I really think all the people who love the OneTouch Mini or Ultra would love the Freestyle Lite more if they tried it. I don't see one thing the Onetouch meters have better than the Freestyle Lite.
And I swore by the OneTouch meters for 9 years.
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I used to use Freestyle for years, I think most of the time I've been diabetic until about..grade 11, I had a Freestyle meter of some kind. I even HAVE a Freestyle Lite the pharmacy gave us for a back-up right now because the company was giving them away for free(in hope we'd switch)..so if my UltraSmart back-up & my UltraSmart that I use daily both break..I have a 3rd backup.
But it doesn't have what I need at all, unless I just never found the log option on the Lite. The UltraSmart takes care of my logging + health notes, which I NEVER did when I had the FreeStyle meters. either way, I like my onetouch must better than my freestyles(but i'm also not restricted by my insurance, i can use whatever test strips i want..and for every 5 boxes i buy - or rather my insurance buys-, i get a $25 london drugs gift card haha)
I've also used the OneTouch UltraMini which was nice for it's size, but still upgraded to the UltraSmart for the logging options it has.
Yeah I'm just talking strictly about the people who love the OneTouch UltraMini or just the normal Ultra because those have the same basic feature set as the Freestyle. The UltraSmart is just a different type of meter so it's not a fair comparison b/c it's 3x bigger and has twice as many features.
For people who like all that info, the UltraSmart is a perfect choice.
BUT for those people who get by with their UltraMini or Ultra...you should definitely check out the Freestyle Lite.
Having used both the UltraMini and the Freestyle Lite(though briefly), I don't see how the Freestyle Lite is so much better it's worth switching if they like their current meter. In my books, both are equal. I don't see a reason to switch, or even try, if the UltraMini is working for them. Can you explain why you suggest switching to the Lite?
My fav of all time was the One Touch 2 from back in the day. It got me away from the Accu Check 2 (? i think) and the strips you had to wipe or use water with, and the 45 sec read time was awesome! Before that it took 2-5 min on the Accu Check and the older glucometer that I remember using!
For modern meters it would be a toss up between the Contour and the UltraLink. I like how the UltraLink sends the readings to the pump, but the Contour's strips are easier to use.They pack 50/bottle vs the One Touch 25/bottle, and they have a great design on the tip to pull the blood into the strip.
I have tried the newer Accucheck meters and they do not read the same as the Contour/One Touch. I have never tried the Freestyle as their strips are not covered by my insurance plan as generic, meaning I have to buy the strips instead of getting my monthly allotment for FREE! I've read where the Accu Checks can have problems reading high with certain drugs, can't find the link, but they were way out of range when I was trying them side by side with the One Touch and Contour meters.
Having used both the UltraMini and the Freestyle Lite(though briefly), I don't see how the Freestyle Lite is so much better it's worth switching if they like their current meter. In my books, both are equal. I don't see a reason to switch, or even try, if the UltraMini is working for them. Can you explain why you suggest switching to the Lite?
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Freestyle Lite advantages:
- Smaller blood sample
- Doesn't start counting down until it has enough blood (we OneTouch users have wasted tons of strips b/c of this)
- Light that lights up the test strip for testing in the dark, and it automatically switches to a backlit screen when the reading pops up
- Test strip canisters come in bottles of 50 so you don't have to switch as often
And it's basically the same size as the other 2 and takes as little time to give a reading. I mean the only annoying thing I've found in comparison is that it doesn't count down like "5,4,3,2,1".
Not knocking the OneTouch meters. I used to live and die by them for their small size, fast reading, and small sample, and I always brushed off trying the Freestyle meters. One summer at camp I was forced to try the Lite and thought "dang...why doesn't the OneTouch Ultra have these features?" Switched and never looked back.
I did love my Freestyle Freedom Lite but have since gone to the OneTouch UltraSmart. I don't care for the other OneTouch's, but I do have an Ultra for backup and a Walgreens (yikes!) for super emergency. My insurance only covers One Touch and Aviva so that was my ONLY reason for not having the Freedom. Great meter. Love my US though, but as is said in the thread it has another use too.
i use the accu-chek Mobile it so kool no need for testing strips it comes wit a cassette that give u 50 test surfaces n when uve used all 50 u just throw it away and pop in a new cassette u cant beat it no messing round looking for the hundreds of little test strip at the bottom of ur bag :) simple and easy to use
[quote user="Jonathan Clark"]C, I have to respectfuly disagree with 50 strips per bottle on One Touch Ultra strips. When I look at my bottle it clearly states 25 test strips.
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i have to respectfully disagree with you that my bottle clearly states 50 strips.
OneTouch strips come in all different denominations - I have gotten rectangular boxes with only two vials in them, vs. the normal square boxes with four vials. I assume this strategy is to prevent "over providing" strips to people who don't test as often as we do - they do expire. It's also possible some pharmacies only carry certain denomination bottles, based on the demand in their area.
Well I guess the coolest machine I used before getting onto a pump was the One Touch Ultra Smart mind you I didn't use alot of the extra features it has but I would swear by the machine, and since being on a pump I've had the BD Link (it wasn't bad, small, quick, small samples, sends readings to pump and free with pump) and now using the Contour Link(again small, quick, small samples, sends readings to pump and it's free with my pump) so for me it doesn't really matter about wheather it has a backlight or not for testing as long as it works, acurate and reliable.
"If it's true that we are what we eat, then I am fast, easy and cheap" -- Barbara Johnson
I think the coolest glucometer is the Bayer Contour USB. It does not even look like a glucometer! It has a really bright display. The glucometer comes with built in software that when plugged into the computer creates charts, graphs, and logs of blood sugar levels. The Contour test strips do not need much blood at all. I also enjoyed the colorful lancets the come with the meter!
Freestyle Light - because of no coding of strips (tho' I hear in Europe all Freestyle products will have that option - not sure about on this side of the pond). Also, like others have said - the nifty night light - when you need to test in the dark (e.g. theatre for that pop corn treat). The bets thing about all the Freestyle is that they use the smallest 3 microlitre of vampire blood. The less blood I have to give out - the better for my fingers - since I test on average about 8 times a day.