Which Machine?

[davido]

Hi all. This is my first thread. I have a NHS CCAP machine which is a very basic RESMED. I am looking for an automatic one which is quieter and responds to me rather than haveing pre-set pressure settings. Can anyone offer advice on which is the best/quietest/most effective machine on the market at a reasonable price? Many thanks and sleep well folks.

[Tigers Fan]

Choice

Hi Davido

I suspect you'll get as many opinions about which is best as there are auto-machines.

Having said that, I'm having good success with a RemStar M Series with A-Flex and a heated humidifier. Because I like to know what is going on, I also invested in the software and card reader so I an able to monitor my own therapy.

I bought in the States when the exchange rate was two dollars for a Pound. (There's a thread about doing this.)

Tigers Fan

[James @ Intus]

Hi Davido,

Thanks for joining the forums.

Like Tigers Fan says, opinions will vary, it's a bit like signing up on a car forum saying you want recommendations on a new car.

An APAP has its own specific noise challenge in that of course if the pressure cranks up, the sounds does too.

I have sent many different APAPs to patients and seen other APAPs run live, amongst others REMStar M series and the old ones, Weinmann Somnobalance e, GoodKnight, Hoffrichter, SleepCube AutoAdjust, ResMed's VPAPs and more.

In my opinion, provided you can tweak the lower and upper pressure around your target pressure, the SleepCube is the quietest. The Weinmann is quiet too but its footprint is quite large compared to other machines. The current REMStars are quiet in principle but often have a certain higher pitch whistle to them. The GoodKnight machines are quite old, I'd wait for the SandMan's which will replace them. Fisher & Paykel is also coming with an APAP in the next few weeks but I have not heard it yet so can't comment on noise.

I also like the SleepCube's ability to avoid apnoea events in the first place by predicting them (based on snoring etc.) and adjusting the pressure slightly in advance. Other APAPs do this too but I haven't 'studied' their algorithms in much detail.

In the end of the day, you can't go wrong much on any of the big brand PAP machines so it comes indeed to personal preference of certain functionality, features, looks etc. I'll be more than happy to tell you more about our APAPs.

when the exchange rate was two dollars for a Pound.

Those were the days!

[davido]

which machine

Very many thanks for your responses. I will keep researching. Davido.