capacity battery. The bigger the better, because capacity correlates with range.
I've never had anything to do with Otto Bock chairs, but the fact that they are German built appeals to me, because of the reputation of German engineering.
You're used to mid-wheel. Rear-wheel handles VERY differently from midwheel. Not all wheelies can adapt from one to the other. I was a dedicated rear-wheel user until circumstances forced a mid-wheel on me. I managed to adapt, and now I would never go back to a rear-wheel chair - BUT THAT SAID, I don't know of a decent mid-wheel chair in current production that I would consider worth getting at any price. I would like a spare midwheel chair to replace my current spare chair (which is a rear-wheel that has had it's day), but my choice for replacement is one identical to my primary chair if I can find one second-hand one in really good condition. (And they do come up on eBay, and often at a really good price, but so far they've all been interstate, and freight is a killer, so I still haven't bought one.)
Is your present midwheel 6 wheels on the ground, or 4 on the ground and two in the air? Because a lot of the 6 on the ground midwheels drive their owners bananas because they keep getting hung up all the time, with the drive wheel losing traction. To some extent that's a matter of adjustment of tension in the wheel setup, but there are limits. Limits which are less in a 4 wheels on the ground midwheel, and absent altogether in a rear wheel drive chair.
The choice of chair is more important than the dealer you get it from, because dealers shut up shop and their tech staff leave and get themselves a better job somewhere else. Meanwhile, you're stuck with the chair. Providing parts are readily available for it, you can probably get the mechanic at the local garage to do at least as good a job as the average wheelchair tech, providing you can convince him that there's nothing in the chair alien to his experience apart from the programming of the controller. And like I said at the beginning, to my mind the ability to reprogram the chair YOURSELF is mandatory, so the mechanic's lack of experience in wheelchair programming shouldn't matter a damn. And anyway, there's heaps of expert advice on this forum to help you if you do have troubles.
Personally, I've got a Pride. The engineering design of it leaves a lot to be desired, and Pride themselves leave a lot to be desired as well. They remind me a lot of IBM and HP in their arrogance. I like my Pride (it's something like 8 years old now), but I don't love it. Like I said, mechanically it leaves a lot to be desired - but it's simple to program, simple to repair, and parts are easy to get. So I can maintain it myself, and that keeps me independent of all those incompetent wheelchair techs that don't know dick about what they're doing.
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby Capeling » 25 May 2014, 16:20

Hi I am in the same position as you- WHICH chair. Does anyone have any experience of Trekinetic chairs? I love the look of the GTE but it would break the bank, but worth it if it enhances my poor existence. Any views I would be most grateful.
Thanks Gill
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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby falco peregrinus » 25 May 2014, 16:50

If cost is more important to you than getting the perfect chair for your needs, then see my post about eBay chairs at viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3998

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Re: Help me to choose a w/chair

Postby Jamest » 04 Jul 2014, 10:51

I think the trekinetic, storm 4 invacare or Dassie 200 a4wproducts
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