Bayer Contour USB

Does anyone have one of these or know anything about it? Is it worth getting?

Hi

There is a post on this http://dafneonline.co.uk/forums/1/topics/231

Thanks - that was helpful - I don't think I'll bother with one - it would be too complicated getting my strips prescription changed knowing my GP surgery. I'll stick with writing my results in my diary.

Hello,

Annette - Which meter are you using just now?

The Contour USB is a good meter. The display screen is probably one of the best on any BG meter (and it's nice to have some colour on it instead of monochrome). It also needs a tiny amount of blood and gives the result in 3-5 seconds. You can tag readings with before/after meal.

The claim about the software running directly from the USB part is a little misleading - the computer needs to have JAVA Runtime installed for the software to work. I feel they should maybe have made that a bit clearer.

Overall a very good meter, but the lack of medication (insulin/pills) and food (carbs) input may make a lot of DAFNE users stay with the OneTouch Ultra.

Just my thoughts,

NiVZ

I am actually using the One Touch Ultra of which I have two versions - the Ultra 2 for use at home, & the Ultra Easy to take out as it is smaller.

Annette,

You can get a data cable and software for the One Touch Ultra and Ultra Easy for free from Lifescan. However, neither of these meters allow you to record insulin or carbs data (although the Countour USB also does not record this data)

I'm still working on my own software to allow uploading of data from OneTouch UltraEasy and UltraSmart to the online DAFNE diaries, but I've not had a chance to look at it at all lately ( but I am determined to get it finsihed one day ;o)

NiVZ

Yes - I looked at getting a cable when I first got the meters, but found they are not (or at least weren't then) compatible with a Mac.

As a meter it's quite good, though Bayer, as a company do not seem to be as helpful as Lifescan.
When I first got this (as a test through the diabetic clinic) I was impressed with it, but after a while I found things difficult as the software was not available for download.

I use both Mac and Windows computers, but found that creating a diary in the Apple Numbers software a lot better, as I have used the conditional formatting to colour code the readings. Numbers allows more than three conditions, so i've got four colours to highlight anything outside the ideal range.