The Avent Isis is absolutely fantastic for the value. I have the Medela Pump In Style, but I decided it was too big and bulky to take to work or on vacation. I had heard good things about the Isis, so picked it up and gave it a try.
I can’t say enough about how convenient and easy to use the pump is. I take it to work and pump in about 15 minutes, completely discreetly and quietly. You just hook up the Avent bottle (or a bottle of another brand if you have the neck adapters) and pump. I pump into milk bags sometimes, and it works great with the Lansinoh breastmilk collection bags. It’s 10x easier to take around than an electric breast pump, and there’s no plugging in or hooking up to do.
Some people say that they don’t get as much milk from a manual breast pump, but I didn’t have that problem at all. The milk flowed just as will with the Isis as my Pump In Style. And for anyone that does have that problem, the time you will save it the setup more than compensates for the slower milk flow. With the electric pump, you have to hook up tubing between the two units, which can be frustrating, because it can fall and get dirty easily. You also have to have a power source. The manual pump is just SO much easier to deal with.
Overall, you cannot go wrong with the Avent Isis. It’s very portable, extremely easy to use, affordable (a quarter of the price of the Medela Advanced when I got it), time saving, comfortable, and just as effective as electric pumps. The only drawbacks might be that some people don’t get as much milk, and that you can only pump one breast at a time. But, like I said, the extra time it takes is also saved by the convenience of the pump. Recommended.