I'm shopping for home theater chairs. I sat in a Berkline model #99 in a B&M store today and sank right in. Felt real comfortable. I Didn't want to get up. I know alot of people here love their 45003's. Anybody know the main differences between these two models? Anybody compare these two before making their purchase?
Thanks.

I never sat in the 99s but I own the 45003s and I love them. Just by looking at them it appears that the 99s have bigger arms, an accented (by the wood grain) cup holder, and the recliner appears that the footrest is actually multiple pieces of fabric/leather. The 45003s have a narrower (still plenty big though) and more clean cut arms, and the footrest portion of the recliner is all one piece of leather which is nice because it doesn't leave your legs feeling like there is a deadspace. Also the 45003s have the pillow style back cushion which is superb. The Berkline chairs tend to recline almost 180 degrees which in all of the chairs I tried out had you looking up at the ceiling when fully reclined. The pillow top cushion allows you to be fully reclined while still being able to look at the screen comfortably and also gives extra cushion/support for your head and neck area which is nice. Me personally, I would go for the 45003s, but it's your decision. Be sure to try Roman out at www.rtheaters.com he has great prices and customer service.

timatraw,

The 099s are made for bigger folks, who are 6'4" or taller. They have 44'5" high back, and for average (around 6' tall guy) may block surround sound, unless you would only have one row of seating and it would be against the back wall, and your surround sound speakers are up high.

The 099s is a comfort rest. The 45003 is a chaise. The chaise has a continues surface between the seating area and the footrest. The comfort rest has a footrest as a separate plate, and when you recline, there is another plate comes up to close the gap between the seat and the footrest.

I am a 6' tall and found the 099 being too big and too cushy for my taste. Many people though consider this chair to be very comfortable.

I personally prefer 45003 or 078. Both has more suitable cushioning and height (41" back) to me.

So- the 099 is 3.5" taller than the 45003. The legrests also different.
Are they the same widthor is the 099 wider? Does the 45003 have the"Wallaway" feature?
Are the MSRP between the two moels similar or is one more expensive than the other?
Thanks.

Timatraw,

1. The 099s is wider.
2. All Berkline Home theater groups are wallaway recliners and only require 3"-4" away from the wall.
3. They are priced similarly.

Roman,
Which Berkline model do you think most closely compares with the Palliser Brando? Would you think a 43" back is too high (with respect to sound issues) for a 5'9-5'10 person?

There is no direct comparison. I think that the Palliser are very different from Berkline, and I do think that for 5'9"-5'10" tall person, the 43" high back will block the surround sound, unless you only doing one row of seat which will be placed against a wall (not a good idea anyway), and the surround sound speakers are up high.

If you are interested in the Berkline recliners, I would recommend looking into 090 based chairs: 073, 078, 090, 45003, etc... These are 41" tall it that would be probably your best bet.