Dreamstation Go Review

[juaquin]

Update: Used the Go for five nights on an international trip. I used it with the Q-tube muffler, which required bringing a "normal" tube rather than their special 12mm one, in this case the 15mm Resmed Slimline tube. Also used the HDM heat/moisture exchanger and P10 mask.

My opinion is still pretty much the same - with the muffler and HME the noise was fine, a little louder than my Airsense 10 but still good. I did find that with Flex (exhalation relief) disabled there was a faint high pitched electronic whine during the exhale which could keep me awake once I noticed it. Turning on Flex set to 1 mostly fixed this and I slept fine. I found C-Flex to be better than A-Flex - it felt like A-Flex was trying to guess when I would inhale/exhale and was wrong or too quick.

Humidification wasn't great - this is probably worsened by the P10 having it's own short hose, which means the HME is pretty far away and not a lot of your breath makes it there. With something like the F20/F30 masks it would probably be better since they connect right at the face. I didn't have a problem with dry sinuses, but it was a little less comfortable than the humidification of the Airsense, especially in the early morning after using it for several hours.

There's been some talk about the differences between Resmed and Respironic's algorithms - I can't say I noticed any substantial difference. My sleep wasn't great thanks to the time change so I can't blame that on the algorithm. Sleepyhead does show 2-3 obstructive events per night where I rarely get 1 on my Airsense, but you could blame that on the way it flags things or other causes.

I'm really happy about the size of the unit - I traveled with a single 30L backpack and that was incredibly convenient. In my opinion it's worth the trade-offs compared to a full size machine.

[CPAPSteve]

I am on the verge of pulling the trigger on either the Dreamstation Go or the AirMini but I am so on the fence on the matter. The lack of humidification is what scares me. I live in a very dry climate and I can’t imagine no humidity. Since your HME didn’t work too good with the P10 I wonder how well the AirMini’s HumidX system would work.

Honestly almost everything about Dreamstation GO trumps the AirMini except for size and weight. I wonder if Philips will ever make a humidifier for the DSGo like they suggested when they released the unit back in May 2017.

I hate being tied to proprietary systems and Resmed AirMini just seems so limiting in their mask and hose options. On CPAP.com there are exponentially more reviews of the AirMini than the DSGo. That implies to me that more people chose the AirMini more by a considerable margin.

[juaquin]

Yeah ResMed is more popular for home machines (the Airsense 10) so I assume most people go with what they know, and the AirMini is slightly smaller/lighter so I'm sure that helps too. From an objective standpoint the DS Go has a lot of advantages though - full data, integrated power supply, available battery, touchscreen, optional 12mm tube, it's quieter, and no proprietary connectors that limit hose/mask choice.

I haven't tried the Humid-X on the AirMini so I can't compare humidification, but I think anything less than heated water humidification will probably never be better than "acceptable". The HME was good enough to not cause issues but that's it - I suspect Humid-X is probably in a similar category.

[CPAPSteve]

I ended up picking up a ResMed AirMini because:

1. They had it in stock and they had to special order a DSGo (they are a PR dealer but rarely sell the DSGo and therefore don't stock it).
2. I by chance had a new in box DC/DC converter specifically for the AirMini so that was a $150 savings for a converter that I probably would've purchased in the future anyways. If I went with the DSGo I'd have to buy an inverter and presumably to buy a good one that it won't be cheap.
3. The masks I use are all the ones supported by ResMed AirMini's ecosystem (F20/F30/P10) so no problems there.
4. Humidity IS a possibility with the AirMini today but not on the DSGo. I called PR and they said, nope - no humidifier on the horizon - bummer
5. The AirMini is still half the size of the DSGo and is lighter in weight even with the wall wart.

The matching PR DSGo battery pack wasn't a compelling enough reason for me to go with DSGo b/c I would be better off buying a Medistrom Pilot 24 that could power the Air Mini, Airsense 10 AND the DSGo - in other words a Medistrom battery can power my current home and AirMini travel unit. The PR unit for the DSGo is well.... only meant for the DSGo.

The AirMini unit itself is reasonably quiet but the fitting for the F20 is noisy and the humidX fitting for the P10/N20 mask is even noisier. Only time will tell if I go insane hearing the hissing noises. I suspect not but I haven't slept with it yet - I intend to use it tonight to see how it fares.

Will report back my findings in a few days.

[realshelby]

The noise that seems to come from the hose into the mask was unbearable for me with the Z1. Sounds like there is some of that with the AirMini. I solved mine with a different hose. While that isn't easy on the Airmini, maybe there are adaptors or something available? The Q-tube did help with overall noise, but I never tried it with the standard hose to see how it worked on the internal noise that seems to be in the mask.

Travel machines are certainly not without compromise!

