Baby Bargains: Secrets to Saving 20% to 50% on baby furniture, gear, clothes, strollers, maternity wear and much, much more! Paperback – April 18, 2013

VERY DISAPPOINTED. I would not have bought the kindle version if I had known all the pictures and charts were missing from it. I have a previous print version and these were invaluable to me at times. Can't believe this is even allowed. The publishers of the ebook say on the front page that you can access the website for 30 days free to get the missing pics/charts (btw, year membership to website is over twice the price of the book), but seriously, who wants to do the tedious task of downloading (and then later matching up with the book) every-time I want to see a pic later on.

They should not be allowed to sell this without VERY PROMINENTLY displaying that all of this will be missing (not at the bottom of the description page where you have to expand the description to even see this!) I have a previous print version and the reason I bought this was to make sure I have the latest updated information. Now I feel like I got a bait-and-switch.

Worst e-book experience I have ever had. Shame since the print version is so good. I would have bought the print version if I had known this. For a book that is suppose to save me money and time it has done the opposite - wasted my money and my time.

UPDATE: I have tried to use the kindle/30 day free website and it's just too big of a pain. Kindle I can carry anywhere and have in an instant - website I have to be connected to at home. So I can't look things up on a whim when it occurs to me or I see it in a store (which is the norm). I don't even have the pics to take with me to go put things on my baby registry, which would be way easier than hunting down names of stuff. "Look! Here's a pic, which one of these items look like it - check name - add to baby registry." Nope. Now I have to create my own lists and charts, download pics, and THEN go to the baby store and hope that I don't go crazy with digging through 50 printouts. The whole point of an ebook is to not have bulky printed stuff!
Honestly the only time I have had to sit down and do the extra work required for this is on the weekends, making my 30 day free website access even less useful. Unfortunately while I've been trying to do this, it means I also passed my return time for the ebook. The whole purpose of an ebook is to make things easier and portable - this has been a headache from the beginning.

UPDATE #2: Even though I passed the period, Amazon let me return the kindle version. In turn, I purchased the paperback version and am extremely happy with it. Since this review is for the kindle version, I will let it stand at 2 stars, but I give the paperback version 4.5 stars. Wish there was more about twins stuff then the couple pages I could find. Still, the book is excellent and I am soooooo pleased Amazon let me return the kindle version. The authors explained that the problem does not exist in the iPad version. Not sure about the Nook version.

I think this book is quite useful, but I recommend it with a few caveats:

1. This book is definitely aimed at middle class and upper middle class parents, singing the praises of mainly high end brands. In a previous edition I owned, this did not seem to be quite as much the case. Sure, they attack the Bugaboo stroller for being overpriced, but they highly recommend the only slightly cheaper Uppababy Vista. The authors do state at the beginning of the book that they want you to get good value for your money and so they don't just recommend the cheapest items. I understand that and I happen agree with that, but they don't seem to weigh cost as a terribly important factor in their ratings for individual products, which is odd for a book named "Baby Bargains." At the end of the of the book they provide an overall comparison budget to show you how much you save by going with their recommendations - but those savings are not for the products they rave about throughout the book, that's only if you go for their "good" choices, vs. "better" or "best." This book is really about shopping smarter, not necessarily about spending less. (They did tell me not to buy a diaper stacker - no problem, I won't.)

2. There are many other minor issues with reviews besides price, mainly due to inconsistent updating. For one example, in their picks for audio baby monitors, they state, "Here are our picks for audio baby monitors, with one BIG caveat: how well a monitor will work in your home depends on interference sources" - and then they go on to say that they will only recommend newer DECT monitors which don't cause interference. This seems like a small thing, but it goes on throughout the book and this sloppy updating really got on my nerves after a while. If I got free updated editions, I'd let it slide, but since I'm paying full price for the latest edition, I'd like it to be fully updated.

3. This edition needs serious copy editing. "Waste belt," anyone? There are also lots of incomplete sentences and parentheses are severely overused throughout. I'm not particularly picky about grammar and usage, so if I notice it, I think it must be bad enough to be distracting for a lot of other readers, too. My previous edition did not seem as poorly edited. And I think that you only should get to use the phrase "800 pound gorilla" once in a single book, thank you.

4. The book feels outdated at times. Parents' fears about products made in China seems pretty marginal in today's globalized world (compared to price in today's economy), but the authors still address this in this edition as a major concern parents supposedly have in their specific reviews of nursery furniture. The authors seem to be a bit prejudiced against modern nursery furniture - given the cost of $1000 cribs made of MDF, I see their point - but some of the comments about simple nursery furniture styles being "plain vanilla" seem to reflect a preference for an earlier aesthetic, aside from price.

None of these issues really detracts from the book's usefulness, but I think BB is starting to show its age a bit. I think instead of cutting and pasting new products in haphazardly, the next edition could use a refresh.

With all of that being said, I really learned a tremendous amount from both editions of this book, and would still buy another edition down the road if needed. The authors do a terrific job of considering the ways that parents use products and discussing the relevant factors. They take into account various lifestyles, family sizes, and special situations like travel. You could just read the end of each section for the top recommendations, but I think the best way to use this book is to read it thoroughly and learn about the different features and decide which ones are important to you. This book helped us plan way beyond what to buy and register for - I decided I did want a fancy stroller, but had no use for a baby monitor, for example. I felt like I became an expert as a result of reading this book and can decide to spend money in a way that really makes life easier with baby. To borrow an oft-repeated phrase from the authors, bottom line: this is extremely valuable information for new parents.

Ridiculous, no pictures in Kindle version. Put that at the TOP of the product description! I won't be buying a subscription to your website on principle.