[UPDATE AS OF 11/10/05: FOR AN INFORMATIVE, IN-DEPTH DISCUSSION COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE THREE MAIN CATEGORIES OF BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORS AVAILABLE (AND MUCH MORE!), SEE MY EPINIONS ESSAY TITLED "News flash: ALL blood pressure monitors are imperfect!" BY CLICKING THE FOLLOWING LINK (OR COPY AND PASTE IT ONTO YOUR BROWSER'S ADDRESS LINE): http://www.epinions.com/content_4531331204. You can likewise access that page via my "Epinions profile" page's pulldown menu showing "My Opinions Categorized".]
Since having adopted Barry Sears' justly renowned "Zone" approach to diet (including the use of "high-dose, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil") several months ago, I've watched my weight decline by about 35 pounds (I'm now triumphantly "fully slender"!), and I've simultaneously seen my body-fat percentage decline to about 12.5% (see my review of the "Taylor body fat scale"). And, not least important, my blood pressure, which was by no means abnormal to begin with, has analogously plummeted remarkably, to a current low of about 98 (systolic) over 60 (diastolic). Considering that--more than three decades ago--I was deemed "unfit" for military service specifically due to high blood pressure, having now attained such relatively healthy BP numbers (at nearly age 52) is of keen interest to me, and I've become prone to periodically monitor my progress in that realm.
Having already owned a very nice,
manual-inflation, digital, blood-pressure monitor since 1997 (see my review of the "AND UA-702"), I was already reasonably experienced with taking my own readings on a fairly regular basis. However, I recently hoped that a newer unit (and, specifically, one from Omron, who, over the past few years, has garnered "top-rated" kudos from
Consumer Reports especially for its more "deluxe" line of BP monitors) would allow me to achieve a still greater degree of accuracy with my digital, BP readings. And this is not to mention the undeniably, relatively greater convenience, quickness, and comfort of a top-quality, "
auto-inflation" cuff. Hence, after considerable due diligence, I finally selected this great Omron unit. And, while I'm not now certain that this evidently rather high-precision Omron device is, on balance, significantly more
accurate than my already very good, preexisting, "AND UA-702" unit (because, when respectively used for two, immediately consecutive readings, both monitors sometimes render
identical systolic and diastolic numbers!), I must admit that the newer (and costlier) Omron unit's auto-inflate, "preformed", "easy-wrap" cuff does so greatly gratify as to make me quite satisfied to now own
two "cool" BP monitors. And all of this is to say nothing of the enhanced look and power of the Omron unit's "more multifaceted" LCD display and its built-in clock and "90-reading" memory.
At this point, I will take the liberty (with this single paragraph, which the reader may feel free to skip) to digress a moment and note that I
likewise recently purchased (but soon returned!) two low-cost, "aneroid" (i.e., "old-fashioned", "analog") blood pressure monitors, one from Wal-Mart (bearing the "Omron" logo), and the other from Walgreens (bearing the latter retailer's own logo but most likely manufactured in the same factory, given the obvious similarity of the respective devices themselves
plus their accompanying user manuals' text and illustrations). However, I ultimately concluded that both units seemed "factory-calibrated" somewhat too high. I based that assumption on my having twice previously taken my above-mentioned "AND" (brand) digital monitor to my doctor's office for a comparison/contrast test versus his "medical-grade" aneroid blood pressure monitor. My "AND" digital monitor's systolic/diastolic readings were pretty close (i.e., the discrepancies ranged from two to six units) to those via the doctor's "professional-grade" device. By contrast, the above-mentioned (cheap!) aneroid devices from Wal-Mart and Walgreens consistently gave me readings about 9 to 10 units higher than those from my "AND" and "Omron" digital monitors. From these (admittedly not precisely scientific) tests, I tentatively concluded that the cheap "aneroid" units (from Wal-Mart and Walgreens) had been perhaps calibrated a bit too high at the factory. In any case, I simultaneously concluded that it was all just too much of a hassle to have to listen through an uncomfortably tight-fitting stethoscope to try to "pinpoint" (often with feelings of great uncertainty) the fleeting "initial thumping" and "final swishing" sounds that represented the respective systolic and diastolic readings--not to mention simultaneously scrutinizing a hard-to-read little "analog" dial to obtain an inescapably rough guess as to which analog number to remember (before jotting it down subsequently via pen and paper). Still worse, the cheaply crafted, wee, "deflation" rotary knob (adjacent to the rubber inflation bulb) is hard enough to initially loosen (and thereafter regulate) with
two hands, much less one; and you simply can't get an accurate BP reading unless you can
precisely regulate the rate of deflation via that tricky, imprecise little knob (while simultaneously, anxiously listening for the faint, tell-tale-heart sounds through the too tightly fitting stethoscope!). Moreover, the general, physical
unwieldiness of such (cheap) "aneroid" devices makes for a real hassle (contrasted with modern, user-friendly, digital monitors' configurations). In other words, it was a bit of a "royal pain" to get the three latex-rubber tubes all running the right direction without inadvertently knocking the (breakable) little analog "meter" off your lap or your desktop, as the case may be. All of this hassle, by the way, means that the user will likely, inevitably raise his blood pressure by several points, contrasted with an automatically inflated, "one-touch",
electronic monitor. In sum, while I'm currently toying with the notion of experimenting with a costlier, virtually
medical-grade "aneroid" device, I can't really endorse such "old-fashioned" units (at least not the cheapest ones) for the average "home" consumer. I realize that this assertion flies in the face of what you might sometimes hear/read via certain "authorities", but, hey, if you don't believe me, just try using such (cheap) aneroid devices yourself, and
then try using virtually any
digital monitor (better yet, one that includes the "auto-inflate" feature), and you'll likely quickly agree!
