What's your favorite meter?

[lgvincent]

I have several different meters but my favorite is the Accu-Chek Complete. Although it's no longer made, I've found it to be the most accurate and the 1,000 entry memory is pretty large. I like the Freestyle Flash, too. I've found it to be very accurate although it will only record blood sugar levels and nothing else, unlike the Complete. I also have a OneTouch UltraSmart. Although it has memory for 3,000 entries, it has so far been pretty inaccurate when compared to lab results and I get about one error 5 message in every box of strips which I find to be pretty wasteful.

[Carlos d'Glycosomine]

I have several different meters but my favorite is the Accu-Chek Complete. Although it's no longer made, I've found it to be the most accurate and the 1,000 entry memory is pretty large. I like the Freestyle Flash, too. I've found it to be very accurate although it will only record blood sugar levels and nothing else, unlike the Complete. I also have a OneTouch UltraSmart. Although it has memory for 3,000 entries, it has so far been pretty inaccurate when compared to lab results and I get about one error 5 message in every box of strips which I find to be pretty wasteful.

Accurate is difficult to determine a lot of the time. The companies go out of their way to obfuscate the reliability of thei meters. It seems pretty simple to take a known sample and test it 100 times and average the result and viola, you get %accuracy.

somehow they have convinced themselves that we shouldn't look at that number and instead look at weighted accuracy which has lead them to make systems that are more accurate at lower bg's where mistakes are more critical. But if its only a 10% accuracy at low bg's does it really make a difference? I don't think so. And besides, their weighted computation comes out as gobledy gook anyway. Can't they just do both for simplicity and consumer's sake? Or do we all need degrees in advanced statistics?

Anyway, I have two Accuchek completes and replaced a onetouch Ultra with it for several years because I really liked the comfort curve strips. But the system is just too slow. It takes nearly a minute to do a test. Of the current models I like the Aviva because it kind of sucks in the blood and is quick. It also seems to be very accurate. I also use the BD logic which is really unacceptable on the basis of cost of strips $ 0.85/ea, reliability-unexpected error messages, quality-some errors due to poor strip mfg, ease of use in that it take a very peculiar battery-a CR2450.

The best bg meter EVER was the Direct 30/30 made by Eli Lily. I miss mine. I suspect Johnson and Johnson had something to do with its disappearance.

The problem with the AccuChek, and all AccuCheks is heir software. In this day and age they have made it completely impossible to share the meter data with your doctor by email. If you go through their website. they change the email headder and it appears as junk mail from Roche Diagnostics when your doctor gets it.

[Jelly Bean Queen]

I have several meters- my favourite is the CareSens (probably only available in OZ) it's my most accurate meter- we've tested it against lab results and the difference was barely worth noting. It only takes 5 seconds, has a nice long interval before it times out -handy if you're like me and start to test then get caught up in converstation or start doing something else. The strips suck up the blood nicely and it requires a very small sample size so there is no need to drive a major hole into the finger:D . It has two ports for the strips so you can test either end- handy for those times you're juggling strips and holding a whole heap of other stuff. On top of all that customer service from the company is amazing- they give out free meters to any T1 who asks too :)

My next fav is Sensocard. Probably also an OZ only meter. It is very slim/small and very fast (5 seconds), also sucks up the blood nicely. It's an ideal handbag meter because you can just slide it into a credit card pocket then put lancets and srtrips into a small baggie.

My other meters are Optium (a big ugly white thing) and Optium Xceed- much smaller than Optium but needs a bigger sample size than my other meters. I only really keep these last two around for sick days because they can do blood keytones.

[jobobbie]

I am using the FreeStyle Flash. I like it. Since I don't have any insurance, I'm on a program that helps me with the testing supplies.
But, I really like the Accu-Check Complete Plus. It is alittle bigger, but seems really accurate. I just can't afford the strips at this time.
The very 1st meter I had was an Ascensia Contour. I liked that one also. It just was slower. And since I am getting help with the strips, I need to use the FreeStyle Flash right now. If I could get hlep with the strip, I might consider going back to one of the others.

[marti]

I like the accu chek aviva

[Micheal]

That CareSens meter looks pretty interesting. It might just be because it looks different.

I currently use a OneTouch Ultra II and while it's newer and has backlighting, I actually prefer the original Ultra since the boot up time (strip into meter, apply sample) is about half. Shrinking down the Ultra II (there's a lot of dead space in that meter), speeding up the boot up and dedicating a hard button for backlighting would make this a winner.

Granted, the Optima meter fits a lot of those specs, I have a nasty time getting sample onto the strips (too many years with OneTouch meters).

I have contacted the FreeStyle people before about having a SD memory type option so I could plug it into my Treo but I was told that they weren't going to do it... I suspect that everything in the US will move to drastically more expensive "continuous" testing systems.

[Coravh]

I use a couple of Freestyle Minis. They are very accurate. The reason I know is because I have had a kidney transplant and I get monthly blood work done. I always take my meters along and test when the blood is drawn. When I get the bloodwork back, I can see exactly how accurate the meter is.

While there are industry standards, each individual meter is different and the only way to check for sure is to take it along to the lab with you. And don't, under any circumstances, compare it to the meter in the doctors office. They use control solution, see it's in the range, and figure it's ok. But that doesn't mean it's very accurate. It just means it works well with control solution.

Cora

[2098R]

I find it interesting to take two and three finger sticks from the same blood sample and see the variations in readings with the same meter, let alone the 6 functional meters I have.
Sorry to hear about the kidney challange.

Whit

[Orffyreus]

Michael, I gotta jump in here...

CareSens is Korean made and yes it's good gear. Mine is fast, accurate and works with a really tiny blood droplet. I must say it looks a bit cheaply built, but heck, expensive meters are very last century, and these days if they break you just ring up for a replacement. The test strips are electrochemical type, similar to the Optium's system, with a really quick uptake from their pointed tip and a tiny square confirmation window that goes instantly red.

I like the CareSens so much that I've permanently ditched my Accuchek Go, which cost me heaps and never did deliver on PC connectivity. The CareSens comes with free (!!) PC software for uploading and plotting your bgl history - unlike Roche who give you one free battery a year but then want to charge you $250 for basic comlink software. $hee$h!

I also have the latest Korean toy called a CareSens POP. It's totally minimalist - no timestamp, no comlink, no backlight, only one button and a tiny screen, and a dwarf lancet that's shorter than a Softclix. It's a wee bit bigger than a USB thumb drive, with a nice pearl finish and lanyard hook. But it's just as fast and accurate as its older brother and it uses the same CareSens test strips. It's now my "out and about" meter for when I don't want to carry around the diabetic manbag (and also for when I don't want my endo to see those occasional crazy highs or lows in my data history...) - Luv it!

[joyjohn]

Accu - check meter is my favorite