Please convince me. I am wanting to switch over, but I have to wait until my contract with MM is over. I have read negatives and positives, but I’d like to know what you like most about it.
I love being able to control it from the meter. Right now, I’m dressed for work and my ping is strapped to my calf. No hassling with holes in pockets!
Great customer service and technical support when you need it! It’s something you don’t think about until you have a problem but they have the best support I’ve encountered in a long time.
I like the size of the pump, features and the color screen.
I dont care for the local reps, the phone support is fine.
But right now, I am looking into obtaining a new pump when my warranty is up, and only MM is being helpful.
Animas is not. If I have to switch, I will.
I love the display and the fact that you can do most things from the remote, I HATE the clip, I hear they might be coming out with a new one soon, I have no regrets!!!
I love being able to use my meter as a remote! (and the totally amazing customer service they have)
I was a previous medtronic customer and switched to the Ping a little over a year ago.
Things I like:
- Bolusing from the remote.
- Screen is much easier to read when I don’t have my glasses on at night. (It’s harder to read in sunlight though.)
- Louder alarms. Customizable alarms that I can change when I get “immune” to the existing ones.
- No way no how that it is possible to clear an alarm when you’ve got an empty reservoir and go back to sleep and several hours later you still have an empty reservoir like I taught myself to do on Minimed. In this situation the Animas is like the Energizer bunny it will realert in a timely manner.
- Excellent customer service.
- Home screen info includes basal rate.
- Status screens info
Things I don’t like or miss
- Escape button
- Integrated data with CGMS info alongside the bolus and basal info on downloads.
- 300 unit reservoir once in a blue moon. I tend to get about 2 and a half days on 200 units which isn’t bad but it would be nice sometimes to have just a smidge bigger reservoir.
Things that are different that I don’t care about just take some getting used to at first.
- More button pushes to bolus or program things.
- Took me a while to figure out how to go sideways in a menu
Surprisingly enough I do not miss having integrated CGMS in terms of day to day use and wearing it though and responding to alarms. I actually prefer having the receiver separate from the pump because then I can keep the pump tucked away. Dexcom also works much better for me than Medtronics’s CGMS system does too so that’s a major plus for the future.
Thanks for the replies. The one ting when I first researched it, is that I loved it’s waterproof. Is this a true statement?
I haven’t tested that out, Mandie (though it’s in all the Ping literature), but I know people who have gone swimming with it with no problem at all. The only catch is that you can’t bring it into very hot water like baths or hot springs because of the effect on the insulin. But it’s very easy to just detach at the site for the length of time of a bath. (Do the other pumps do that?)
Love the color screen on the pump and I can’t wait for the color remote. I always use the remote to figure and bolus before meals. I actually really like the clip that comes with the pump and though I’d love it to last longer, I don’t like the fact that the new one has a higher profile. I absolutely love the customer support, local reps that I have and the technical department. I also like the “feel” of the buttons on the Ping compared to the Medtronic pump. I tried out both of them at my CDE’s office and over a weekend before I decided which one to go with. Good luck!!
Everyone has said it all. As far as waterproof, I leave mine in a zip lock bag when I go swimming because the activity offsets the glucose. I correct after activity. ID the local rep and make an appointment. If that does not work, call headquarters. Animas has the best pump and great tech support. Sometimes the sales staff get lost in the medical mill.
I agree completely! I just switched a few weeks ago. I’d also add that I like their infusion sets better, but find filling the cartridges a bit more cumbersome. MM’s little interlocking-blue-thingy is really handy for filling your reservoir. The battery life is absolutely AWESOME. While the screen is nice, it is harder to view in direct sunlight. Custom bolus names (via PC software) is really nice. And yes, the clip kind sucks… A larger reservoir would be nice, but I took it as a challenge to use less insulin by eating fewer carbs and getting more exercise! Very happy with Animas, and will be even happier when the Animas/Dexcom venture is approved by the FDA! CAN’T WAIT!!!
-Mike
Thanks everyone! I’ve been doing the research since I was diagnosed in 99, and my Ped Endo didn’t believe in pumps, so I got on the pump in 2005 with my adult Endo, she ONLY went with MM, and though I was looking at Animas, my mother did what the Endo said to do. So, when this warranty is over I WILL be switching to Animas. I have a good friend whose on the Animas and she loves it over the MM. As far as the other pumps? MM, is NOT water friendly. I once went swimming with it. I was a counselor at a summer camp for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities, forgo I was still attached to my pump, went into four feet deep, killed the pump.
The things I don’t like about MM is that they said I was 85% approved for the CGMS and I only had to pay 15% which was great, but when I said I couldn’t afford it, they continued to go against my response and began to contact the insurance company until I practically had to yell at them saying I wasn’t paying for it because it’d take away my full DME cap and that meant I wouldn’t be able to get any supplies for the whole year. They then said “Well, we were wrong you have to pay 100%” I didn’t WANT it. I’d love to have it, but for them to pull that on me it’s almost as if there’s no point. I know CGMS’s are expensive and the supplies, but I like from what I’ve seen about the Dexcom.
Amazing customer service support throughout the whole process of getting set up. I love the remote control feature.
i don’t know if it was already mentioned becasue I didn’t read through all the replies…but one of th4 best features I love compared to my old MM…when you do a bolus, you have the option to change the carb ratio…without having to go to settings!