So far, I've had absolutely no problems with my new "Omron HEM-780" digital, auto-inflation unit, and hopefully I'll never need to avail myself of its five-year warranty.
It was easy to install the four "AA" batteries. You definitely should install batteries (not included) from the get-go, even if you wisely plan to rely primarily on the unit's included AC adapter for power. Otherwise, if you disconnect the AC adapter "for an extended period of time" (such as several hours or overnight), your previously input "date/time" data (not to mention all your prior BP-reading data) will be permanently lost, and you'll have to reset the clock from scratch. Note that a "low battery" indicator will appear on the LCD display whenever it's time to replace the batteries. Battery replacement will likely not be needed for a very, very long time IF you keep the AC-power adapter connected whenever you inflate the cuff (which function, being mechanical, likely consumes a much greater amount of power than do the purely electronic functions). Note: whenever you have the AC adapter attached, the unit does not draw any power from the batteries. Thus, (other than for replacement) you need never remove the batteries unless you're not planning to use the unit for a very "extended period of time."
The main unit ("console") is pleasingly configured and styled. Its size is approximately 6 & 1/2" (length) x 4" (width) x 2 & 7/8" (height) and its weight is about 14 ounces. All of which makes for effective ergonomics and an eminently satisfying "look and feel".
Along with its special "comfort cuff", this unit features Omron's touted "IntelliSense technology" that is said to be "clinically proven" to ensure "accurate readings every time". Albeit the unit's instruction manual mentions that "in rare circumstances, a higher inflation may be necessary" (i.e., the unit would re-inflate the cuff up to 30 units higher than initial inflation and restart the measurement), this has never happened to me. Of course, as I previously mentioned, my own blood pressure is not particularly high. It's also conceivable that some users with extremely high blood pressure (i.e., higher than 220 systolic units!) might have to avail themselves of yet another option mentioned in the manual: namely, such users can opt to hold down the "start" button until the cuff inflation (numerically displayed on the LCD screen) has reached a level about 30 to 40 units higher than the user's expected systolic pressure.
But surely the majority of users will likely encounter no such complications with this unit. Indeed, "idiot-proof" cuff inflation just doesn't get much simpler, quicker, or more comfortable than this. The unit's heavy-duty, specially preformed, "easy-wrap" cuff makes it easy for virtually any user to don (and remove) the cuff. I can verify that it's noticeably easier to don this unit's "preformed" cuff than it is to don the usual "limp" cuff included with many competing products. The "easy-wrap" cuff will likewise accommodate a wide cross-section of users with bicep diameters ranging from 9 to 17 inches.
If you absolutely abhor feeling an ever-tightening, "tourniquet-like" cuff around your arm for (seemingly) an eternity, you will gratefully appreciate that this unit's "comfort cuff" will, at least, noticeably minimize such discomfort, and--equally to the point--it requires noticeably less time to finish taking a reading, by which point it has automatically deflated and is ready for easy removal.
The unit's LCD display's configuration was itself a factor in finalizing my purchasing decision. I really like the unusually large, easy-to-read (monochrome) LCD digits designating, respectively, the systolic (upper) and diastolic (lower) numbers.
