Tank-BiPAP Auto & M Series-Auto Detailed & Visual

[Snoredog]

any way you look at it, that M series is one idiotic design dud at best.

How many machines does a cpap company have to manufacture to figure out where the damn hose should be coming out? so it doesn't require an elbow to use it?

Then they find out that if you crank up the humidifier up too high and get rainout that it will leak from the swivel elbow and ruin your nightstand. To resolve that problem and the claims of water damaged night stands they simply took out the near 90 degree elbow from the package.

So if you want that elbow, you now have to pay for it extra, then its your own risk if it damages your night stand. As you can see it is pretty hard to use it without that elbow, if you face the ass end of the machine towards the bed then filling the humidifier tank becomes a pain. You also have the noisy end of the machine now facing you. Of course you don't want to be moving that machine around because the chance of it sloshing water out and flooding out your bedroom is so great.

It is kind of like Chevy trucks a few years back they did well, then they got a new design Engineer in to design new models and they went from Like a Rock with the best looking trucks back in 2000, to today's How ugly can we make them.

The only thing that the M series has going for it is the few added features like Auto:Ramp and the LCD data, but then the LCD data they couldn't give you individual OA and HI information. Then the thing loses data right and left, it couldn't log a CA event accurately. The closer you look at that M series machine the worse it gets.

The sad thing about the Remstar Classic is it is discontinued as of last January, so you will be lucky going forward finding replacement parts for it although FTC dictates they have to stock replacement parts for 7yrs after production discontinuance notice. But it doesn't mean they have to sell them to you cheap.

Technology wise the Respironics has pretty good technology inside with digital autotrack, X-flex etc. but without that those features, those machines are really bad. The SmartCard data download process is simply as stupid as it can be made. I bet doctors don't even use that unless they absolutely have to and if they do they get it for free. At least they did design the card slot in a replacable module where they could come out with a SD card slot if they wanted to. But the machine doesn't have a Real Time clock chip inside, it relys on the chip on the SmartCard, so if you want any kind of reports they have to have the clock chip in what ever they use. Clock chips are dirt cheap, even the 420e has a clock chip and you can adjust the time if you want. If the 420e had some kind of exhale relief it would smoke any machine out there. But if your pressure isn't too high it works great without it.

Those M series BLUE LED's, how many times have we read you should keep your room as dark as possible?

What does Respironics do? they build a machine with the brightest blue LED's possible then don't give you any way of turning them off. If it had a stinking clock chip it could easily display the time on your ceiling. You have to take black electrical tape and tape a business card over them so you can have the room dark enough to sleep. That makes that machine look really good. You should see what they say when I take mine traveling and see that business card taped to the top covering the lights, I get this laugh and WTF is that? Ah man that is my light dimmer.

They should fire the whole design team for that machine and start from scratch. The bad part is we have to live with those lousy machines for the next 5 years or so. If you are using Bipap even worse, they will keep the Classic around for a while but the Bipap has always lagged behind just as they have now, with the Bipap being the last model switched to the new design. We are only a few months away from the M series being out a year now.

Did I mention the M series design was a joke?

[WearyOne]

Except for the wacky humidifier, I really like my M series. Never had a leak and I never started using an elbow connection until I got the heated hose. I don't keep it on my nightstand, but use a small two-shelf stand with an open back that sits on the other side of the nightstand from my bed. It's on the second shelf, so the blue lights aren't that bright. Besides, I like a little light in the room at night anyway.

snoredog, the SmartCard data download procedure, what about the procedure is stupid? I'm curious, as I haven't started doing that yet.

The 420E auto looks good to me, and I hear the software is good, too, but even with my fairly low pressure, I want the C-Flex, as least now in my early stages of treatment.

Pam

[dsm]

[quote="Snoredog"]any way you look at it, that M series is one idiotic design dud at best.

How many machines does a cpap company have to manufacture to figure out where the damn hose should be coming out? so it doesn't require an elbow to use it?

Then they find out that if you crank up the humidifier up too high and get rainout that it will leak from the swivel elbow and ruin your nightstand. To resolve that problem and the claims of water damaged night stands they simply took out the near 90 degree elbow from the package.

So if you want that elbow, you now have to pay for it extra, then its your own risk if it damages your night stand. As you can see it is pretty hard to use it without that elbow, if you face the ass end of the machine towards the bed then filling the humidifier tank becomes a pain. You also have the noisy end of the machine now facing you. Of course you don't want to be moving that machine around because the chance of it sloshing water out and flooding out your bedroom is so great.

