Our Review of the Contour USB

At the pharmacy a few weeks ago, the woman behind the counter asked me if I had tried the Bayer Contour USB meter? We hadn't. I wanted to ages ago but they were never free so we didn't bother with it. She suggested that my son might be interested and to talk to him about it before we ordered our next stock of strips.

I took some information home for him to look at. It seemed strange to think of him as making the decision regarding his diabetes tools but he is growing up and has to like the tools he uses.  Not surprisingly, when I asked if he wanted to try a new "toy" he jumped at the idea.  We have been meter collectors for a number of years and are always searching for just the right one. His meter of choice has been the One Touch mini and he is eager to try out the new Verio but for the moment he was set to try the Contour USB.

Eventually I remembered to ask for the free meter when ordering our strips.  I brought the Contour USB home to him.  I never opened the box. I didn't read the instructions. I just passed in onto him. He took the box to his room and emerged hours later.

"Well?"

"It looks pretty cool!"

A few days later, I took the meter to review the data. He was still using his One Touch at school but was playing with the Contour when he was home. I could not figure out how to turn the thing on let alone find the auto log.  My son, on the other hand, could easily get it to work and find whatever data he wanted.  I decided that I would try to see what was happening on the computer instead.

This weekend, I finally took the opportunity to try to use the meter myself.  It turns out that it is a lot easier to put in a strip and get it to work than it was for me to search its history!  This meter was easy, light weight and had great back lighting.  I was pretty impressed. As it was calculating, it asked me if I wanted it to note that is was "before a meal", "after a meal" or "just a random test".  It did not leave the screen until I made a choice but as I was deciding, it had already figured out his reading! It so neat! The reading was large and bright--perfect for a woman who rarely wears her glasses at 3am when testing.  The best part was that once I had seen the reading, I pulled out the test strip and it shut down!! No buttons to hold. Nothing! Just power down. 

I asked my son what he thought of the meter? He again said that he really likes it. I still find the strip container a little bulky and the strips are large despite the small amount of blood you use.  Despite that fact, so far it seems to be a pretty neat device! We will be downloading later today to see about getting the "full effect". 

Its scary how little diabetes gadgets can add so much to our days!