[My Peach Emily]

Does anybody have either of these? Do you like it? Do you know of any pros or cons with either? My grandmother is going to buy one later today and I'm wondering if one is better than the other. Keep in mind she has really really poor eye sight so she can't fool around with little pieces.

[Batty]

whats one touch?

i use freestyle. its alright. like almost every other tester i've had

[Harold]

Grandmother with poor eyesight. The most important thing is to get one she can read. First make sure the one she chooses does not have so much glare she can not see the numbers or words on the screen. Glaring surfaces are the worst for seeing through as you get older. Larger the numbers and symbols the better, but a back lighted display may make a little smaller display easier to read. Also have her handle them and see if she has problems handling them. The strips are sometimes hard to handle or hard to insert into the units so play with them. Both are good units so she should pick the one she likes or feels comfortable with. My mother used an Ultra untill she went into a home and she only had one eye and had a cataract in it.

[srgw]

Emily

I have 2 freestyle's 1 is the flash which is a small compact meter and may not be good for someone with poor eyesight. The other is a full size meter with a large display but no backlight.
I like them both and take the small one when I travel.

Steve
New Jersey

[HeatherP]

I have the Flash, and I like it, but it's very tiny, and the display is pretty small so it may not be the best choice.

I haven't used the One Touch Ultra but I think it's bigger. I don't know how big the display is. The One Touch Sure Step has a large display, but I'm not sure it's available anymore.

HeatherP

[koblenz]

I have only used the Freestyle and now the Freestyle Flash. I like them both, but the Flash may not be the best choice because of the small size of the display. The regular Freestyle has a little bigger display, but not by much (maybe 40% bigger).

Never used a One Touch, sorry.

A co-worker is Type 2 and has pretty bad eyesight. He has recently been shopping for meters and specifically was looking for one with BIG numbers. I will ask him what he decided on when he gets into work and post. Good luck.

[archimeech]

I used to use the freestyle and had to switch to a One touch because of insurance issues. Personaly, I prefer the freestyle system. while the Ultra-Smart that I have is very nice, there is one big drawback to it's testing method that Freestyle has taken care of. When the Freestyle obtains enough blood it then starts the test count-down, and not until then. I forget how long you have but if the first drop isn't big enough I used to just milk my finger more and add enough until it beeped. With the ultra-smart it starts the count-down the second it notices the blood entering the little cappilary. a lot of times it doesn't draw enough blood and the test fails. I wind up throwing away quite a few strips because of this. Except for that, I like both systems equally. Although now that I think about it the Freestyle I used took 8 seconds for the test and the ultra-smart only takes 5, but what's 3 seconds compared to the 2 minutes my first glucometer used to take back in '84!

[lgvincent]

I know this doen't help but Accu-Chek has the Voice-Mate that goes with the Advantage meter and it will give a vocal reading of the glucose measurement that is being displayed. It's expensive though, I think around $500.00 or $600.00.

[nantomsuethom]

[quote]Originally posted by archimeech
I forget how long you have but if the first drop isn't big enough I used to just milk my finger more and add enough until it beeped.

You have one minute to get enough blood on the strip. Thomas will be using the Free Style Flash after next week when we get the script for the strips (going for his 3mo. check).

Right now he uses the OneTouch ultra smart and I can't tell you how many strips get waisted because he doesn't get enough blood on them quick enough.

[archimeech]

Yeah. That's the exact same unit I use and it's very aggrevating to say the least.

[Belinda]

I; have the one touch ultra x's 4 and the freestyle and I use the ultra. I think because it is easire just to order strips for one device and Ihave sooooo many. I will let you know on Dec. 6 when I go compare my numbers with the CGMS.

[Shalyndria]

I've used both and prefer the Freestyle brand of meters myself. But YMMV, it's a personal thing.

If you're looking for one that's easier for your Grandmother to see, then the OneTouch SureStep might be an option. In the Senior's Center I worked in, these were the meters given to patients with poor/failing eyesight because of the large display, as well as the off-meter blood application.

FYI often the drug stores (such as Shopper's Drug Mart and Safeway) will have promotions where you get the meter for free with the purchase of 100 test strips. They also sometimes keep demo meters on hand so that you can try it out and make sure it's what you want.

Shy

[JasonJayhawk]

I've used both meters.

BTW, one way of getting rid of glare is to use those PDA protectors that are essentially clear plastic with sticky stuff on them. They "fog up" the lens a bit.

Here's my quick rundown on the differences between the One-Touch Ultra and the Freestyle Flash:

Strip prices are the same if you pay cash for them. They also sell in the gray market (eBay) for about the same.

Both give their results in about 5 to 7 seconds.

FREESTYLE FLASH:
------------------------
- Uses 1/3 the amount of blood as the 1-touch (0.3 microliters)
- Gives you up to about 60 seconds to put blood into the strip.
- Data cable costs only $5 (at least, if they're still offering it)
- Smaller
- Easier to get a replacement upon defective issues (they don't ask as many questions and don't treat you like a new diabetic every time you call their tech support).
- Backlight and LED light to see where you're testing when in complete darkness -- the LED light illuminates the strip in total darkness and helps you find your blood drop.

One-Touch ULTRA:
------------------------
- Requires 3 times as much blood than the Freestyle
- Requires blood to instantly be placed in strip reservior or else it produces an error message
- No backlight
- Bigger screen than the Flash; easier to read the numbers, easy to hold on to if you're clumsy.
- Expensive data cable to hook to your computer
- Software is a tad more advanced and mature than the software provided by Therasense Freestyle Flash (I mean Abbott now, I suppose).


My own preference is the Flash. It's also based on newer technology...

The OneTouch Ultra-*Smart* looks pretty good for Type 1's, though -- the features it offers with diary logging are very impressive, and if I had the money for one, I'd certainly give it a go.

[Dewey]

I've also used both the One Touch Ultra and Freestyle Flash, and have to agree with the others. I used to solely use the Ultra (while insurance covered strips), but later switched to the Flash (to see if I'd like it and to prepare for the Cozmonitor's release). I like how the Flash doesn't start countdown until enough blood has been applied. JasonJayhawk gave a good comparison of the two. The size of the numbers and display (on the Flash) could pose a concern for your grandmother. In that case, it may be best for her to go with the UltraSmart, but as Shy said, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

The meter that lg described (the Accu-Check VoiceMate) is a good one, but the price is extremely steep (the cheapest price I've found was $399.00! <or about that>). Hope this helps, and keep us posted on which one she goes with, and how she likes it.

[lgvincent]

I could have bought a Voice Mate for a super price recently but passed on it. If I had only known it was needed by someone here, I could have bought it. Sorry for my mistake.