I have a Graco and I really like it. Chico is also a good brand!
I've been hearing a lot about chicco too
We just got the Graco 4ever for our 8 month old and will be getting another for our newborn! It's amazing and last from newborn to 10 years:)
Graco Nautilus is a amazing car seat for convertible. For an infant car seat we just bought a Graco Snugride for this new baby.
The 4ever is rear and forward facing. I forgot to mention that! Def worth the money
I bought the Graco Dolce collection
I was given a graco infant seat that my SIL had used for her daughter. My daughter grew out of it at about 7-8 months (way before it expired.) There was also some confusion with my dad's family not knowing about our registry, so my grandparents bought us a convertible safety 1st car seat. We never used the infant seat for it because it was easier to carry the graco seat and have multiple bases. It was very nice to have since she grew so fast though. She sleeps well in the safety 1st and it's easy to use and to convert, but she is literally at it's highest setting at 18 months and 35 inches (& it's supposed to turn to forward facing when you're finished rear facing.) Our problem is that she is long torsoed... And 98 percentile in height. I have a long torso and her daddy is 6'8", so I'd suggest doing a lot of research on convertible car seats and how tall they go before getting one (especially if there is any sign of height in your family.)
So far Diono car seats look best for longterm use since they start at 5lbs, but height wise will accommodate 57". The tallest I've seen so far. (Hoping to buy this one to switch our daughter to very soon.) Plus, they are narrow car seats that fit very well in most cars. They are expensive, but worth it if you're like us converting from one car seat to another so quickly.
We just purchased diono seats and love them. They are very sturdy and heavy. They have excellent crash ratings and accommodate newborn up to 120 lbs. it would be the only seat you would ever need. I believe they don't expire for 10 years after manufacture date where the normal is six years. good luck!