Puritan Bennett GoodKnight 420E Questions

ozij,

tks so much! just a question, what is CA, as in number apneas/CA?

oops, I had written that, but the whole message disappeared, and I forgot it in the rewrite.

Apnea/CA are when the machine notices you're not breathing, but also picks up the oscillation of you heartbeat in the air column, concluding that this is an apnea, but not an obstructive one. When the apnea is obstuctive, the part of the air column sensed by the machine does not carry the oscillation of you heart beat. So, apnea/CA stands for "apnea with CArdiac oscillation" - also called "central" apnea. These apneas happen, for instance, when you toss and turn, when you catch your breath in pain, or when you're not used to having a cpap, or when for some reason, your brain doesn't give a command to breathe.
O.

Ozji
I bought the 420E a couple of months ago and use it exclusively for traveling (~ 40% of my work days). The AutoSet T is still my primary machine. The T is a little quieter but I have no complaints about the 420E, and you can't beat the size for traveling. There is another "small" machine on the market but it is a little taller and, consequently, doesn't quite fit in my brief case. So I chose the 420E.

I hear what you are saying about the Silverline data and have tried what you suggested. But, you still haven't sold me. Why would anyone want to click on all these little dash marks and graphs to get individual data when you could see the whole night at one glance on the T data display? All of the data the Silverline offers, one point at a time, is on the T display for each day. Plus the Silverline graphical data is all scrunched up on half the screen with a bunch of useless generalizations on the other half.
Larry

I have no intention to sell you on the Silvelining, Larry. Other people read these threads, and I don't want them to remain with wrong impressions.

I have no doubt you don't like the software and prefer using Resmed's machine and software. You have also convinced me that you don't realy know Silverlining - which is fine with me, there is clearly no need for you to spend time on software you don't like for a machine you use only for traveling.

The following is meant for people who can are thinking of buying Silverlining:

The details screen in Silverlining can be pulled as wide as your computer screen by clicking on the button the looks like a square.

When the details screen is collapsed you have 4 buttons in the middle of the screen. You can find many kinds of information on the right side of the screen, depending on which of these buttons you press.

O.

(edited typo...)
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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed

There are lots of masks and machines on the market for a reason. No matter what some people may say, there is no "best" anything out there. Anyone looking for a mask or a machine should consider posted information in light of their own individual situation and chooose what is best for them. As you can see from the above discussion, the Silverline software prepares a complex screen that requires you to click on information and drag things around to check your condition. There is a long learning curve for this software, even for a person like myself who has been using computers and writing computer programs since the '70s. The ResMed screen is very simple and gives you a complete picture of each session, quickly, and without any fuss. Some people like detail and complexity. I say, "Why bother with complexity when it is not necessary?" Just give me the facts I need (number, time and duration of each apnea + the machine pressure and leak rate throughout the night) to evaluate my situation and make sure my condition is stable. To complete the picture, Silverline collects several days of data and strings it altogether in one long graph. The ResMed software presents one night of data per screen. You choose the date and the software displays the data for that night. One drawback, the ResMed program only stores 6 nights of data. Silverline stores more.

Ozij, Sorry if my comments offened you. I think comparing the differences between programs is helpful. One question, have you ever used the ResMed software?

You choose the date and the software displays the data for that night.

Ditto for Silverlining.

I will no longer post on this thread - I think any one who reads it has enough information to decide how to proceed.

O.

Thanks ozij, and others. I have found this thread particularly enlightening. I am seriously now considering getting a lightweight machine after having just traveled by plane with a heavyweight Respironics machine.

Regards,
Bill

[quote="Snoredog"]The AutoScan software for the Resmed machines is horrible in my opinion, worse than EncorePro, worse than Puritian Bennet Silverlining (I have all 3). The Resmed machines do give you basic AHI data right from the LCD where others don't.

The only data supplied with the Autoscan is Pressure used (hard to read), mask leak and a horrible tic chart on actual events (i.e. you cannot make them out). Note: The Resmed machines don't detect Hypoapnea or snores, so everything is considered or treated as a flow limiation or apnea and so its ability to log those events individually are limited. If you have the Reslink option and software it is my understanding it gives you much more data than the standard software. I would say the reporting software is the weak link on the Resmed machines. I own a Spirit and the software.

Resmed's Autoscan software is OK. The problem is the fact that the machines don't record all of the most useful data unless you have a ResLink attached. If you do have a ResLink to record the data, Autoscan has a whole set of graphs summarized the IFL, Snoring and so forth but with the S8 machines those graphs are empty because the data isn't being collected.