New Aussie user

Hi all, It's Judy here again. I want to thank you so much for replying to my questions. You have given me so much information that is useful and I'll go back and read it all again and absorb it and act on it. Once again, thanks heaps.

lullaby wrote: "
Hi Judith. Fellow Aussie here. One of the big problems facing us Aussies is that most US companies (including CPAP.com) won't ship to Australia. I'm not 100% sure about Respironics machines but it's certianly the case when it comes to all things ResMed. The great irony here of course is that that ResMed is in fact an Australian company, located in Sydney. You can of course order from companies here in Oz but we end up paying more than double the price. All is not lost however. There are some companies (such as Secondwind.com) that sell zero hour and second hand machines and ship to Australia. Check them out. "

I always used to find it so bizarre in Manhattan on 47th street to see all the Japanese tourists buying up Nikon cameras since they were so much cheaper in NYC than in Japan where they were made

only equivalent was my mother being annoyed in florida that she had to pay the same or more in vero beach for oranges as she did in NYC

Hi
I come from Sydney and purchased a Resmed Autoset 9 and mask from 1800CPAP in the US for less than half what it would have cost me in Aus. Prodcut arrived in 5 days. Even if you had to return product to US for warranty purposes it would still be quicker than anyone here. It took more than 2 weeks for an Aus supplier to post me a CD with the Resmed software on it. I decided the risk was worth saving AUS $1400.
Only possible problem would be if you belong to a private health fund. I belong to NIB and initially they refused to refund because of the fact I had purchased overseas. After speaking to a rep and explaining the cost issues etc. they agreed to refund, $1000. Even if they had not I would still have been saving!

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Gillian

The ResMed S9s sold in Australia are made here and the ones sold in the US aren't. They Aussie made ones don't seem to have the odd sounds like the other ones but that could be hit or miss. They are also something like 4 times the cost which is a major rip off.

I bought an PR560 from STL Mark for a bit less than $500 plus $85 in shipping. That is about what it cost to get my S9 here to Melbourne and that was a year ago.

It cost me $45 to get a US prescription the last time I was in the USA. I took my local paper work to a doc in a box type place and walked out with the needed paper work.

I'm lucky, I have two parents on *pap and a few friends who live in the USA and a DME who knows me.

Keep in mind that Resmed has been taken to court by the ACCC more than once if you choose to deal with them. My next machine will be made by the Kiwis (but don't take that as a recommendation, it is just me telling the others to get lost)

Hi Everyone, I've been in touch with secondwind.com and have received excellent service and advice from them so I've arranged to purchase. thank you so much. Once I'm up and running I hope I can be of some assistance to others as you have been to me. Cheers, Judy.

Judith Murphy wrote:Hi Everyone, I've been in touch with secondwind.com and have received excellent service and advice from them so I've arranged to purchase. thank you so much. Once I'm up and running I hope I can be of some assistance to others as you have been to me. Cheers, Judy.

what machine are you going to purchase

Hello all you lovely people. Second wind were so easy to deal with that I've decided to purchase from them. So, my first machine will be a DS500 Remstar Auto Cflex with heated humidifier ($425.00) and a Resmed Swift FX nasal mask . I haven't finalized the purchase yet, but will do so within the next day or so, unless any of you feel I'm making a drastic mistake on my first purchase. Thank you all again for your helpful comments. Cheers, Judy.

Judith Murphy wrote: So, my first machine will be a DS500 Remstar Auto Cflex with heated humidifier ($425.00)

That's the M series machine...I wouldn't get it. That model doesn't have AFlex so it is an even older M series machine.
DS500 is the M series APAP machine with CFlex. Released in late 2006 or early 2007. That was the first machine I used (bought in 2009) but had a manufacture date of winter 2007.

It has a smart card for data. It is a full data machine but you will need a special card reader to get the data to the software.
It also doesn't have the same data that the new PR S1 machines offer...it doesn't do centrals or RERAs nor does it do wave form or flow rate graphs. Humidifier tank is easily spilt...While it was a top of the line machine 5 years ago....the new models are superior. It would make a good back up machine but not for $400. I sold mine for $150 and that included the humidifier and travel case.

You would be better served to get a PR System One machine...latest technology.
Model 550 or 560 would be what I would look at.

Judith Murphy wrote:Hello all you lovely people. Second wind were so easy to deal with that I've decided to purchase from them. So, my first machine will be a DS500 Remstar Auto Cflex with heated humidifier ($425.00) and a Resmed Swift FX nasal mask . I haven't finalized the purchase yet, but will do so within the next day or so, unless any of you feel I'm making a drastic mistake on my first purchase. Thank you all again for your helpful comments. Cheers, Judy.

you do not want this machine
you want Phillips Respironcis System Auto with A-Flex (DS550) ... has to include Phillips in the name and look like this one:
https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/respi ... -flex.html

also ask them for the machine serial number .. the serial number will tell you the date of manufacture
the earlier ones did not include the 15 mm hose option

Thank you. I am emailing secondwind to discuss. Cheers, Judy.

Hi Judith

In case you have not purchased... my two cents: I am a new Aussie user too (Sydney) - only diagnosed last year and purchased from 1800cpap following an extensive research. I purchased the Respironics REMstar Auto CPAP DS550HS which is what I was trialled with and seemed to leave the Cflex far behind. I purchased an open box special with 4 hours on it (ex demo) - it was spotless and with new stickers etc. I had this and some wipes and filters plus express postage to me for less than half the closest Australian price! I figured for this price if something goes wrong I can replace it completely for less price tan hiring and waiting for repair! Has not missed a beat in 10 months.

I purchased at the time the medium Resmed Quattro full faced mask (from local supplier that I hired from) and the cushion lasted me 6 months. Then because I was "technically" a small size according to the little measuring tool that came with it, I brought the small mask from 1800cpap, again for more than $100AUD off the closest Australian competitor. Sorry, but my "Buy Australian" policy is out the door with such a huge difference on both machine and price.

Anyway, can't fault 1800CPAP. Also cant fault the purchase, though I am having problems with the seal of the small mask and am going back to medium (it fits better). One thing though, I SERIOUSLY considered the Devilbiss Intellipap because of the data - I can't get it off the Phillips.

Hope these things help in your consideration. Good luck - I can understand your research and hesitation.