I started my Ping today. I watched the Orientation DVD and just figured out everything I needed to do.
I’m OK with my decision to switch from Medtronic, but I haven’t discovered one thing yet that is better with the Ping than my Medtronic pump. I have to remember that this switch was made in order to get the Animas/Dexcom combo whenever it is released.
I really have no interest in the remote, so suspect I’ll abandon this meter fairly quickly to use the Verio instead. I have a ton of blue strips so I’ll give the remote meter a fair trial.
It’s been a bit frustrating to deal with the continual incompatibility of these devices. The orientation film and patient booklet keep talking about the EZ Manager Max, but it’s not compatible with Windows 7 which has been out for over 3 years. I assume they’re letting this software bite the dust, but then they should upgrade their training materials to stop mentioning it. Diasend indicates that it’s compatible with the Verio, but when I registered, the Verio is not one of the meters that you can register with. I was also surprised that when I filled out the patient info online at Animas, they didn’t even mention the Revel 523 as one of the “previous” pumps. It only went up to the 522. That’s just sloppy IMO.
I haven’t been super bothered by the cumbersome menus because I was expecting that. Slowly but surely I’m find where to find the info that I want. For example, IOB is on Status Screen 2.
I’m used to being very excited about technology changes in my diabetes care. I feel kind of blah about this change. However, tomorrow my Dex4 sensors finally arrive and I’m very excited about this change. My recent 7+ sensors haven’t been great and I’ve been consistently getting woken up at night by false alarm lows. I’ve read that the Gen4 sensors do a much better job of avoiding false lows.
And like everyone else, I am truly looking forward to the Vibe or whatever they call it in the USA.
I need to update yesterday's post. There is one thing that I love about the Ping, especially compared to my Revel. The color screen is fabulous. So bright and cheerful (and easy to read). Too bad the meter remote is so clunky and comparatively hard to read. (My Animas rep mentioned this fall that he thinks that we will be seeing a Verio meter link to the Ping. That would be great IMO.)
I'm enjoying my Ping today. Still not super excited but actually quite happy I made the change. I do like my pink Pump along with my pink Dex Gen4. Looking forward to a pink Vibe....
Just in case you are interested, Animas says the EZ Manager is not supported for use with Windows 7. However, I can tell you from personal experience I have used it for over two years without any issues at all.
Thanks, Phil. They are sending me the disc along with the scanner dohickey and I'll try to install it when it arrives.
I remember when Medtronic was super slow in upgrading software and my understanding is that all the software changes have to be approved by the FDA. No wonder everything happens in slug-time.
Yeah... I'm using EZ Manager+ in a Windows 7 virtual machine on a Mac.
I'm not sure why, but the pump manufacturers think that we live in 2002, and Windows XP is the latest and greatest out there, and the Mac users haven't upgraded to those newfangled Intel Macs yet.
I was once told by Medtronic that any software changes have to be approved by the FDA. If that’s true, that would explain the delay by all of these companies is upgrading software. However to me, that’s no excuse. I think Windows 7 has been out 3+ years and of course now it’s Windows 8. I won’t even get into the problems for Mac users.
I have been on the Ping for almost a year from the 2020.I am kind of sorry that I did go with the ping.My insurance company wasn't covering the amount of strips that I was using.They limited me to 2400 a year.I had to go buy strips without insurance and I found One Touch test strips to be most costly.I also need the ping meter because the database is in there.They should have left it in the pump.I also thought that basal rates could be adjusted by the meter.I am now using my previous meter the Freestyle Lite because it uses less blood,03mmol and it has a port light for testing in the dark