It is kind of like Chevy trucks a few years back they did well, then they got a new design Engineer in to design new models and they went from Like a Rock with the best looking trucks back in 2000, to today's How ugly can we make them.

The only thing that the M series has going for it is the few added features like Auto:Ramp and the LCD data, but then the LCD data they couldn't give you individual OA and HI information. Then the thing loses data right and left, it couldn't log a CA event accurately. The closer you look at that M series machine the worse it gets.

The sad thing about the Remstar Classic is it is discontinued as of last January, so you will be lucky going forward finding replacement parts for it although FTC dictates they have to stock replacement parts for 7yrs after production discontinuance notice. But it doesn't mean they have to sell them to you cheap.

Technology wise the Respironics has pretty good technology inside with digital autotrack, X-flex etc. but without that those features, those machines are really bad. The SmartCard data download process is simply as stupid as it can be made. I bet doctors don't even use that unless they absolutely have to and if they do they get it for free. At least they did design the card slot in a replacable module where they could come out with a SD card slot if they wanted to. But the machine doesn't have a Real Time clock chip inside, it relys on the chip on the SmartCard, so if you want any kind of reports they have to have the clock chip in what ever they use. Clock chips are dirt cheap, even the 420e has a clock chip and you can adjust the time if you want. If the 420e had some kind of exhale relief it would smoke any machine out there. But if your pressure isn't too high it works great without it.

Those M series BLUE LED's, how many times have we read you should keep your room as dark as possible?

What does Respironics do? they build a machine with the brightest blue LED's possible then don't give you any way of turning them off. If it had a stinking clock chip it could easily display the time on your ceiling. You have to take black electrical tape and tape a business card over them so you can have the room dark enough to sleep. That makes that machine look really good. You should see what they say when I take mine traveling and see that business card taped to the top covering the lights, I get this laugh and WTF is that? Ah man that is my light dimmer.

They should fire the whole design team for that machine and start from scratch. The bad part is we have to live with those lousy machines for the next 5 years or so. If you are using Bipap even worse, they will keep the Classic around for a while but the Bipap has always lagged behind just as they have now, with the Bipap being the last model switched to the new design. We are only a few months away from the M series being out a year now.

Did I mention the M series design was a joke?

[Snoredog]

Snores,

Just wanted to remind you that a lot of people have purchased the M series in good faith and generally have little room to manouvre & thus have to stick with what they have chosen & while it has some quirks (as do most models & brands (could do a whole thread on that topic alone) your style of comment can be upsetting to M series owners.

Try to stick to plain facts & unemotional dialog unless you really are intending upsetting these owners.

We know you have got excited about your PB420E (a nice machine) but do remember that many people don't have the finances nor luxury of trying everything on the market.

I am saying this because there are many who regard you as something of an authority on Respironics products & thus might be somewhat surprised at your above post.

DSM

Yeah your right, even in your drunken stupor, you would have probably preferred I give it an award instead, so that is doable:

[blarg]

So if you want that elbow, you now have to pay for it extra

Actually, my M Series came with a black double swiveling elbow to connect the hose to. It exactly matches the plastic that makes up the case for the machine, so I doubt it's not made by Respironics. Could cost extra, but I'm pretty convinced my DME wouldn't do me any favors...

[blarg]

snoredog, the SmartCard data download procedure, what about the procedure is stupid?

1) Remove the card from the machine.
2) Put it in the reader.
3) Start download.
4) Remove card.
5) Replace in machine.

Sounds pretty sane to me.

If he means that there are missing days from time to time, then yes, that does happen with the Autos, but is supposedly fixed with Encore 1.8i. There's no way we can be sure though until the M Auto users are on Encore 1.8i for a few months and haven't lost any days.

[dsm]

Snores,

Just wanted to remind you that a lot of people have purchased the M series in good faith and generally have little room to manouvre & thus have to stick with what they have chosen & while it has some quirks (as do most models & brands (could do a whole thread on that topic alone) your style of comment can be upsetting to M series owners.

Try to stick to plain facts & unemotional dialog unless you really are intending upsetting these owners.

We know you have got excited about your PB420E (a nice machine) but do remember that many people don't have the finances nor luxury of trying everything on the market.

I am saying this because there are many who regard you as something of an authority on Respironics products & thus might be somewhat surprised at your above post.

DSM

Yeah your right, even in your drunken stupor, you would have probably preferred I give it an award instead, so that is doable:

<nipped>
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Snoredog,

There is no need or the vulgar images, no need for the personal comments. Just deal with the facts of the post. If you disagree point out where & why.



