Buy Now or Wait for New Respironics?

[Hawkeye]

I was just diagnosed with sleep apnea and have not purchased a machine yet.

After having had my second sleep study, this one with CPAP, asking advise from someone knowledgable, and looking at my choices on the Internet, it looked like the Respironics APAP with C-flex was the unit I want.

However, after reading the review of the M-series I'm now worried that if I buy now my machine will be obsolete in a couple of months.

Any one know when Respironics will start to sell the M-series APAP machines?

I guess my choices are to wait, buy a another machine, buy the current machine and hope I haven't sunk money into an orphan or buy another smaller "travel" machine in the meantime to later just use for travel.

I'm inclined to just wait at this point. Although my diagnosis was "severe" sleep apnea I'm not excited about doing this. My first experience didn't seem all that beneficial.

Any advice?

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, C-FLEX, CPAP, APAP, Travel

[idahogal]

The M series is available now. Here is the link https://www.cpap.com/productpage-advanced.php?PNum=2179

[mikemoran]

Last year I felt the same way when I got my S7 APAP when I knew the S8 was right around the corner. Supposedly the M series APAP will be available at the end of June. The problem is that date may slip, the manufacturers are not very precise with their product introductions. With FDA involved and getting the actual production underway that is not suprising.

My suggestion would be get the current Remstar. Sure it may not be as small but it is a proven machine and has good software. It is not like it will be obsolete when the M comes out. Too many use it so it will be fully supported. If your apnea is severe you need therapy as soon as possible.

You could start out with the basic CPAP most insurances provide, but the APAP will be much easier to adapt to during the critical start up phase of therapy. You really need to decide if the latest and greatest really gives you more than what is top of the line right now. I just know that delaying therapy will be harder on you than the extra bells and whistles are worth. Especially if you ending up waiting until August or September.

My 3 cents

[Hawkeye]

The M series is available now. Here is the link https://www.cpap.com/productpage-advanced.php?PNum=2179

As far as I can tell those are strictly CPAP machines and I am interested in the A(uto)PAP models. Thanks.

[Hawkeye]

[quote="mikemoran"]
My suggestion would be get the current Remstar. Sure it may not be as small but it is a proven machine and has good software. It is not like it will be obsolete when the M comes out. Too many use it so it will be fully supported. If your apnea is severe you need therapy as soon as possible.

You could start out with the basic CPAP most insurances provide, but the APAP will be much easier to adapt to during the critical start up phase of therapy. You really need to decide if the latest and greatest really gives you more than what is top of the line right now. I just know that delaying therapy will be harder on you than the extra bells and whistles are worth. Especially if you ending up waiting until August or September.

My 3 cents

[oldgearhead]

There was a nearly-new one on eBay this AM. They have yanked it. If
she did not make a deal, with people who contacted her from the 2 day
eBay exposure, she will list it on Yahoo Auctions, Friday.

BTW - If you want to save some big bucks, Yahoo Auctions has several
RemStar Pro units for sale. You might pick up one of these for $200.00
and wait till the 'Auto M' comes out.

[greeby]

Got my Remstar Auto about three weeks ago. My DME told me that as soon as the new M series auto came out the regional rep rep said he would trade the Auto for the M series auto at no charge.

Maybe you could try and make the same deal??

[Goofproof]

Let's see old APAP, proven product Estmated life span 2 to 5 years, reliable, gob's of them out there OR New "M" APAP, not avaiable, quality untested, life span untested, Not much of a choice here folks, Of course, it's New and Shiney, Of Course we have to get the "M", after all why take a chance on one we know works and holds up.

Maybe next year they will come out with the "O" series, It's hyped to fit in you pocket and run on a fuel cell.

The next time I go to the Doc. I'm going to get a script for the old one, for a spare before they are gone. My Pro 2, has been in use since Aug 2005, and I looked at it it has 2170 hours on it and I don't use mine for a blowdryer. So at that rate it will have 11,000 hours on it in 5 years. I going to get set up for the long haul. Jim

[cpapita]

You said your first experience wasn't all that beneficial. That could be because after you get your equipment adjusted to comfortable settings that work for you, it takes about 3 months of contiunous therapy to get your "sleep numbers" back within normal range. At least that's what my doctor said. So be patient.

