eBay Guides - More Glucose Monitor Reviews

This document is a continuation of Glucose Monitor Reviews so please see that document first!

15. Accu-Chek Active (1uL, 5 secs) ***1/2_ (3.5 stars), f

The Accu-Chek Active is sort of old school. Instead of sipping blood onto a test strip, it has touchable test strips where you touch blood onto orange spot on the strip and then you shove the strip into the meter. Once the strip is in the meter it's very fast at just 5 seconds. However, it's a big meter that's about the size of an old cell phone. You can do alternate site testing. The package comes with the SoftClix lancing device which is nice but not really standard so the lancets may be hard to find or cost a little more.

16. True Track Smart (1uL, 10 secs) ****_ (4 stars)

The True Track Smart is a system made by Home Diagnostics that's being sold at local pharmacies, sometimes under their own name like Walgreens brand or CVS brand, etc. They usually come with a small monitor and 50 test strips for like $40. It's actually a good deal for a pharm. The test strips need 1uL of blood and takes about 10 secs to run the test. I don't believe you get a lancing device so you'll want to make sure you already have one.

17. SideKick (1uL, 10 secs) ****_ (4 stars)

The SideKick is a system made by Home Diagnostics that's being sold at local pharmacies, sometimes under their own name like Walgreens brand or CVS brand, etc. The test strips need 1uL of blood and takes about 10 secs to run the test. It basically looks like the cap on top of the strips vial. So basically, you can take your vial of strips with you on vacation in your purse (or bag) and the monitor is like the cap on top of the vial. Very small. I've seen it with the 50 strips for about $27. That's a real deal at a pharm! That's less than a dollar a strip even with the monitor. When your're done you can throw the vial and the monitor away and get another new batch. And since they market it like that, there's no coding because you get a new monitor with each vial that's pre-coded. Wow! That's pretty cool. I don't believe you get a lancing device so you'll want to make sure you already have one.

18. Go (1.5uL, 5 secs) ***1/2 (3.5 stars)

I'll try to fill this info in later.

19. MediSense Optium Xceed (?1.5uL?, 10 secs) ***1/2 (3.5 stars)

I'll try to fill this info in later.

20. Compact Plus (1.5uL, 7 secs) ***1/2 (3.5 stars), f

The Compact Plus is an all in one self contained blood glucose monitoring device. The Compact Plus is an improvement over the older Compact model. It calls itself the Compact, but it's actually larger than most systems because it has a test drum inside it. It also looks bigger because it has a detachable lancet device attached to the side (which you can remove if you want). You basically turn it on and a test strip presents itself, lancet your finger with the attached lancet device, add blood to the test strip, wait about 7 seconds and you have a result. The meter uses a drum of 17 test strips which is the same drums as the regluar Compact meter. You install the drum and you're set for 17 tests! When you're done, you press the button again, and the used strip ejects and the system turns off. The system does not require coding as it figures out the coding when the drum is inserted. The system is very easy to use and quite nice. It has some other nice features like an alarm that helps you remember and you can set it for 3 times a day and the usual average functions. The Compact Plus is made by Accu-Chek.

21. Compact (1.5-3uL, 15 secs, no coding, tests internal) ***__ (3 stars), f

The Compact is an all in one self contained blood glucose monitoring device. The Compact Plus is being replaced by the Compact Plus model although it can still hold it's own. It calls itself the Compact, but it's actually larger than most systems because it has a test drum inside it. You basically turn it on and a test strip presents itself, lancet your finger with the attached lancet device, add blood to the test strip, wait about 15 seconds and you have a result. The meter uses a drum of 17 test strips which is the same drums that the newer Compact Plus uses too. You install the drum and you're set for 17 tests! When you're done, you press the button again, and the used strip ejects and the system turns off. The system does not require coding as it figures out the coding when the drum is inserted. The system is easy to use but it's kind of confusing how you can turn it out without it ejecting a test strip. It's possible but it's just confusing. The newer Compact Plus model takes care of this problem by adding a separate button to eject the strips. The Compact Plus is made by Accu-Chek.

For the meters below, I recommend that you upgrade.

FastTake (1.5uL, 15 secs)

Elite (2uL, 30 secs)
Dex2 (2.5uL, 30 secs)
Brio (3uL, 10 secs)
MediSense Optium (3uL, 20 secs)
Prestige IQ (?4uL, ?30 secs)
Breeze (4uL, 30 secs)

Complete (4uL, 40 secs)
Advantage (4uL, 40 secs)
SureStep (10uL, 15 secs)
Precision QID (10uL, 20 secs)
Profile (10uL, 45 secs)
Basic (10uL, 45 secs)

(Am I missing a meter? Let me know and I'll try to add it to the list.)

P = most popular!
@ = My personal favorites!

f = I experienced poor customer service

You may also be interested in reading some my other guides too:

Buying a Glucose Monitor, Buying Glucose Test Strips, Weird Diabetes Info You Should Know, More Weird Diabetes Info You Should Know, Glucose Monitor Reviews

Guide created: 08/25/06 (updated 04/08/08)

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