time for a new chair

[fxa]

hi.
i've had a quickie p200 for well over a decade and it's served me well. given that quickie no longer makes the p200 - god only knows why - i'm looking at the quickie p222 SE or a permobil. i like the rear wheel drive which permobil doesn't offer but i've read reviews on the p222 that range from 'outstanding chair' to 'don't even think about it'. very obviously an important decision so any input would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

[Swan T.W.]

Permobil does make a rear wheel drive. It's the 350 model.

[fxa]

thanks.

any thoughts on the quickie vs. the permobil?

[Swan T.W.]

Never tried a Quickie. Had the Permobil 350 [36"] for three months. It was just to long a wheelbase for my usage. The chairs fit and finish was better then both my Storm [31"] and Quantum [33"] chairs.

[fxa]

Never tried a Quickie. Had the Permobil 350 [36"] for three months. It was just to long a wheelbase for my usage. The chairs fit and finish was better then both my Storm [31"] and Quantum [33"] chairs.

good to know, thanks.

the quickie p200 is very compact and i guess from what i'm reading the closest thing to it appears to be the quickie p222. well, as i've read on here, there's no perfect chair unless you build, or greatly modify an existing one, yourself.

[ex-Gooserider]

It would help if you could go to the User Control Panel (near the top of every forum page) and put in your location - but if you are in the US, you might also look at the Quickie 636, which is the rough equivalent to the UK F-55... Also the Handicare Alex, which some members have said good things about.

In terms of Permobile vs. others, Permobile tries to present itself as the "Cadillac" of chairs. I haven't tried one, but from all that I've seen they tend to do a lot more plastic covers and such to look good (at least on the outside) but this tends to make them harder to work on as you have to get past all the cosmetic stuff... They also like higher tech electronics, which are great when working, but harder to fix when they break.

ex-Gooserider

[fxa]

added location, thanks

what i really want is this one....a woman can dream can't she?
http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/ultimat ... rchair.htm

i'm starting to wonder if i should stick with my p200 but my only worry is availability of parts (not tires, arm rests, etc but motors, joystick/electronics) since it's been discontinued for awhile. any thoughts on if this might be a problem?

decisions, decisions - and this is one of the most important ones since the wrong choice can spell disaster

[Burgerman]

Motors can be swapped for ones that are available but that may need minor surgery on the chair, and electronics are easy but expensive to swap for new modern stuff. The real question is can you or a friend do this stuff?

[Step]

I know a few Permobil users, both FWD and RWD and they're quite happy with them.
It is the recommended chair by providers as well. (now being overtaken by the Quickie Jive, MWD, even if there's a RWD)
None of these users have done any 'tweaking' though.
Permobil sets up the chair to what they say is best for you after taking a lot more measurements then the usual height, width, leg length.
If it works well for you, it's great.
If you want to play with C of G etc, it's a pain.
That's why I chose the handicare Alex in stead of the Permobil c350.

[Step]

http://www.sunrisemedical.co.uk/Products/Quickie/Power-Wheelchairs/Jive-R.aspx?tab=Media
From the looks of it, the Quickie Jive RWD looks like the natural descendant of the P220...
It has a tubular design underneath the plastic that refers a bit to the f55 as well (pic below).

It's available with a central footrest (option) and the R-net 120A controller.
front wheel size is good enough for outdoor use...
It looks like it's fairly easy to move the c of g rearwards and can come with light seating in stead of bulky rehab seating...
swapping to black narrow tubeless tires (3,5") should be easy... BM style turf tires would require major surgery to the rear swingarm setup.
They have optional 13km/h (8.5mph?) motors which could be usefull if you live in a flat area and/or are lightweight.

I'd add it to my shortlist if I was buying new now because it has everything the c350 and alex or Puma40 have and adjustability.
Just not an easy option to (easily) switch to wide tires.

Too bad it's ugly.
I'd powdercoat the frame and ditch the plastic shroud.

[Burgerman]

From the looks of it, the Quickie Jive RWD looks like the natural descendant of the P220...

Its a groove inc motor options by another name.

[motoman]

I just got a Permobil M300 about 4 months ago and the only plastic stuff is the shroud cover on the base. There is not much plastic on the 3g seating system. So far its been a pretty good chair AND you can program it much better than my old Quantum. The fit and finish is quite good also but we'll see how its holding up in 3 or 4 years from now.

[fxa]

Motors can be swapped for ones that are available but that may need minor surgery on the chair, and electronics are easy but expensive to swap for new modern stuff. The real question is can you or a friend do this stuff?

i can't (this girl is 'mechanically challenged') and don't personally know anyone who can. but, i have a friend who knows some good auto mechanics but i have no idea if being good with cars translates to being able to work on chairs.

when you say minor surgery, what does that mean?

thanks

[ex-Gooserider]

The chair makers / dealers try to make a big mystery out of it, but chairs are really pretty simple - a decent auto mechanic would have no trouble wrenching on one.

Swapping motors can be done so as not to be a huge problem - while there are a lot of different choices, there are really only a few commonly used mounting configurations, and if you get the same bolt pattern the motor will fit in pretty easily - though you need to watch out that it will fit in the other directions (usually not a problem) like length and diameter of the motor can.

The two challenges on a motor swap are that the connector plugs may be different and need to be modified (pretty easy, just cut and splice the connectors from the old motors onto the new ones...) and you MAY need to get into the programming of the controller to update some of the functions like motor compensation. This is probably the trickiest part since the manufacturers don't like us doing that, and make it hard to get to the tools needed - however a Quickie probably will be using P&G controllers, and there are known ways of getting both the software and cable needed for those.

In addition, I'd expect that used P200 chairs and parts for them will be available via e-bay for years to come, so you might be able to reliably get parts that way for a long time. I'm also not sure just when Quickie dropped the P200, but they are required to keep parts available for quite a while after discontinuing a model.

ex-Gooserider

[fxa]

The chair makers / dealers try to make a big mystery out of it, but chairs are really pretty simple - a decent auto mechanic would have no trouble wrenching on one.

Swapping motors can be done so as not to be a huge problem - while there are a lot of different choices, there are really only a few commonly used mounting configurations, and if you get the same bolt pattern the motor will fit in pretty easily - though you need to watch out that it will fit in the other directions (usually not a problem) like length and diameter of the motor can.

The two challenges on a motor swap are that the connector plugs may be different and need to be modified (pretty easy, just cut and splice the connectors from the old motors onto the new ones...) and you MAY need to get into the programming of the controller to update some of the functions like motor compensation. This is probably the trickiest part since the manufacturers don't like us doing that, and make it hard to get to the tools needed - however a Quickie probably will be using P&G controllers, and there are known ways of getting both the software and cable needed for those.

In addition, I'd expect that used P200 chairs and parts for them will be available via e-bay for years to come, so you might be able to reliably get parts that way for a long time. I'm also not sure just when Quickie dropped the P200, but they are required to keep parts available for quite a while after discontinuing a model.

ex-Gooserider

great info ex-g, thanks! the dealers do try to make it a big mystery and the wheelchair techs aren't as capable as you think they'd be.

after reading through tons of info here, i'm now strongly inclined to stick with what i have and get a good mechanic.
the abilities expo is coming here in late june so it's a good place to get a good look at lots of chairs up close and personal. i'll do that even if it's for the purpose of just giving these dealers grief.

thanks all!

[Jamest]

Hi , I am also looking for a new chair, has anyone tried this one? viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3161