[DreamDiver]

Yeah ResMed is more popular for home machines (the Airsense 10) so I assume most people go with what they know, and the AirMini is slightly smaller/lighter so I'm sure that helps too. From an objective standpoint the DS Go has a lot of advantages though - full data, integrated power supply, available battery, touchscreen, optional 12mm tube, it's quieter, and no proprietary connectors that limit hose/mask choice.

I haven't tried the Humid-X on the AirMini so I can't compare humidification, but I think anything less than heated water humidification will probably never be better than "acceptable". The HME was good enough to not cause issues but that's it - I suspect Humid-X is probably in a similar category.

Thanks for an insightful review and followups. I'm curious whether the difference in pressure relief algorithms between Resmed and PR machines is something that you've noticed or has had any effect on your AHI or general sense of good sleep.

[juaquin]

I'm curious whether the difference in pressure relief algorithms between Resmed and PR machines is something that you've noticed or has had any effect on your AHI or general sense of good sleep.

I used the DS Go twice at home before taking it on the trip. Both nights I slept fine and my AHI was normal. I didn't notice any difference in the algorithms, at least nothing that woke me up or made me feel worse.

During the trip my sleep was worse, but I blame 99% of that on the time change (California to Spain). My AHI stayed roughly the same.

[DreamDiver]

I used the DS Go twice at home before taking it on the trip. Both nights I slept fine and my AHI was normal. I didn't notice any difference in the algorithms, at least nothing that woke me up or made me feel worse.

During the trip my sleep was worse, but I blame 99% of that on the time change (California to Spain). My AHI stayed roughly the same.

Thanks

[Little Prince]

Thank you for posting the detailed review.

[juaquin]

I'm not sure if this was posted elsewhere, but wanted to let everyone know the humidifier has finally been released for the Go. I have one on order and will update this review when I get the chance to use it. Huge game changer that you can get a travel CPAP with real humidification.

https://www.thecpapshop.com/blog/dreams ... er-review/

[juaquin]

Quick update - humidifier arrived. I haven't done a night with it yet but did test it briefly. A few interesting things:

* It comes with a micro SD card and instructions on how to use the card to upgrade the firmware on the machine to include the humidifier features. This is cool, and also really interesting as it's the only machine I'm aware of where the user is able to upgrade it.

* There are some interesting baffles and a "manifold" which controls airflow direction with valves inside the tank. This is unusual compared to the AirSense 10 tank, for example, which is only a tank with some in and out ports and a gasket. The manifold may help maintain pressure despite the larger dead volume, since these machines with their small blowers work very hard to generate pressure as it is.

* It makes the system quieter at the mask, but the machine itself seems to make more noise given the additional new vent over the intake. Fair trade in my opinion since you can place the machine on the floor to avoid most of that noise. This will negate the need to use the Q-tube muffler, which is good since you can not use the muffler with a humidifier.

* It's very light. Overall I think the whole system is about double the weight of the AirMini system (including power brick), but I think this is well worth the trade off to have real humidification (plus the other perks like full data for sleepyhead, less noise, compatibility with any hose and mask, touchscreen, etc)

Will update again once I get the chance to use it.

[dakuda]

I've used the new humidifier.

I found the Go much better with it. The water lasted all night for me and it was much more comfortable to use overall. I would say that it works well and was long overdue. It's still not like the home unit, but it's much closer.

As for the question about size that I saw earlier in the thread, here is a comparison of all the Dreamstation vs Dreamstation Go configurations that has been posted in another thread as well. I updated it after getting the humidifier.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3UEGdTg1wngN7sQ9A

[chunkyfrog]

I notice that this machine can run off a USB power supply, (((I WAS WRONG)))
Turns out, the USB is so you don't need an extra outlet to charge your PHONE.

[juaquin]

I don't believe it can run off a normal USB supply. You could potentially use a USB-C PD charger or battery with a trigger adapter, but it would need to support 20V (operating voltage 18-24V) at 2.5A (official battery is rated for 50W), which many PD chargers do not. This is quite a bit more power than a simple USB adaptor you use to charge your phone is capable of.

Then you would need to connect all that to the CPAP's DC input. See earlier in this thread for some info on the special connector, it's a Molex style.

And that's without the humidifier - you can not use the DC input with the humidifier because it requires significantly more energy. I believe this is locked out in the software, regardless of whether you use your own battery or theirs.

If you're interested, there's some info on using USB-C to run these kinds of devices here: viewtopic/t174496/How-to-run-a-ResMed-A ... -bank.html

Honestly I think buying their official battery is the better idea for air travel, and for car travel (camping, etc) I would probably recommend a deep cycle battery with an inverter. Yes, inverters aren't super efficient, but it would allow you to use the humidifier.

[juaquin]

Quick update - took the Go with the new humidifier on a three night trip. The humidifier doesn't add much size or weight but made a huge difference in comfort for me. The humidification is excellent, but it also made the noise transmitted through the tube almost non-existent. Really happy with what Philips Respironics has done here. I think this is without question the best travel machine on the market now.