Playpen vs bassinet

We are just starting our registry and I have a question for you moms out there. We were going to get a bassinet for the baby to sleep in our room at first, but now we are thinking the playpen with the bassinet option. When we talked to one of the ladies at the store, she said they really aren't meant for sleeping in and really aren't that safe.
Since I am pretty much a clueless wonder on this  I would appreciate any advice.

We went with the pak and play with the bassinet. I've spoken with a few moms that told me they really never used their bassinet. I have a 4 month old baby sister and my step mom said she things they only used the bassinet a handful of times and mostly as a changing table- not a sleeper.

I have a Pack N Play with the bassinet and honestly the bassinet just doesn't LOOK that safe. It is not anchored to the sides of the Pack n Play by anything more than several plastic pieces.  I live in a ranch style house though so it's not a big deal for me to walk her back to her crib.  If you are intent on having baby sleep in your room, then go with the bassinet. We were going to buy a separate bassinette but then we decided we didn't want baby in our room with us.

We had a rocking bassinet that we used until our son could roll over.  I loved that it rocked so when he was learning to soothe himself we could rock him without touching him.  We bought a pack and play for my moms house and he slept in that there but I felt more comfortable with the bassinet.  The sales lady is right pack and plays are not meant to sleep in.  The sides are not very high on the bassinets in them and they are not very comfortable feeling to me.

Just an opinion.
Brooke

 When I was registering for Alex... they had a recall on all the bassinet playpens due to them being unsafe and a lot of babies were having breathing issues in them due to the lack of proper support.  
If you can, go to a 2nd hand baby store and buy a proper bassinet.  I got mine for $40, and I used it every night until Alex was 2 months old.  He started rolling over so he couldn't be in it any longer.

A cradle is much bigger than a bassinet. I would look into that, just because you can get about 5 months use out of it. You can get a nice used one on craigslist if money is an issue.

We have a pack-n-play with the 2nd level, bassinet, and changing table. We have never used the little changing table because it isn't level and Annie would always roll. We used the bassinet as the changing table and when she got too tall for that we started using the 2nd level as the changing table/play area for her but now she is starting to pull herself up so we only use the second level as a changing table and take the 2nd level out and she sleeps on the bottem level now when we need to use it. I think a pack-n-play would get used FAR more than a bassinet would! Yes, bassinets are cute but not very practical.

*I forgot to say this - we used the 2nd level as a place for her to sleep when she was in our room for the 1st 2 weeks and if we went out of town. We just stopped using it because she pulls her self to standing now so its not safe.

 I guess it would all depend on how you would feel as a mother on what you think would be safe to use. My sister just had a baby a year and half ago and she had bought a crib and got a pak n play with a bassinet. She used the crib a few times...but the baby slept better in the bassinet..and when she got to big for the bassinet she slept in the bottom part. My sister would move her after she fell asleep to the crib and would wake up crying...weird thing is she loved sleeping in the pak n play and would not stay asleep in that than the crib. So my sister sold her crib and my niece has been using the pak n play to sleep in since she was 6 months old....and my sister just got her a toddler bed for christmas and my sister is telling me not to waste my money on cribs cause cribs have more recalls than pak n plays do. Cribs are just as unsafe too. I am not sure on a bassinet by itself but I would not buy one and then use a crib. Waste of money I think. If you just go with a pak n play with bassinet you can use that up until they are almost 2 to sleep in for the bottom section anyways. Just my thought. I am going to go with just a pak n play in my room cause we live in a one bedroom and no need to buy a crib and spend that money cause they are expensive..when you don't use them for very long....plus i believe cribs are unsafe anyways..no matter what crib you buy...my sister had an issue with my niece moving around and we think that this is why she hated the crib my sister woke up one nite and my  niece had her leg stuck between the rallings of the crib. Now a pak n play its just all net around the bottom so they could not get stuck in anything. 

Rowan slept in his pack and play until he was 4 months or so. We didn't have a bassinet attachment for it, but you could raise the sleeping surface higher on ours.