Accu Chek Compact

No, but I thought the strips were too expensive.

John Ferman said:

Has anyone been having troubles in using this particular meter?

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homepage.mac.commkatzmanOpen ↗

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 02:48:28 GMT, John Ferman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Has anyone been having troubles in using this particular meter?

I've used it for about a month and used two drums so far. I don't like it. Just too heavy and bulky.
It is nice not to have to wrestle sticks out of those very tiny vials. The on/off switch below the
LCD is troublesome, doesn't work all the time.

The Freestyle is a nice meter, but boy those darn sticks are expensive.

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tcainternet.comindex.htmlOpen ↗

Works fine for me. What problems are you having?

The only problem I've had with the Compact is the batteries. When I got a low battery warning, the
meter quit immediately. I couldn't even do one more test without replacing the batteries. (With
other meters, I can get quite a few more tests on a low battery.) I've only had to replace the
batteries once, so this may be a fluke.

By the way, another interesting meter is the new FreeStyle Flash. It's very small, and they claim an
average test time of only 7 seconds (which seems about right to me, although it varies with sample
size and BG level). It uses the same test strips as the original FreeStyle, so it has the advantages
of very small sample size and alternate site testing (forearm, etc.).

Rick

"John Ferman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone been having troubles in using this particular meter?

John Ferman <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone been having troubles in using this particular meter?

Hi all, My youngest son is 6 and was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 4. We have used the Accu-
Chek compact for about a year and a half. At first the button was quite sticky. Sometimes we would
have to push it 10 times to turn it on. I returned our first one because of this and found the next
one was the same. I continued to use this meter because I like the fact that he does not have to
touch the strips and other caregivers don't have to either. Over time the button has stopped
sticking. The little flip top cover broke off shortly after we got it. It has been held on by duct
tape for awhile. I finally called the company yesterday and they are sending me a new cover today.
I also like the fact that when we change the vial of strips we don't have to program in the number
on the vial. Also, it gives you long time to get the drop of blood on there without giving a darn
error code. There was nothing more frusterating than squeezing his finger and having a error code
come up because we were taking too long. The numbers seem accurate enough and coincide with his A1c
numbers. I'm new to posting here, so be kind please :-) My son has been pumping for a year now
fairly successfully. We have a paradigm. Melissa

Marshall wrote in message <[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

No, but I thought the strips were too expensive.

". . .too expensive. . ." That depends on how much finagling you want to do.

Cost of Accu-Chek Compact and some alternatives from Hocks, Wal-Mart and a high dollar pharmacy.

from Hocks

hocks.comteststrips.htmOpen ↗

Accu-Chek Compact: $149 for 306 strips, 48.70 per 100, free shipping

Accu-Chek Comfort Curve: $139 for 300 strips, $46.33 per 100, free shipping

One Touch Ultra: $29.95 for 50 strips, $59.90 per 100 + shipping

One Tough Ultra: $89.85 for 150 strips, $59.90 per 100, free shipping

from Wal-Mart

Relion $44 for100 strips OTC (no shipping) + Sales tax ?? (not in my State)

One Touch Ultra: $85 for100 strips OTC

from a Local Hospital Pharmacy

One Touch Ultra: $114 for 100 strips, OTC

Regards
Old Al

Fri said:

from Hocks www.hocks.com/diabetics/teststrips.htm

Accu-Chek Compact: $149 for 306 strips, 48.70 per 100, free shipping

Accu-Chek Comfort Curve: $139 for 300 strips, $46.33 per 100, free shipping

One Tough Ultra: $89.85 for 150 strips, $59.90 per 100, free shipping

one thing to note about hocks is that there is some minor week to week price variation in the strip
prices. that said, the two that i like from hocks are:

FreeStyle $149 for 300 strips. $49.67 per 100. free shipping

Accu-CHek Active $129 for 300 strips. $43.00 per 100. free shipping

Quoted message said:

from Wal-Mart

Relion $44 for100 strips OTC (no shipping) + Sales tax ?? (not in my State)

i've used a good number of Relion strips (> 1,000) and have 4 Relion meters. but i've retired them
due to the Active strips being better/cheaper. that said, my current preference is the FreeStyle
strips coz it can most easily be used for off-site b/g testing (e.g. leg)

anyhow, the Accu-Chek Active is a much better low cost meter than Relion, and i've 2 of the Active
meters and have used about 450 strips so far (3 different batches)

the Active is better than Relion coz it 1) takes a lot less blood, and 2) is far easier to place the
blood on the strip, and 3) has far fewer bad strips/tests, and 4) has about the same
accuracy/consistency as Relion (both are good on accuracy/consistency, but not quite as good as
either the FreeStyle strips or the Ultra strips)

re accuracy, 3 recent personal comparisons of Active vs. Ultra had these results:
1. Active#2=322/335 (2 separate tests on 2 fingers); Ultra=325
2. Active#2=50; Ultra=54
3. Active#2=108; Ultra=107

i can add that my 3 Active batches have varied from whole blood results, to plasma results (see
above), to in-between. fwiw, that's very acceptable from a rock bottom low cost strip, and is no
worse than my experience with the Relion

all of my Ultra batches (3), and FreeStyle batches (6) have given consistent plasma results. 🙂

when i get one of the new/small FreeStyle Flash meters, i'm probably going to retire my Elite meters
as my shirt pocket meter. (time will tell. 🙂)

bill t1 since '57

p.s. low cost strips (~ $40/100) have gotten a lot better this past 6 years. 6 years ago they were
all too often like a random number generator. 🙂