Hi Angel,
I've done quite a bit of research and asked a lot of breastfeeding mothers before I decided on the Medela Pump In Style Advance ("PIS"). It is a little cheaper than the Avent Isis Duo.
A few features you need to consider, dual or single pump, frequent or occasional use. Don't even consider manual pump if you need to express regularly coz you'll give up breastfeeding in no time. Its too tiring.
If you are going back to work and will be expressing breast milk at work, you'll need a workhorse and dual pump. All the friends who have bought single pumps tell me to go for dual pump. They wanted to save money by buying the single coz dual is much more expensive but in the end, recommend the dual coz its much for efficient. Plus when you are pumping one breast, the other breast sometimes leaks and it gets very messy and the milk is wasted too.
Comparing Medela and Avent, Medela is a stronger pump and I was told it can squeeze every drop of milk from your breast. One of my colleagues started with Avent and prefer the softer touch although her sister lent her the PIS later. Other than this friend who was already used to Avent by the time she tried Medela, I haven't heard any complaints for the Medela Pump in Style Advance. Avent is also supposedly more difficult to clean according to reviews.
I heard Ameda is also very good but there are very few reviews on this. Although it appears quite cheap, around $300, that doesn't include all the accessories that the PIS comes with. Moreover, the price of PIS has come down quite a bit. I bought mine during Taka sale for $685 which also came with a 20 bag pack of storage bags, a pack of disposable bra pads, a pack of washable bra pads and purelan nipple cream. I heard that the price was around $625 during Robinson Sale but came with other stuff. The PIS also comes with a cooler bag, ice pack and 4 storage bottles, battery pack when electrical supply is not available, and manual pump for emergency. These are all packed in a stylish back pack. Can be quite heavy but you can leave the manual pump and battery pack at home/office to lighten the weight. The older Medela models can be quite noisy and I'm not sure if they are as good.
Of course, if you are only intending to pump occasionally and do not intend to BF for long, you need not get these top of the range models, can just go for one of the cheaper models. Medela's website and brochure gives you recommendation on which model to buy according to your requirements.
Medela is a standard neck bottle and fits other brands of standard neck bottles and accessories for std neck bots. Avent comes in wide neck bottles. Pigeon has both type of bottles and teats. I've seen on some websites that there are gadgets available to convert your standard neck so that it fits wide neck bots too but haven't bothered abt this yet. Since I'm starting new, I try to get all compatible accessories.
For steriler, I bought a Pigeon one since it came with two standard neck bottles which I can use with my Medela stuff. The model I bought is the latest which can be converted to a warmer and food steamer. Cost me $158. I thought Avent was aesthetically more pleasing but it doesn't have the Pigeon feature of being able to use as a warmer and steamer. If u r getting Avent pump, then it makes sense to get the Avent steamer since it would come with a few Avent bottles.
As for storage bags, Avent no longer manufactures storage bags. They now manufacture these plastic containers which can be reused for abt 3-4 times. You will of course need to sterilise them after each use.
If you are using Medela bags, they can be pumped directly into. They used to come in twist and tie style but now comes in zip lock form (or sticker form) but the reviews for the new design is bad. You can check out the reviews at babycentre.com. Says it is messy to use. As for other bags, most of them are for pouring into only and not for pumping directly into. I'm still trying to find out if Gerber bags can be pumped directly into. All storage bags are pre-sterilised so you can use and throw. You may also want to check out mail order using Vpost through Babycentre. May work out to be cheaper if you order in bulk coz these are light weight stuff and shipping is not that expensive. For myself, I will buy small packs locally to try first then bulk order the one that suits me best.
I've written quite a bit since I'm very free this morning. Hope it helps those mummies who are still researching.
then i can use that as an excuse, tell hubby can eat. heehee