A machine comparison - moved from other thread

[MrSandman]

I moved this information because it was taking over another thread - moved from here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38234&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

........ I'd be surprised if the Respironics machine wins

I'd be cussed surprised if the Respironics machine wins. It is full of horrible design defects. If DeVilbiss did not do better they should close down shop.

Some complaints about my Respironics A-Flex (add yours to the list):

-Irritatingly loud
-Infernal blue lights illuminate my ceiling
-Diabolical humidifier tank hard to fill
-Diabolical humidifier tank prone to leak
-Diabolical humidifier tank made out of material that will stink badly if you accidentally let it run dry
-Very cumbersome integration of humidifer with CPAP machine
-That confounded black block of a power transformer
-Output hose connects to the danged back of the machine!

It blows air and has decent software; otherwise I have nothing good to say about it.

Hey - Rooster - The grass is always greener from the other side of the fence. Loud? You don't know loud till you try the Sandman Auto. The Intellipap auto is VERY quiet.

Quiet:
Intellipap Auto - Best
S8II Auto ties M-series Auto or slightly quieter
Sandman Auto - LOUD especially on INHALE

Lights:
Sandman and S8II - No lights after a minute or so
Intellipap - Glowing green/yellow lights - never go out
M-series - Worst - Bright blue lights

Humidifier tank:
S8II - Easiest to fill and never a bad odor and BIG and works great H4I
Intellipap - Not too hard to fill but harder to separate and no odors
M-series - Not that easy to fill especially new style and plastic has an odor and really stinks if run dry - mine have never leaked
Sandman - Real PITA to remove and fill - must be separated to fill right - PITA to reinstall on machine tight - No odors - Best water and rainout management - works great

Cumbersome humidifier integration:
Easiest to remove and install is S8II (Entire humidifier)
Next is Intellipap because no screws
Next is M-series - Requires tools
Sandman can't be removed

As far as integration of humidifier with unit that makes least amount of change in size,weight of the unit Sandman wins easy
Power:
Intellipap - Single cord and nice and long at 8 feet if I remember right
S8II - Single cord but could be longer
Sandman - Single cord- plugs into machine on side which is kinda stupid and needs to be longer
M-series - Sux by comparison - no doubt

Hose:
S8II - Winner, comes out the front - all the rest out the back

Software:
Easiest to understand and see cause and effect in order to make changes and most info- Encore
Second is Sandman - Cause and effect not as obvious as Encore - pretty good info
Third is Intellipap - Can't see cause and effect very well,reads AI poor and a lot of HI - runs slow as heck on Vista Home
S8II maybe ties Intellipap - Runs faster but hard to see cause and effect

Keep in mind this is at pressures of 12 and up,usually 15.

Exhale ease or options:
Sandman is the easiest to breathe out against,almost like motor stops then speeds up very fast on inhale and is loud
M-series - Many options but none as easy as Sandman
S8II - EPR i nothing fancy and easy breathe is overrated but OK
Intellipap - No options and hardest to breathe out against

YMMV

Update on Sandman: Last night I was checking the settings before going to bed and decided to set the hose/mask to the standard setting the machine came with. There is an option to calibrate which I ran before I had used the machine the first time. I hooked up my hose and the Swift Lt and laid it out straight and told the machine to calibrate and it completed. So last night with it set on the standard setting I first noticed it was a little harder to breathe out against and acted much less like it stopped blowing when I exhaled and then sped up real fast when I inhaled. I then noticed that it was much quieter,exhale and inhale sounded similar and not very loud. It just acted like a totally different machine when set to standard versus calibrated. I really can't understand this at all??? Now when I got up this morning I felt a little more beat and when I checked my numbers I showed a lot more leaking and a lot more pressure responding or going up to events and maxing out more. My AHI was nearly the same as yesterday on the calibrated setting but there was a lot more up and down and leaks on the standard setting. I feel worse but I liked the quieter machine. I wonder if I used the calibrate function wrong or something?

[Slinky]

Thanks, Browser! Hopefully "we" can settle on ONE thread to post all the pertinent information and comparisons to. So far I've had to bounce between three - but then I was interested in the software export information too.

[Thunder Road]

Browser,

I had to tweak my settings initially to find my sweet spot but once I did the machine has consistently given me great results. One thing that I did was to set the pressure decrease to Fast. I have a narrow range of 7-12 so I figured since it doesn't have so far to go I need a quicker response to pressure should there be any event. I could feel the change immediatly after that first night. Before that I felt sluggish and atributed it to the Sandman. Now when I feel tired I (which is rare these days) I know that it is me and not the machine.

According to the manual the machine will operate at 31dba at pressure of 10 and without the water chamber. I suppose the 26dba is assumed for lower settings so your sense of noise with the unit is probably correct.

[MrSandman]

Thunder - Try what I mentioned above and go in and calibrate you hose (have hose and mask attached and straight)and mask and then just put it on and breathe through it and let me know if you can tell a major difference in response and noise. Put your starting pressure at 12 like mine for the test if you want.