[Snoredog]

That's a tough call...buy as soon as they are released and you typically end up with Rev A or first version printed circuit boards. But if the technology hasn't changed all that much from the current model, I'd feel comfortable with getting a Rev A board from Respironics, they stand behind their product via distributor. I was pretty lucky with my Remstar Pro w/Cflex, it is the very first model released and I still use it every night, think I got it at the end of 2001 or thereabouts. I only use the auto to check my pressure.

The current model Remstar Auto w/Cflex is a pretty good machine, well tested, bugs all worked out, a very reliable machine. The new "M" series?

How easy is it to use that humidifier compared to the current model? I don't have to remove any tanks, I twist off the 90 degree elbow I have on the end of the hose that connects to the tank and fill it right on the machine.

How noisy is the new M series compared to the quietness of the current model? The smaller units I've owned and used seemed to be more noisy.

So far about the only thing you can say about the new M series is it is small, cause not much more than that is known about it. I got a DVD on it in the mail which takes you through the machine, sure has a weird power supply for the machine/humdifier combo.

Don't know if it is true or not, but I also read somewhere the new M series requires 1.6 Encore software, so if you have the free version you'll have to purchase $200 software to read the data? What good is it to have a auto that you cannot read the data from, certainly no good if your wanting to fine tune your therapy.

But I'll buy one as soon as cpap.com has them for sale. It may turn out like the Resmed machines, they came out with the new S8 and you can still buy the Spirit today, which is still a very good machine. Speaking of the Resmed Spirit, I still have a very good one with very low hours for sale, with all original boxes, manuals including clinical and Rescan software, download cable etc. that is not being used. PM me if your interested. Once the M series is released I may even have another Remstar Auto for sale.

According to the DVD and brochure I just received, the new Remstar Pro records all data exactly the same as the new auto does, so for me there is really no reason to get the more expensive auto version, I may just get the Pro.

[rested gal]

I'd go ahead and get the current Respironics REMstar Auto with C-Flex, if it were me and I was sitting there with a diagnosis of "severe" OSA. I wouldn't wait for the "M" series Auto to come out.

Except for being a smaller machine, I don't see any advantage to getting an M machine instead of the present auto model...the REMstar Auto...a very good tried-and-true machine, indeed.

[brasshopper]

They moved the hose to the back, I liked it in the front, YMMV

Seriously, what are the substantive differences? All I saw, trying to read between the lines was, "Improved human interface - if you dial in a new humidifier setting each night, this will be important to you." Improved form factor. We moved the hose to the back to get it to look less like a medical device. Yep, that might matter to some, it looks like an air cleaner to me.

What are the real differences between the old and new machines? Therapy? Algorithm? I don't see them.

[oldgearhead]

There is a REmStar Auto on eBay this AM. It has more miles on it than yesterday's. However, it looks nice..

[Boylston]

Brand new user here, as in the M-series is in the trunk of my car and my first night of usage will be tonight.... however, I was in the sleep lab picking up my CPAP less than 2 hours after the Respironics rep had been through to talk to folks about the new line.

Seems like the big deal is purely form factor, cosmetic appearance, not-looking-like-medical-equipment-- stuff that doesn't improve the quality of your therapy as much as it improves patients' tolerance of having the device sitting in their bedroom.

I think the line is more MBA-designed than MD-designed.

[JPZeller]

<<Seems like the big deal is purely form factor, cosmetic appearance, not-looking-like-medical-equipment-- stuff that doesn't improve the quality of your therapy as much as it improves patients' tolerance of having the device sitting in their bedroom.>>

Let's not forget the (much) smaller size and weight of these machines, compared to their predecessors. This is very important for travel.

After lugging my REMstar Pro 2 machine with me on trips, I punted and bought a small, light 420G machine, which has been fine. However, the new small, light M series machines have C-Flex and smartcard capability, which is missing from the 420G. Also, one machine will suffice for home and travel.

Another, smaller benefit - it looks like there will be no more struggling to disassemble the water reservoir in the humidifier with the new machine.