DSM

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[blarg]

There is no need or the vulgar images, no need for the personal comments. Just deal with the facts of the post. If you disagree point out where & why.

I agree with you 100%. Best of luck getting him to actually try it for a change though...

[Wulfman]

Great stuff. When I got my tank a few weeks ago, I thought I wanted an M. Fortunately my DME was out but said I could trade when they got them in. I liked the tank and mine is very quiet, cpap not xpap, and wulfman spoke highly of it so I kept it.

Wish you had posted this a couple weeks ago. I thought I was using my humidifier and even changed the setting without much water loss. I just assumed mine did not use much for some reason. As I was changing settings last night, I accidently turned the humidifier heat on. my rt never told me about needing to do that and I foolishly assumed it was on since I had it set to be on. Oh well. Used more than half a tank on the 2 setting last night. It was more comfortable.

Again, my stupid smartcard shoulda told me that!

Jaggles,

I hope you're not disappointed. I love mine.



blarg,

Thanks for the visuals and comparisons. I've never been sorry with MY choices. Many times I've reflected on the fact that I'm glad I got into this therapy when I did.

Best wishes,

Den

[WearyOne]

snoredog, the SmartCard data download procedure, what about the procedure is stupid?

1) Remove the card from the machine.
2) Put it in the reader.
3) Start download.
4) Remove card.
5) Replace in machine.

Sounds pretty sane to me.

If he means that there are missing days from time to time, then yes, that does happen with the Autos, but is supposedly fixed with Encore 1.8i. There's no way we can be sure though until the M Auto users are on Encore 1.8i for a few months and haven't lost any days.

Thanks, blarg. I thought that was all there was to it, but then I read the other post and thought maybe I was missing something somwhere!

Pam

[Jaggles]

Great stuff. When I got my tank a few weeks ago, I thought I wanted an M. Fortunately my DME was out but said I could trade when they got them in. I liked the tank and mine is very quiet, cpap not xpap, and wulfman spoke highly of it so I kept it.

Wish you had posted this a couple weeks ago. I thought I was using my humidifier and even changed the setting without much water loss. I just assumed mine did not use much for some reason. As I was changing settings last night, I accidently turned the humidifier heat on. my rt never told me about needing to do that and I foolishly assumed it was on since I had it set to be on. Oh well. Used more than half a tank on the 2 setting last night. It was more comfortable.

Again, my stupid smartcard shoulda told me that!

Jaggles,

I hope you're not disappointed. I love mine.



blarg,

Thanks for the visuals and comparisons. I've never been sorry with MY choices. Many times I've reflected on the fact that I'm glad I got into this therapy when I did.

Best wishes,

Den

[JohnK]

I just finished a 2 week trial of a M-series APAP w/ the 1.8i Encore Pro software. When I downloaded my data yesterday it showed compliance usage hours for Friday and Saturday night, but did not show the pressure over time page for Saturday night. Is this the missing data bug you are referring to? If so, it still exists with 1.8i

I found it to be loud, but not consistently. Some nights I couldn't hear it at all, other nights it would start out quiet but the high-pitched noise seemed to get worse over the course of the night. First thought was it could be louder due to increased pressure, but I turned it off and back on and the noise continued.

[Snoredog]

snoredog, the SmartCard data download procedure, what about the procedure is stupid?

1) Remove the card from the machine.
2) Put it in the reader.
3) Start download.
4) Remove card.
5) Replace in machine.

Sounds pretty sane to me.

If he means that there are missing days from time to time, then yes, that does happen with the Autos, but is supposedly fixed with Encore 1.8i. There's no way we can be sure though until the M Auto users are on Encore 1.8i for a few months and haven't lost any days.

[WearyOne]

snoredog, I don't understand a lot of what you said, but regarding Encore Pro running all the time, are you saying all you have to do is go into msconfig and delete the Encore program from the "Startup" menu so it's not running all the time when you're not using it? If that's all it is, that's simple--and believe me, I'm NOT a computer geek, although I'd like to be!

Pam

[Guest]

There is no need or the vulgar images, no need for the personal comments. Just deal with the facts of the post. If you disagree point out where & why.

I agree with you 100%. Best of luck getting him to actually try it for a change though...

Blarg,

Where there is a spark of life there is still hope

I know the spark of life is there, just a void when it comes to interpersonal communications & human sensitivity. But we can only but hope. Most children grow past this phase with help from caring parents.

Cheers D