I've got lots of kids and so I've tried a few wipe warmers out in my day. Our first one was pretty similar to this one, but unfortunately, I don't remember the brand. I'll refer to that one as "model 1". I've also had 2 of theMunchkin wipe warmers and the goal of this review is primarily to compare this Prince Lionheart ("PL") to the Munchkin. CAPACITY Munchkin wins hands down here. Having gone through tons of kids, I've also gone through boxes and boxes of wipes. My most-purchased wipes are Kirtland Signature (it's the brand you get at your local warehouse club). You technically *CAN* fit a full pack of wipes in the PL, but you really have to squish it down to close the lid and that makes taking out the first dozen a difficult task. The same pack completely fills but still fits comfortably in the Munchkin. (Note that "model 1" also fit a full pack, but since it didn't do the whole 1-at-a-time dispensing thing, it's not a fair comparison). EASE OF USE My wife hates that the Munchkin has 2 little "clips" on the side that you have to slide to open the top (I'm not talking about the lid to draw out wipes one-at-a-time, but the whole top, which you would do to add more wipes). I don't find it to be a big deal, but it drives her nuts - esp when 1 wipe does not properly "draw up" the next one mid-change. For this one, the lid just pops open and she thinks it's fantastic. However, as noted above, it is very difficult to get the first dozen (or so) wipes out of the PL whereas the Munchkin is ready to go right off the bat. For me, that's a win for Munchkin. For my wife, it's a win for PL. --> THE LID The Munchkin lid is just a piece of plastic on a hinge. No clips or anything like that. The PL has a pretty strong latch that requires you push rather hard to open. While this is good to keep the toddlers out of the wipes, it does require a bit of force and makes a "click" when you open and close it. Once open, it stays open better than the Munchkin which, annoyingly, falls closed sometimes. Again, this is preference. I like the simplicity of the Munchkin lid. My wife likes that the lid doesn't close on her with the PL. WARMING The biggest difference is that PL is a bottom-up warmer while the Munchkin is a top-down warmer. Right now we have 3 kids in diapers and sometimes go through a bunch of wipes all at once. The Munchkin sometimes gets overwhelmed, esp. if it was fairly empty to start off with. For that matter, if the Munchkin is mostly empty, the few remaining wipes don't get all that warm because the heat from the top just doesn't make it down that far. The PL does a better job of warming the whole stack all at once. I suspect (though I haven't measured it) that the Munchkin uses less power since it only has to warm the few layers that you are about to use whereas the PL warms everything all at once. I'll have to look into that... (Note: my "model 1" warmer was also bottom-up and performed about the same as the PL). ALSO, we have a plastic changing pad downstairs and we fold it up and store the wipe warmer on top of it. With the Munchkin, that worked out just fine, but the PL tends to heat the plastic up so much that... well, it doesn't melt it at all, but it does get the plastic feeling kind of soft. Maybe that won't ever be a problem, but I'm feeling a bit cautious about it... --> BROWNING The Munchkin has never browned anything - ever - at all. We haven't had any problems with the PL yet, either since it is using the "pillow". My Model 1 warmer browned wipes all the time until I figured out that I could just put a wet washcloth in the bottom (which acted the same as this "pillow" that comes with the PL). Side note on that--once I started using the wet washcloth, I never had problems with browning (unless I forgot to re-wet it when I added new wipes). If your bottom-up wipe warmer doesn't come with a pillow, or if your PL's pillow gets lost or ruined, don't buy a new one, just use a washcloth--it works fine. LIGHT Both have a very small light to let you know it is on. The Munchkin also has a brighter light you can turn on and off at the push of a button, but honestly, I have yet to use that feature. POWER Both have a power cord that easily detaches from the unit which in turn allows you to take the unit elsewhere, use it, and then easily take it back and plug it back in. This is an IMPORTANT FEATURE and one that "model 1" didn't have. If you are looking at another brand of wipe warmer, be sure that it can do this, too. Anyway, the PL's power cord plugs directly into the unit itself. The Munchkin's power cord plugs into a small "tail" that comes out of the back. The tail feature is nice because it allows you to put the unit closer to a wall, however I wish they had used a thicker gauge cable because if you aren't careful to unplug it properly (holding onto the plugs themselves and not the wires), then the wire breaks and shorts. Incidentally, this is why we have gone through 2 Munchkins--the first one was fine in every way except that the cable broke on the first one. I imagine the PL would have this same weakness, but since there is only 1 plug-to-wire transition instead of 2, that makes it 1/2 as vulnerable. More importantly, since it is going into the unit itself (which is sturdy) instead of a tail (which is "floppy"), you can easily grip the correct part of the plug and unplug it with 1 hand, so the opportunity/need to (incorrectly) pull on the wire is greatly diminished, so I'm hoping it doesn't come up. BOTTOM LINE: In the end, these are both great warmers. For me, the capacity thing makes the Munchkin a better choice, but for my wife, the need to slide 2 latches on the Munchkin in order to open the top makes the PL a better choice. I also prefer the top-down warming style. I don't think my wife has an opinion (or at least, she hasn't shared one with me yet...). If it's winter and you have a small baby, he/she won't really care which you get, but will be very grateful that you are doing something to take the chill off of those wipes and will thank you by not crying (as much) during diaper changes.
