[Diabetes-talk] SoloMeter Questions

[Dan]

Hello Mike,
Thanks loads for the info. Much appreciated.
Dan
On May 12, 2010, at 7:20 PM, Mike Freeman wrote:

> Dan:
> 
> The Solo meter is better than the Prodigy Voice at giving an error indication if too little blood is sucked up by the strip. Whereas with the Prodigy Voice, one must take a second reading to determine if what seems like an anomalous reading is just that or whether one's blood sugar is as low as the mneter indicates, the Solo V2 tends either to give a plausible reading, give you an error message or flat-out tell you that you didn't get enough blood on the strip. On the other hand, you'd have to take a second reading most of the time anyway so while the Solo may cut down on frustration a bit, the practical outcome is that most of the time, you'd have to do the same thing (take a second reading) no matter which meter you used.
> 
> The Solo has a much nicer case than does the Prodigy Voice -- the Solo case is rigid and there's a place for lancets, lancet device, strips and meter and even control solution.
> 
> On the other hand, the Solo has the drawback that it has no "Say Display" key to repeat whatever is on the display. This means that in order to hear the reading you've just taken, you must pull out the strip and go back into Memory Mode to hear the reading. In addition, when reviewing readings in memory (or hearing the reading that you've just taken after lancing your finger), the time of the reading is not voiced even though it is on the print display and even though the *date* of readings in memory is spoken. To my mind, this is a serious, nay nearly fatal, drawback to the Solo in that I keep a written log of my readings with date/time as well as value of readings and don't always have a chance to write down the reading immediately.
> 
> On the other hand, the Solo allows you to flag a reading as being either before or after a meal or leave it unflagged and one can set an alarm to tell you when next to test although in truth I can see little need for such a feature.
> 
> According to two people whom I trust, the Solo software to download readings to a computer is *not* accessible with either JAWS or Window Eyes, this despite claims of some to the contrary. The Prodigy Voice software is also not acccessible.
> 
> And the Prodigy Voice case pulls a hard vacuum; I use a different case with it.
> 
> Bottom line: while there's mush about the Solo V2 to like, I'd still go with the prodigy Voice in that there is a Say Display key and one hears the date/time of every reading in memory. Wish the Prodigy Voice would say the date/time as the reading was being taken, though (it does say it when it is turned on).
> 
> HTH!
> 
> Mike Freeman, President
> Diabetes Action Network
> National Federation of the Blind
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan" <keysjd at comcast.net>
> To: <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 3:07 PM
> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] SoloMeter Questions
> 
> 
>> Hello All,
>> I've been away from the list for a while.
>> I am now getting ready to purchase the SoloMeter. I just wanted to get some opinions on what people think about it. Also, is it covered under Medicare and other primary insurance?
>> TIA
>> Dan
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> 
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