I used terries in the origami fold
http://www.kittykins.co.uk/advice/id/25
which is great as it puts the thick bit in the middle and is suitable for both sexes and can be adjusted for larger babies too.
One set of good quality nappies lasted 3 children no problem, I timed myself once to see how long everything took in a day - changing, folding, washing etc, and it was 15 minutes! So it's really not the chore that it's sometimes made out to be, plus you save money & a bit of the planet too.
I can't help thinking the shaped nappies must take longer than the flat ones to dry but I haven't tried them.
As for carrying round the dirty ones, I had a nappy bag with clean nappies in it & a zip part at the bottom & just popped the nappy in there in a plastic bag till I got home, never had a problem with it. The papery liners are great, can be rinsed if only wet & flushed if dirty.
Washing nappies by hand certainly was a chore years ago, but then they invented washing machines! So washing nappies really isn't hard work and you don't need to boil them all the time. Just don't forget not to use conditioner, it makes them less absorbent.
All the best when the time comes.