Customer Reviews

Microlife 3AX1-4U Premium Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor with Dot Matrix Technology

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been using the Microlife Blood Pressure monitor for 5 months now steady. It has been the easiest device to use that I ever bought. I got sick of using the arm-wrap device and decided to give this one a try. Best decision ever. Contrary to the earlier reviewers, I found the software to load easy and fast with no mistakes and I never read any instructions. It is very intuitive. The connecting cable is easy to use and the usb end is perfect for any computer (unless you are using a really old model). I take my BP 2-3 times a day with it, and after a week or 2 I hook it up to my laptop, open the program, set the device on PC-Link, and hit the data transfer button on the program. Presto! It charts and graphs systolic/diastolic and pulse. Couldn't be easier. I changed batteries (2-AAA) after 3-4 months. I set the device to remove the data from device memory after transferring to the laptop. Makes transfer quicker.

The BP monitor itself seems to work fine. It inflates fast automatically and the results are easy to read. However, the Amazon listing advertises 99 memories for each of two users whereas the manual says it's only 30 memories for each user.

The PC connectivity is suboptimal. Although the device uses USB, it's not a standard cable type (why do manufacturers do that?) and the software is non-intuitive simply because they tried to dumb it down enough to make it intuitive. It behaves like no other software so you have to learn it all from scratch. It makes the assumption that the software is being used by a doctor for multiple patients rather than by an individual in their own home.

The data that gets downloaded from the wrist device to the computer is also hard to export to a different program. Exported files are XML format which is all very nice and up-to-date, only it's really messy to read into Excel or other programs.

Another thing to be aware of with wrist mounted units is that you have to keep the unit at the same height as your heart with your arm relaxed in order to get accurate readings. That means, if you planned to wear the monitor like a watch and just press the measure button whenever you wanted, it's not going to work for you.

All in all, the PC data download part of the product is disappointing, so I'd think twice about spending the extra money on this functionality over a regular wrist mounted device.

This monitor is very easy to use. I don't use the PC communication so I can't comment on that. I borrowed a friend's monitor which he said he had verified the accuracy of with his doctor. When I used my monitor and his I came up with pretty much the exact same reading so it seems to be pretty accurate.

I was looking forward to the convenience of this wrist unit, and the ability to download scores, but I found it reads too high consistently. Microlife even replaced it quickly with a new one, but it also reads too much higher than my arm cuff unit. I will only use it in an emergency and will subtract 10-20 points from the BP values. (Also if the battery expires, you lose all the readings and settings.)

The device is easy to use and very portable. But, it has been many years since I've encountered such poorly designed and buggy software. Many features are not usable... for example: adding comments to the reading history. The button is there but no fields are enables when clicked. The cursor blinks indication entry but typing is not recognized. Even the date field can't be changed. They both remain at 01/01/0001.

The USB software is a nightmare. You can't assign COM port so it will interact with other USB software, like my PALM sync program. I guess if this were the only USB device on your computer you may be safe.

So, get the monitor but forget about using the software unless you love to solve puzzles.

This monitor gave me good service for 8 years. Why replace it? I've changed its batteries over the years, but this time something is not connecting. It starts to inflate, then stops and the message is "Low Batteries". The batteries are brand new, so the monitor must be old & tired. Time to get a new one. I'm not taking chances with an un-known product. I'm replacing it with the same model. Why? When ever I had my pressure taken in the doctors' office, I always went home and took my own, and both readings always matched. I never used the record keeping part and I was the only person using the devise. I kept it on my desk and used it a couple of times a week over the 8 years. Originally it was my Pharmacist that recommended this brand & model. Now, I'm recommending it.

I have had the unit for a month or so now. It reads consistantly high by 25 mmHg or so when I compare to readings on my Omron meter or the Albertson's meter.

Product works as advertised and you'd expect. Simple and very easy to use. One thing to keep in mind when using it; make sure you follow instructions carefully on placement of the cuff. If it's below your heart it'll read out high and cause needless concern.

I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to monitor their blood pressure any time and any where.

I just ordered my second 3AX1-4U as a replacement to the first one that got accidentally broken.

Every day I take my 87-year-old Dad and 80-year-old Mom's BP. They hated the arm cuff models because they hurt but love this one. Besides the customary usefulness of the immediate info from the readings, the computer link and software is amazing. Dad's not able to get into the doctor's office any more but the doc absolutely loves the sophisticated charts this unit generates. I mail them in to the doctor's office each month and they've actually been very useful. The USB cable is a bit weird but, oddly enough, it's been very sturdy and reliable.

When I went shopping for a replacement unit at Wal-mart they only had an arm cuff version from another manufacturer that hooks up to a computer. I really hope Microlife continues to market a software enabled wrist version for the many elderly folks that find an arm cuff version too uncomfortable.

The first set of batteries lasted almost a year! It's really accurate and easy to use but the software needs a little effort to learn and get installed. The accompanying software CD won't work in MS Vista but there's a Vista-compatible version on the Microlife website that will. Make sure you install MS's Vista service pack 1 to smooth out a few device driver bugs.

This unit is a hundred times more useful because of the computer generated charts that can be saved and used as a reference during medical treatments. They were a life saver the last time Dad ended up in the hospital. One of the resident physicians had ordered blood pressure medicine to lower Dad's BP but cancelled the script as soon as he saw the graphs for the last few months which showed an already low BP history. Great work, Microlife!

There are many features of this monitor that I love. It keeps track of 30 blood pressure readings for two users which can be loaded into a PC for analysis (software included). It can also be set to take your blood pressure once or automatically take three consecutive measurements and provide an average which should be more accurate. However, after comparing the readings to my standard arm cuff machine and with the one at my doctors office I found the Systolic measurement to be about 17% higher.