What about the other manufacturers?

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:07 pm

Have any of you ever wondered why the focus of this forum seems so heavily squewed toward ResMed, PB and Respironics?

Do none of us use machines from other manufacturers??

Nidek Medical makes Silenzio, Silenzio Plus and Silenzio Delta.

Medical Industries America Inc. makes a whole like called RemRest.

DeVilbiss (Horizon?) makes several machines.

Invacare makes a line called Polaris.

Viasys makes Orion and Pegasus (as well as Dorado and Delphinius -not available in the US)

Some Swedish crowd makes a line called Breas.

Weinmann makes a line called SomnoSmart.

If I had tons-o-coin I'd probably try out all of the different machines. As I mentioned in a previous thread about trying different masks, I have been invited by the powers-that-be to stop buying 'toys.' Ya, right.... have you met me? Stop buying toys? Never!

johnnygoodman · Post by **johnnygoodman** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:40 pm

Howdy,

I hope this thread catches a lot of interest and discussion as there are other machines out there worth considering.

At cpap.com, we like variety and choice. We balance this against market demand. We will typically post a new product for a week or two and see how it does. If it sells, it floats to the top and if it doesn't, it is eventually phased out.

An example of this is the 420G. When we first introduced it, we knew it was small and well built, but the company that made it didn't start with "res". We put it in the CPAP category, stood back, and watched it start floating up.

Right now, we are doing the same thing with one of the CPAPs you mentioned, the Somnotech Trend CPAP. It is a very silent machine built in the German engineering tradition.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Somnot ... ifier.html

The Devilbiss machine situation is another interesting one. They build solid, cheap machines but so far the customer demand hasn't been there. I would suggest that if the CPAP community is looking for a diamond in the rough, the Devilbiss line merits serious review.

Johnny

capt · Post by **capt** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:50 pm

WillSucceed, my first machine was an apap LT made by DeVilbiss(Sunrise Medical). DeVilbiss was the machine they used for my initial sleep study. My diagnosis was severe apnea and my pressures required an apap for treatment. I decided to buy the DeVilbiss, because things went so well when I used it for my sleep study. Another reason was that the DME here in Calgary had it on sale. I really liked it and it is now being used by my brother. It is almost seven years old now, and is still going strong. It is not as quiet as my new AutoSpirit, but I consider it a great machine. I also used a DeVilbiss mask. I cannot remember the model number, but the gasket seal was extremely fragile. It tore when it was less than a month old. There is nothing like waking up to the noise of an apap running like a jet exhaust. I bought a new seal and it tore again in less than two months. With the gaskets prices at $70(Canadian), this was one very expensive mask. I replaced it with a Ultra Mirage, which worked very good for me for a number of years. I now use an Activa when I got my AutoSpirit, and my brother is now using the Ultra Mirage.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): mirage, activa, DME, seal, APAP

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 2:50 pm

I'd been wondering about that on and off, thanks for bringing it up.
O.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 2:50 pm

I am trialling an F&P (older 221LE model) and also want to get my hands ona DeVillbiss, all I hear about them is what good machines they are - I am holding out for a 9001D.

My F&P is with a friend who tried it & really liked it (a RemStar user as am I).

I plan to do reports on all of the ones I have tried but that could be weeks if not months.

I also plan to creat a photo gallery of them all.

Cheers

DSM

snork1 · Post by **snork1** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:15 pm

I think it boils down to the fact that these are PRICEY machines to "experiment" with and I have yet to find a DME or anyone else that will let you "trial" more than one or two major brand models, at MOST.

Its hard enough to find info and reviews on the "main brands" much less the more obscure machines, so once its out of pocket, most people can't afford to buy a pile of machines, like they do masks.

Anyway, that is the only reason I hold back. Just simple economics. As a techno geek and designer of things like this, I would certainly love to check out and/or own a bunch of different machines.

Now if anyone wants me to trial a bunch of machines for free and give reviews on them, I am certainly willing to sign up for THAT.

johnnygoodman · Post by **johnnygoodman** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:45 pm

Snork,

The "CPAP Interviews and Reviews" section was created to review products in the market and let people know about products on the way. Its an attempt at what you would like to see. I think its been a positive cpaptalk.com section but it could use some improvement.

Many on cpaptalk value user reviews and want to know more about the products they aren't currently using without buying them. This could be solved fairly easily if a small number of people began writing up and sending in reviews for products not currently listed in the CPAP Interviews and Reviews section.

Another method of "reviewing" a product is figuring out what the well informed cpap'ers on cpaptalk use, then releasing those numbers. This is one more reason we support the My Equipment section, we think that the aggregate of all My Equipments would be very interesting reading for newbies and vet cpaptalkers alike.

Johnny

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 4:37 pm

johnnygoodman wrote:
Another method of "reviewing" a product is figuring out what the well informed cpap'ers on cpaptalk use, then releasing those numbers. This is one more reason we support the My Equipment section, we think that the aggregate of all My Equipments would be very interesting reading for newbies and vet cpaptalkers alike.

Johnn

John,

Do you have any influence with ResMed ? - I live 10 kms from their HQ in Sydney & was planning to talk to them re reviewing some of their products - I own an S7 & S8.

If you do have influence with them (like a good contact & someone with some imagination), pls PM & I will discuss some ideas for reviews I have.

Cheers

DSM

Janelle · Post by **Janelle** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 6:51 pm

There are many appealing things i noticed about the SomnoTech. Front readout and buttons instead of on top like most machines. And it has a sensor line like the 420s. Dimensions weren't given, but gauging by the size of the humidifier tank, it appears to be only slightly bigger than the 420. And that's a very good price for an APAP with humidifier included.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:04 pm

DSM
I love my DeVilbiss autopap AALT model 8054 (currently has more than 13,000 hours use). The software charts are okay. Go for the autopap.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:15 pm

I think the DMEs create the demand and they usually carry the big three. We need to somehow get cpap care away from these inept idiots and get it mainstream and then I think we would have more choice.

I would imagine marketing is weak for a lot of these companies. If it was done like pharmaceuticals to the doctors, that would help as well.

snork1 · Post by **snork1** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:02 pm

[quote="rock and roll"]......I would imagine marketing is weak for a lot of these companies. If it was done like pharmaceuticals to the doctors, that would help as well.

3isles · Post by **3isles** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:02 pm

I am bumping this up because I like this thread.

I am bored with the same old same old.

I think there should be xpaps sold in the furniture/mattress stores. All the varieties of xpaps available to try on while you are trying the mattresses. (BYOM* of course)

I mean think about it. The mattresses cost about the same as the xpaps some are definately pricier than others and the stores keep samples of each of them in the store so why not xpap?

I am totally and completely serious......
but also pretty sleep deprived just at the moment and so perhaps delerious????

*bring your own mask

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:47 am

3isles, I'm glad you bumped this thread up. I'd forgotten about it. Interesting reading.

3isles · Post by **3isles** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:31 pm

Thanks Rested Gal,
there is such a lot of really cool info and stuff in this forum.

What about the other manufacturers?

What about the other manufacturers?

Other machines

ResMed