Best Machines

I wanted to know the best machine out of these four.

the third one down you either need to label it a PRO or an AUTO

You left out the DeVilbiss Intellipap AutoStart with Smart Flex.... the best selling machine on cpap.com with the best warranty in the industry! Just say'in.......

You gotta define " best". They all have strengths and weaknesses. What's best for me may not be for you. What's the best color?

out of these FOUR! emilia and Linkc i wanted to know which one was best overall it could be in comfort, durability etc.

S9 Autoset probably takes first place for comfort (and hence, sleep quality), but the PR1 Auto probably beats it in durability etc. Neither is clearly superior for all users.

The PR1 has more diagnostics and the water in the humidifier is more contained. OTOH, it's a little louder and uses a 2 cm puff to check your airway that keeps a few people awake. With a-flex or c-flex, the pressure comes back before you begin inhaling. This really bothers some folks, but OTOH, it's a little better at keeping your airway open than the mini-bipap style exhalation relief on the S9. The onscreen data it provides is not very useful, but you can get more at your computer.

The S9 Autoset is sort of like the pimpmobile of CPAP. It's desgined for comfort, which if you ask me, is not a trivial thing in sleep equipment. There's an option for a heated hose that works extremely well at preventing rainout. Exhalation relief is like bipap but has a maximum differential of 3cm H2O. It waits for you to inhale before bringing the pressure back, even if you have an OA. Hence, it will never get in the way of your own rhythm, but may allow more apneas through at the same pressure. Of course, you can always turn the pressure up to compensate for this. It checks your airway with a subtle oscillating pulse that you're unlikely to notice even while awake. The s9 has the best onscreen data of the current flow generators. And it's much more shiny than any other machine on the market. One weakness is that the firmware is rather buggy, and Resmed apparently doesn't care. I can't say that the programming is better for the Philips machine, though, because I've never used one.

It seems to me the designers of the S9 put sleep first, while the people who designed the PR1 put preventing apnea first. Hence, the PR1's features wake some users up, and some report lower sleep quality, but if you're not one of the people who are bothered by having your flow generator puff at you to see if your airway is clear, it may be the superior machine.

The DeVilbiss Intellipap Auto is similar to the S9 with a better warranty and a little less data. It does give you data, but you can't see breath by breath traces of flow and pressure. It can not distinguish between obstructive and central apneas, but this may not matter to you. Like the S9, it's designed not to bother you while you're trying to sleep. One huge plus is that, unlike Philips and Resmed, DeVilbiss supports end users. They even have a rep here on this forum.

The way this survey is going, it's not going to tell you much. Just as Link said...best means something different to each of us.

I think the auto machines can do everything the corresponding non-auto machine does, so they're inherently superior in every way except price. Given the choice, I'd always go for the auto unless I'm really hurting for money. You can always set the auto machine to manual mode.

brinho wrote:out of these FOUR! emilia and Linkc i wanted to know which one was best overall it could be in comfort, durability etc.

To restate what Cflame1 stated in maybe a different way........
Since there is no MODEL NAME in #3, that option makes the poll useless and immaterial.
There are really only THREE options in this poll.
If #3 was a "Plus" model it would NOT be data-capable. If it was a "Pro", it WOULD BE data-capable.

From what I've read by the people who have had the machines from both manufacturers, there have been problems with all of them and it's the "luck of the draw" with the ones they've had.

Everybody is going to have a favorite and most users have only used models from one manufacturer.

For me, ResMed's corporate policies would keep me from thinking about buying ANY of their machines.


Den

I use the Devilbiss intellipap and it works great, but I am at a point where I'm very interested in differentiating central and obstructive apneas, so I'd like to try the S9.

However, Resmed's policies make their equipment twice as expensive in Canada, so we'll see.

One of the things you're not considering inasking for the best is the difference in breathing technology. One of these is likely going to feel similar to your natural breathing pattern, making that machine ideal for you because you won't be fighting the machine's inhale-exhale breath waveforms...technical stuff but suffice it say, one will feel close to normal and the others won't. That pretty much trumps everything else as these are all good machines.

As a total newbie, I'm watching this thread to see if any overwhelming opinions surface. But I do have a pertinent question... how many people have tried multiple machines? I'm happy with mine, but it's been a total of three nights. But I wonder if, like a computer, you have your own experience and others descriptions of theirs. And unless you own multiple at the same time, you really cannot compare because by the time you replace it, the technology has evolved enough that you're comparing old to new, not model to model.

I am quite certain that there can be lots of swapping between units up front if a unit really fails to work for a patient. But if the machines last two years, it'd be hard to compare. Of course, there is a history. Again, going back to computer technology, I have an ATI video card in my 5-year-old computer, and I'd be unlikely to get another. The drivers are flaky, and the company doesn't seem interested in addressing that. Certainly the technology has grown and changed incredibly in that time... but the politics of the business are slower. I want to know I'm going to be supported *just in case* there is a need for it. I'm thinking that is the nature of this equipment as well... that the company behind the technology is as important as the machine itself.

Well, it's not what the O.P. asked, but since you asked, Marvin, I have an S9 Autoset and an Intellipap. I got the S9 for the software. Now that I know what's going on, I needed another machine to keep at my wife's place in Washington (long story, old GF sort of waited for me for 25 years), so I bought the Intellipap. Can't tell any difference once the lights are out. Only difference is the software, as far as I'm concerned.

By the way, old bean, what do you get when you multiply 8 times 6?

I can not weigh in with which is best, as I have only used Respironics series M auto and the PR1 auto machines. Both of those have worked very well for me and my AHI is always <1 with them. Now I will say that warranty wise, I think Respironics is hard to beat. My PR1 went south when it had about 300-400 hours on it and I sent it back for warranty repairs. Their warranty repair was a "NEW" machine, manufactured less than 4 weeks before I got it from them. I am very satisfied with the company, the equipment and the health benefits I am seeing. Would I rule out any machine, yes the Resmed, because of their heavy handed company tactics with their dealers and the folks trying to sell used equipment. Just for that reason, I will not look at a Resmed machine. However, I do use their mask, wich IMHO is better than any of the Respironics I have tried.

You are not going to get many responses from folks that have experience with more than one of a similar vintage. My Resperonics System One Auto was made in March 2011 and is different than one made in 2010 so even two versions of the same one are different.

Jim