In my 7 years' of breastfeeding, I have used the Medela Mini-Electric, the Avent ISIS, the PUR one-handed pump and the Ameda Lactaline for our 3rd baby Timmy's birth (a wonderful gift from my friends), and of course the much publicised Medela Pump-in-Style (PIS).

Of them all, I love the Medela Mini-Electric the best for it's convenience & ease of use.  It is very easy to put together (few parts) and works swell, except for 2 major setbacks. The motor for the Mini-E is not made to last. That's why the pump for the Mini-E and the Double Mini-E has only a 3-month guarantee as opposed to the 1-year guarantee on the Medela Pump-In-Style (PIS) and the Ameda Lactaline.  The Medela Mini-E Double Ease which has 2 dual pump funnels is made from the same motor for your information, and has the same short 3-month guarantee. So if you use the Mini-E frequently in the long-term, the motor actually dies out. It is just not built for heavy-duty pumping. I ran through 2 Mini-Es in 1 year pumping for my 2nd son. My friend who worked full-time ran through the same number in 6mths.  The other bad point of course is the noise.  Now, if they would make the Mini-E style of pump with a durable motor AND noiseless, it would just be *perfect* !!!!

I used the Medela PIS while in hospital with Timmy.  I find the PIS & the Lactaline pump to be similar in performance, but the PIS is more bulky and of course much much more expensive. The Ameda is very much lighter & more portable. It was easy and convenient.  Just attach the pump, then relax, read your emails or watch TV, or if at work, read a magazine or book to keep your mind off the pumping and worrying about "how much you are pumping".  Relaxation & distraction helped me alot in having let-down reflex and thus expressing good amounts of milk.  With the Lactaline, as I did not have to use my hands and could concentrate on other things than the act of expressing, I could relax even more easily.  I even managed to express in the car while driving.  It helps that the car is on automatic transmission though, and not gear shift. I just attach funnels, do back my bra around the funnels, switch the pump
and, arrange my baby sarong sling over the pump funnels and then enjoy a relaxing slow drive. !  Saved this busy mother here a lot of time!  Not recommending that you try this, but just telling you it is possible.  And do note that this is possible not just with the Lactaline, but possibly any double-funnel pump.

Some mothers will bring this Ameda Lactaline pump to & from work, so they find the Lactaline Pump-N-Store bag useful (the current style of storage bag varies) .  This bag is very compact in size for a heavy-duty top-of-the-line pump.  Some mothers just use the Lactaline at work and pump with a small handy pump like the Medela Mini-E or Avent ISIS at home. For mothers who do that, all you would need is still only your small cooler bag to transport EBM from work. You could even wash the funnels at work and leave a container there to throw the funnels in to sterilise so you don't have to bring the Ameda pump back at all,eg. using the most convenient cold-water sterilisation tablet method.  You could also sterilise simply with the microwaving method in the office.

As for the Avent ISIS and the PUR one-handed, I found them great for doing "Pump-N-Nurse".  I used the PUR until it broke on me and bought the AVENT ISIS. I would use it for the 1st pumping session of the day when Daniel (our 2nd baby) woke at 5am.  I would have the pump all ready by the side of my bed before I retired for the night, latch baby on properly first and nurse away.  Only then I will attach the pump on the other side that the baby was not nursing.  The baby provides the let-down reflex naturally, so pumping is really quite easy, but for this Pump-N-Nurse practice, the pump needs to allow one-handed operation.  And of course I could not use the Mini-E because the noise from the motor would have irritated my sleeping husband ! This pumping session in the peaceful quiet hours of the early morning tended to be one of my most productive (for one-side only) of the day.  The quiet hours was also a nice peaceful time of reflection and for me to enjoy my half-sleeping baby.

The other way is... you could learn to hand-express. Real cost-savings.  I know of mothers who have done that all the way for 2years even.  Personally, I think I have a psychological mental block on hand-expressing.  Can't relax enough to achieve letdown despite knowing and having taught the method, so the results are normally quite dismal when I hand-express.  Nevertheless, it would be real useful for most of you pumping mothers to know the basic techniques of Hand Expression.  Check out [http://www.lactationinstitute.org/MANUALEX.html] for the Instructional Sheet - Print it out and practice.  Even if you don't practice Hand Expression on a frequent daily basis, knowing the massage techniques can be very useful.  I used them halfway through my pumping sessions when my pumping slowed down to drips.  Stop pumping, stroke, massage (like in breast self-exam) and shake.  Do it a few times and when you attach your pump funnels on again, you quite likely can get another let-down reflex and thus MORE milk expressed and collected for your darling baby!!!

I really hope my experience helps you all.  And for those who baulk at the prices of good breastpumps, do think of it this way.  If you were totally providing your baby with formula powdered milk, you will spend quite a fair bit of money.  Compare that with the cost of a good breastpump .  You would pay off the cost of the pump in a short few months and your baby would be getting the truly wholesome goodness of premium mother's milk instead!