Britax Decathlon Car Seat - Cappuccino

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Average Customer Rating:	4.0
Release Date:	2008-08-11
Brand:	Britax USA
Model:	E9W47D4
Color:	Cappuccino
Weight:	15.5 pounds
Dimensions:	19.5 inches x 25.5 inches x 27.5 inches [Width x Length x Height]

Product Categories

Toddler; Boys; Girls; Unisex; Transportation; Britax

Product description

Britax Decathlon Convertible Car Seat Like its predecessor, the Britax Boulevard, the Decathlon is built around safety and comfort. It features the LATCH system placing this Britax car seat at the forefront of car seat technology. The LATCH system makes installing the car seat easy and efficient. LATCH stands for lower anchors and tethers for children. To install this convertible car seat simple attach the installation connectors to the LATCH anchor points stored near the seat belt. The Britax Decathlon convertible car seat also features built in lock-offs to make using the lap belt for installation safe and secure. But what is it that separates the Decathlon from other versions of car seat? For starters this baby car seat features a 3-position adjustable crotch strap which is not found on other Britax car seats. The convertible car seat features an infant positioning system for newborn babies which help them get acclimated to the Britax Convertible car seat. It also features a design which helps ensure the head and neck area stay safe. The Britax Decathlon Convertible car Seat is one of a kind with features not seen on other makes or model of baby car seat.

Features

Convertible, rear facing five to 33 pounds and forward facing from at least one year old and 20 pounds, up to 65 pounds

Side Impact Protection distributes crash forces, shields from vehicle intrusion, and contains the head and body

Removable head and body pillows adjust for a custom fit as child grows

Higher forward facing seat capacity allows children to remain harnessed up to 65 pounds

Tangle-free, five-point harness with four harness heights and three buckle positions for a snug and secure fit

Customer reviews

« Great carseat from Britax! »

We bought this car seat and love it. The extra padding and the push button release are so worth it above the Marathon. We didn't purchase it from Amazon, as some of the reviews raised concerns for me. We bought it on ebay from an authorized Britax dealer, registered and all. Overall, any Britax would have been a good purchase!

Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2009-01-05

« LazyBoy carseat, but straps twist badly »

I bought one to use as rear facing for my 6 mo old & was so impressed with how easy it is to install, I bought another for my 2 year old. The straps do twist badly & the seat is so soft that it is bulky- making it harder to find every twist in the strap. Also, these seats are HUGE. I drive a Crown Victoria & there is no room for a middle passenger in the backseat. I often bump the kids' head when getting them out of the carseat. That being said, my 2 year old LOVES being able to see out her window. She is 25lbs & very short, but could easily enjoy Christmas lights this year! All in all it's a super comfy seat & they no longer fuss like they did with the Cosco. However, it is very annoying that the straps twist so badly.

Rating: (3 out of 5) @ 2008-12-21

« Excellent Car Seat »

I loved this car seat so much that we bought the exact same one for our second child. It was easy to put in, the straps do not get tangled, it is easy to clean, it is durable, and seems to be comfortable for the kids. Most of all I feel it is a very safe car seat. I would strongly recommend it.

Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2008-12-16

« Good seat, but order elsewhere. »

First off, I used to hate it when people rated Amazon on a product page, but please be careful when ordering this particular product. I ordered the seat on November 4th, it never shipped, and I eventually had to cancel when my son grew too big for his infant seat and needed a convertable seat NOW! That was today, December 16th. I've looked at this seat before, and it is comparable to my daughter's marathon, but don't buy it here. I was given four new shipping dates, and my order went immediately into the "shipping soon, can not cancel" status, yet it never shipped. All of this while it never entered a "backordered status" on the product page. And what could customer service do? Nothing! I understand if the product is on the dock, going onto the truck within hours, but they should be able to cancel an order if it isn't shipping that day (or that week).

