Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Compact vs. Ultra



It was awesome.
It was amazing.
It was about to rock my teenage world.

So, when the CDE handed me an One Touch Ultra,
promising me I'd love it, I took her word for it +
tried it out. After all- it was the era of change, and
I wasn't particularly emotionally attached to my brick
of an AccuChek.
5,4,3,2,1. Whoo Baby, I'm sold. Have 508, have latest
meter-I'm going places.

6 years later,I've pretty much stuck w/my Ultra +
Ultrasmart, tried the Freestyle(and the Cozmo
attachment), but my insurance company doesn't cover
those strips(at all) + I figure, it's not really a
battle worth fighting. I like my Ultras,+ I'm lucky to
have good coverage on them.
Even if I won the (Freestyle strip)appeal, the out of
network copay would still be too expensive for me to
afford..

I've heard of the Accuchek Compact, when I saw a deal
at the local drugstore, I bought it. Yeah, I know
you're NOT supposed to spend any money on a meter but
I'll get the $10 back anyway(mail in rebate). And it
comes with 17 strips. (check out retail strip prices-
+ this is actually cheap...)

Will it be big?
Will it be bulky?
Will it be a blood sucking vampire from the Black
Lagoon?
Will the bg values correlate well to my Ultrasmart?

Check it out:















Not much bigger then an Ultrasmart.(Although, you can't tell that from the picture)

The size of the strips:
(Compact versus Ultra)















And the stabber isn't bad at all- I was able to get a
big enough drop out of the 2nd depth setting. It takes
about half as much blood as the Ultra.

On the back, there's a test strip counter(showing how
many strips are left in that particular drum):















I think this might be a good "work" meter, I'm always
forgetting my lancet device/and/or/strips. All you
have to remember is the meter,and maybe a backup drum
of strips(if the counter is running low that day).
Very convenient.

Ultra vs. Compact:

119 mg/dl- Compact


123 mg/dl- Ultra

On Ebay, strip deals abound, and these are cheaper then many
(100 for under $30) cost wise, it's defiantly a keeper.
Although I am not totally ditching my Ultra, the
Compact may yet find a spot in my heart. This thing is EASY- you just push a button, the strip pops out/meter turns on, you stab your finger, hold it up to the strip + 8 seconds later, there's your reading. Punch the button again-and the strip pops out/meter turns off.