What sets this model's LCD-display design apart from many otherwise comparable products is that the "pulse" (i.e., heart-rate) reading--along with the built-in clock's time/date--is displayed SIMULTANEOUSLY with the systolic and diastolic numbers. This makes it possible to behold ALL the respective data at a single glance, instead of having to patiently view a continually changing screen of "alternately displayed" numbers (which, alas, is the approach used by many competing models, including some by Omron). Moreover, your "pulse" number is clearly displayed within a
separate window (within a separate "frame") on the face of the console. This makes it essentially impossible for even the most careless user to confuse the "pulse" number with the "diastolic" number directly above. Alas, Omron has somewhat departed from this "beautiful
and logical" LCD-display configuration with their recently released, "new and improved" (?) version of the HEM-780 (see the penultimate paragraph of this review).
The built-in clock's time and date are remarkably easy to set. Just hold down the "set" key for a couple of moments, and then press either of the two "memory" keys to adjust the time and/or date on the LCD display; finally, tap "set" to enter your desired time/date (the illustrated user manual makes this very simple). At the conclusion of each blood-pressure reading, it's nice to be able to note the current time digitally displayed--along with an adjacent "pulse" (heart-rate) number--in the separate, bottommost window (beneath an upper window containing, respectively, the systolic and diastolic BP numbers).
The clock is likewise very useful for those users wishing to consult the machine's automatically, previously stored blood-pressure readings (each of which is automatically labeled with the appropriate date and time). The unit's memory automatically stores up to 90 of the user's prior readings. After 90 readings have been stored, the "oldest" one will be automatically deleted from memory to allow your most recent one to be automatically entered into memory.
The "instruction manual" is well written and illustrated. The reality is that, given the user friendliness of the product itself, the average user will rarely--if ever--need to consult the manual.
Whereas many competing products include a zippered, "soft"
bag for storage, this product includes a one-piece, hinged, semi-opaque, light-blue, heavy-duty-plastic, hard-shell case. Such a case surely protects its contents better than does your average zippered bag. This storage case features inner compartments molded such that there are separate spaces for, respectively, the console, cuff, and AC adapter (plus the instruction manual). {Even supposing that the single, rear "hinge" of this spiffy, one-piece, plastic storage case might eventually break (albeit probably not before years of continual use), you could then surely apply a piece of heavy-duty, adhesive tape to make it functionally as good as new.] By the way, you can just keep the cuff's inflation cable connected to (plugged into) the main unit ("console") whenever you insert everything into their respective compartments within the storage case; this is nice and convenient.
By the way, if (like me) you really like the tastefully sculpted design of this "deluxe" (above-pictured) machine (noting especially its uniquely configured, "twin-window", LDC display), NOW might be a good time to get one for yourself--while you still can. For, consulting Omron's own web site, I see that evidently they are (as of this writing) in the process of replacing the above-pictured version of their "HEM-780" with a totally different-looking unit (having a "single-window" LCD screen) retaining the same "HEM-780" moniker. From all that I can discern, the only significant
functional difference between the (above) "old" and "new" HEM-780 machines involves the ability of the new verson to display an "average" of your three most recent blood-pressure readings. Now, I'll grant that that (limited) "averaging" capability is a pretty neat and, conceivably, fairly useful feature; nevertheless, I concluded it was no very big deal to me personally, given that I can already easily see an "average" of
any desired number of prior BP readings simply by consecutively typing each reading into my computer via my ordinary "spreadsheet" software. You don't have to be the proverbial rocket scientist to use such software, whether we're referring to "Lotus 1-2-3", "Microsoft Excel", or what have you. [And, strictly for those individuals who are truly "into" that sort of thing, it would likewise be pretty easy (not to mention "empowering" and "cool"!) to visually, colorfully graph the collective pattern of all your systolic and diastolic readings for easy computer viewing, storage, and printing--conceivably to share subsequently with your physician.] Besides, if you (like yours truly) are habitually a
frugal shopper, you can likely find the "old" version still available somewhere for less than you'd pay for the "new" version. Or, failing that, simply proceed to Wal-Mart (either their web site or virtually any of their neighborhood stores) and check out their splendid (Omron-manufactured) "HEM-780REL" for only $58.94, which, you'll quickly notice, is fundamentally identical to the above-pictured machine except for the presence of Wal-Mart's "ReliOn" logo, not to mention some trivial restyling of the machine's faceplate (i.e., the Wal-Mart version's "frame" around the LCD display is a darker blue, as opposed to the pale-blue treatments of the above-pictured, "Omron-logo" version). The "Wal-Mart" version--whose faceplate design is, arguably, even more pleasingly striking than that of the above-pictured version--still says "manufactured by Omron" on the rear of the unit, not to mention the side of the product box; and the same five-year warranty (from Omron) is still provided.
In sum, this "much-better-than-average", Omron machine offers good value despite its somewhat high cost. I can't imagine any user being dissatisfied with the performance, ease-of-use, comfort, speed, and styling of this excellent product.
