palerider wrote:...
I've long recommended meeting at some place like starbucks, where there's people around for safety, and ready access to electrical outlets to plug in and check out the machine....
after what you posted, taking along a notebook with sleepyhead to read the SD card might be a good idea too!!!
A notebook with Sleepyhead would be a great item and should go on the list, but to make it practical for a newbie searching for their first machine they would need a sample file to get comfortable where to find the needed data in sleepyhead. I didn't find any such file available so I decided I would wait until after receiving my machine to install sleepyhead. In retrospect I should have made myself known and asked for such a sample file before I began shopping. I don't know if you can get into the files and remove any personal information, or whether any exists other than the record data, to share such a file safely? The serial number is probably encrypted in some proprietary manner but is there any danger in sharing a serial number?
We met in a parking lot but in this case she had an AC adapter that plugged into her cigarette lighter because I told her we would need to meet where I could plug it in, which might be another "nice to have" item but I am not sure all machines will run on the modified square wave produced by the cheaper AC converters and generators. This one did and most probably will run, but given all the sensitive components that exist I would not feel comfortable with a cheap one and a pure sine wave converter might be too expensive if not needed for other stuff. A very cheap pure DC power supply could be fashioned from any old 12v battery clipped to a plug from radio shack and a few of the most common adapters to power a remstar. A set of jumper cables will turn it into a 24V supply after quickly wiring it in series with the vehicle battery if needed to power a resmed. My camping friends call me the "gizmo guy" because my site is full of cheap electronics and tools used for purposes often not intended but my methods, while often marveled at, are rarely emulated so it might not be for everyone.
After my experience I would also suggest taking a snapshot of their license plate or even driver license if you can pull it off. I do not think I bought a stolen machine but later I considered turning her in for fraud or maybe trying to regain some of my inflated cost via civil means. I dismissed the idea mostly because I just wanted to put it behind me but also because I would have no way of attempting to identify her except a craigslist ad and IP address on her email both of which can be problematic to track even for law enforcement if they lead to an empty parking lot next to an open WiFi router.
Going inside a starbucks or similar place was not a real option because of time and location plus I would have felt rushed for concern for her husband sitting in the car. Her husband never left the car when we met and he was in obvious physical distress suffering from many visible maladies and apparent seizures the entire time. It was considering how obviously miserable he was and pity for the situation he put/found himself that he must depend on such a horrid person that I finally was able to resist turning my back and driving away in disgust.
Plus the fact, and this is something many people who know me would be shocked or laugh hysterically to hear me say, I would not have felt comfortable being seen with her in public. She was much younger than him (or myself) but displayed the mannerisms of a desperate streetwalker who had traded her heart for a pop tart and lost her brains in the bargain. The only solace I can derive from giving that flea bag low life scum sucker the satisfaction of meeting me in a moment of weakness and in too much need to protect myself properly was that I was able to start my treatment possibly a week earlier than I would have otherwise. Quality of life is a bargain at any price when you find yourself below your limit of endurance. I did not mean to get carried away. This last paragraph is just to warn craigslist shoppers to brace themselves for anything. I may have been venting and over stating for emphasis. She was actually very sweet. Sticky sweet. I had to clean the syrup and sugar off my arm where she kept patting it.
I hope it is not thread drift talking about such tools for a newbie but it fits this topic and provides info for any of the newbie shoppers who might be attracted to the title of the thread.