Customer Reviews

Accu-Chek Compact Plus Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring System

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and needed a reliable monitor. I am a health care professional and have used commercial Accu-Cheks and thought the Compact Plus would be a good unit. The set up was easy and the instructions were well written and easy to follow. The unit works well but with a few quirks. After the first drum was empty, I changed it with a new 17 strip Roche unit and turned it on. The unit would not accept the code and insisted all blood checks were control checks. I ended up throwing away a new drum and having to use another. Another feature I didn't like was the amount of blood needed for a test and having to precisely place the strip in the blood drop. I have vision problems and and wasted a lot of blood and strips trying to get a test to work. I used this unit for several weeks and ended up buying a Bayer Ascensia Contour which works much better and is much easier to use plus the strips are much cheaper. I compared results with both units and they have the same degree of accuracy. If you have good vision and like technological things, this would be a good unit. I like simple things that are easy to use and the Compact Plus did not meet my needs.

I decided to purchance a blood glucose test machine recently. I don't have diabeties, but since I am 40, and overweight, I decided to shell out some money and get a tester nothertheless to see what my blood sugar readings looked like. I wanted something easy, inexpensive, and worked.

This did it all. The machine comes with easy to follow instructions on how to get started and how to operate. I never needed to look up anything other than the "basic starting instructions" that come in the manual.

They looked like this..
1) How to turn on your machine and use it
2) How to test using included base sample mix
3) How to put in the 15 use drum and change the needle
4) How to test your blood

pretty easy. After reading it over got it up and running in about 10 minutes. No sweat. The reader comes with a 15 use test strip drum, a carrying case, a pack of 30 or so needle tabs (i don't remember what these are called). Poke needles are easy to insert in the side plunger mechanism. Take off cap, insert needle, twist, put cap back on.. To remove it after use, simple remove cap and push plunger down, needles drops into trash so you can insert another.

After inserting the drum with the test strips pushing the main button is all it takes to put out another test strip. Once done, pushing the button again drops the test strip out, and turns off until next use. Takes about 10 seconds to put in a needle and test your blood. Very quick and easy.

Now, any problems? The only problem I noticed was that the test strip didn't read the drop of blood very fast. You don't need a huge drop, but sometimes it worked right away in a few seconds, sometimes I sat there trying to get it to read for up to 30 seconds or so. The test strips and reader could use a little work on future models, but everything else worked easy and without a hitch.

And my blood glucose during the day ran from about 110-150ish. Not bad.

Their customer service is the best, they are open 24/7/365.
The drums are easy to drop in and pop out. Nothing to code or anything else. Just press the button, stick and test.

Try the new plus system.

My fancy One-Touch Ultra died, so my Ins Co sent me this one for free.

I LOVE the idea of having 17 strips on board, and how it automates the process.

Unit works well. It does what it is supposed to do.

Two minor issues:

1. The strips are the slowest 'sippers' I've ever seen. You can sit there with the entire end dunked in a big puddle of blood, and it can take 5-10 seconds for it to register. This really needs to be addressed with improved strips.

2. I've used a lot of lancet devices, and I HATE this one. It is clumsy as all get out. At least it has an ejector function. My old one's didn't, and I was forever stabbing myself trying to get the old lancet out.

Why Accu-Check didn't pair their very cool "Six-Shooter" with this drum strip reader is beyond my understanding. The "Six-Shooter" (aka MultiClix) lancet device uses drums like this reader, and holds 6 lancets that are automatically cycled with each pull of the 'trigger'. Even better, the sharp edges are never exposed, even after use.

I just ordered one for $15 from Amazon, as well as a box of Lancet drums.

Finally, it's a shame this one doesn't have a computer interface.

Accu-Chek Compact Drum Plus Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring System Because of the expense of test strips Mom has ended up with an assortment of meters. This one is definitely her favorite.
Almost fully automatic.