I've been a shopper with Amazon for a while, purchasing a stroller, movies, books, camping supplies, and other stuff. But, due to their customer service's inability to provide any service what so ever, they've lost me. Amazon, if you've gotten too big for your customer service folks to be able to service customers, maybe you should focus some capital on improving you company's internal networking before you focus on further growth at the expense of service. You haven't just lost me, you've lost everyone I talk to about this!

Rating: (1 out of 5) @ 2008-12-16

« Not so easy to install, but top notch quality! »

I purchased this car seat as my son approached 12 months of age and installed it rear facing.

First, in regards to quality, there's no doubt that Britax makes the best and safest seats out there. The material is soft and there are some nice features that make this a more comfortable seat. First, anywhere the strap can come in contact with bare skin (neck, crotch), there is padding to go between the baby and the straps. This is especially nice for the crotch, as many car seats dig into the child's legs. I've seen complaints about the buckle digging into the kid's legs even on this model, but if you are using the seat properly this would not happen.

Another neat feature that is unique to this model is an adjustable crotch strap. Much like the shoulder straps need to be adjusted as your child grows, this seat allows the crotch buckle to be moved out as your child grows.

I should mention I would not put a newborn infant into this seat. Not because it won't work, just because I love the carseats that are removable so you don't have to wake the baby if he's sleeping. I really can't imagine not having this feature in a newborn carseat.

I should also mention that I was not in the market for a Britax, they were out of my price range. I was planning on buying the Evenflo Triumph. However, I was able to get this seat at $100 off plus free shipping here on Amazon, which would be about $50 more than the other seat. At only $50 more, it was worth it to get the added safety and comfort features of Britax.

In terms of features, this model does not have some things common to other seats such as cup holders. But, one cool thing is that pretty much everything is removable and washable, unlike the Triumph where the straps cannot be removed and cleaned.

Now, onto installation....I read over and over again how easy this seat was to install. I am fairly capable when it comes to these types of things, but I must admit I had a very difficult time figuring this seat out.

One highly annoying thing is that the instruction manual is small and permanently attached to the carseat. The reasoning is that the company wants the manual to always remain with the seat. However, this made referencing it very hard! Because it is a small book, every time I put it down (it hangs on an elastic string from the front of the seat, but not far enough to set it down on the floor) to look at something on the carseat, I lost my page. So, I was constantly trying to re-find my page. So, my first advice is to visit the Britax website, where they have video demonstrations. I did not find these until well into my installation process when someone told me they existed. Things would have been 100% easier if I had known about these in advance.

Back to the installation...Up until this point, I had only installed an infant seat, which was relatively easy. I expected the same of this seat given the reviews I'd read. But, I would say this installation took me 2 hours to get it right. I can't list all the challenges here, but I first had it in my living room and put my kid in it to get the strap length approximately right. This involved re-threading the shoulder straps and moving the crotch strap. This took a while to figure out how to do each part.

Then I moved out to the garage (I have a Dodge Grand Caravan, I installed the seat in the 2nd row passenger side. The front passenger side seat was able to be moved all the way back and inclined comfortably, which is nice. This wasn't possible with my previous infant seat). My first challenge came in finding the latch connectors. The seat is not shipped ready for rear-facing latch. I probably searched this seat for 15 minutes, turning it upside down and all around. Then I wondered if maybe my model didn't have LATCH. Then looked at the box and it said it did. Anyhow, finally, I discovered I had to take the cover off...they were hidden behind the cover, near the back of the seat totally out of view! One other thing is that they had to be rethreaded to ensure the LATCH strap went in front of the crotch buckle under the cover (this probably doesn't make sense until you see it, but wasn't very clear in the directions and I would guess that many people miss this step because unless you read the instructions closely you won't realize it is installed incorrectly). Once I had this figured out, the LATCH connectors are easy and the front tether is fairly easy as well. The last steps were a piece of cake, but getting there was the challenge.

So, this product gets a definite 5 stars for quality, but 3 stars for ease of installation and quality of the instruction book.