CPAPtalk.com

Congratulations on fighting for your rights to a decent machine.
I, too have the 'latest and greatest', but you still have good equipment.
I had to pay out of pocket the entire cost of my S9 Autoset;
but I consider it an investment in my health; and a chance for longevity.
They say you can't buy happiness, but you can sometimes buy time in which to work on it.

chunkyfrog wrote:They say you can't buy happiness, but you can sometimes buy time in which to work on it.

Money may not bring happiness, but it has been known to cause an occasional smile!

Slinky wrote:Congratulations, LadelNutts. What are the pressure settings?

The DME set it to CPAP mode with a pressure setting of 8. I had my PCP write the scrpit for the autoset II for the simple reason that the DME tried to screw me so I wanted to screw them in return. The new script said had all the data from the original script which called for CPAP at a pressure of 8. I'm going for a new sleep study next month so I will let them know that I now have an APAP device. We'll see if they keep me on CPAP or utilize the APAP.

chunkyfrog wrote:Congratulations on fighting for your rights to a decent machine.
I, too have the 'latest and greatest', but you still have good equipment.
I had to pay out of pocket the entire cost of my S9 Autoset;
but I consider it an investment in my health; and a chance for longevity.
They say you can't buy happiness, but you can sometimes buy time in which to work on it.

I would have liked to have had the S9 equipment but I already had the humidifier and I didn't want to buy another one out of pocket. From the data guides on Resmed's website the S8 & S9 versions report the same data from what I understood. Having the data was the most important issue for me. They should make it a law where all these machines have to record the data. Why they would make machines that don't baffles me. The recording of the data can't add that much to the cost of the product. The S8 Elite II is only $45 more online than the S8 Escape II.

Ladelnutts wrote:From the data guides on Resmed's website the S8 & S9 versions report the same data from what I understood.

The big difference are the cards and the readers required to read them. The S8 uses a proprietary card and card reader, the S9 an SD card which any SD card reader will read. Do you already have a card reader for the S8 card? If not, that will be be your next challenge, finding one. Won't be easy.

It seems several people have had good results with the generic ACR-38 card readers. From my scouring of info it seemed to me that the biggest hurdle would be obtaining the Rescan software. Correct me on either of these if I am in error.

Hey at the end of the day at least there will be data for my doctor to evaluate. That's a lot more than I had when I woke up this morning!!

Ladelnutts wrote:It seems several people have had good results with the generic ACR-38 card readers. From my scouring of info it seemed to me that the biggest hurdle would be obtaining the Rescan software. Correct me on either of these if I am in error.

Software is easily available. Take a look in forum member Uncle_Bob signature line for it.

It is my understanding that it took a very special ACR 38 card with modifications and it is hard to find the exact one.
I think this will be your biggest hurdle.

It seems a shame that you didn't go for the latest model while you had the chance and mainly since reviewing data is so important to you and you might not be able to find the card reader. I know data is essential to be able to control our own therapy. I know $200 is a lot of money these days to shell out for a HH but using it over the course of all the coming years of treatment does seem worth it if at all possible. Knowing how therapy needs change and sometimes quite often, I'd hate to have to wait for a Dr visit to try and evaluate and fix the problem. I really don't want to "stir the pot" but is it still possible to get the S9? In any case I wish you luck.

Ladelnutts wrote:Hey at the end of the day at least there will be data for my doctor to evaluate. That's a lot more than I had when I woke up this morning!!

Not if your doctor doesn't have the difficult to obtain S8 card reader. Or if he has a card reader and it quits working.

ResMed reader:
My DME was suddenly able find a loaner for me when I threatened to come in every 5 days to get the detailed data downloaded in preparation for a Dr's appt about 30 days in the future. I did find a generic on line that worked well. (see my other posts)
The readers are are still in the ResMed supply system. They have a part number and can be purchased through your DME. I fellow member in California just bought one for about $45, I think.
You can call ResMed customer support to verify the reader is still available.
Jay

I asked my DME about the Truth, he said it was Backordered. Jim

I was able to find the generic ACR-38 card reader that will work with rescan and ordered it this morning for $40 shipped. According to the supplier these are definitely not being produced anymore but they are still available in small quantities. Jay Aitchsee stated in another post that Resmed is still producing their card reader for the cards: "The S8 smartcard readers may not be available online, but they are still available through ResMed's US distribution system with part no. 22207. This is confirmed with ResMeds current (July 2011) product list and by a call to ResMed customer service this AM."