The folks at Insulet have very generously shipped me out an advance unit of their new color PDM. (I guess they just knew I’d be first on the upgrade list, and wouldn’t stop pestering them ’til I got one pronto.) I fired mine up last Wednesday afternoon, and have been happily playing with it since. Here are my impressions so far:
SIZE & SHAPE
The squared-off shape makes it feel more compact, although the unit isn’t really any smaller than the old PDM. I assume they made it the same size so it still fits in our carry cases, and the company doesn’t have to go manufacturing a new round of those. A company spokesperson tells me that another reason they didn’t want to go any smaller was to keep the screen large enough for visibility, and so they could retain the commands written in complete sentences — which people really seem to like, rather than some “pump code.” Also, I am told that this new blue casing material is highly durable, i.e. sturdier so “it’s OK to hit the ground,” the rep tells me. Good to know.
COLOR
The screen’s not really full color, but a pleasing blend of green, blue and gray. This may not sound exciting, but it’s so much more illuminated than the old screen that I can now hardly believe I could see that old dim thing.
Have a look at them side-by-side. Which one would you like to be squinting at a dozen times a day? Insulet tells me they’ve now got the highest resolution screen available.
This reminded me of how quickly our older models start to look like dinosaurs next to the newer technologies. I pulled out my original glucose meter, an early FreeStyle, and set it aside the Flash for comparison. Geezus, the old lancing device is a monster! It’s as big as the newer meter:
btw, the clear screen on the OmniPod’s new color PDM has now been designed so that it can easily be popped out if it needs replacement. “You wouldn’t believe it, but lots of people try to clean their screens with Unisolve!” (Yipes!)
NEW CAPABILITIES
Forget about that lame dongle cable you used to have to line up next to the PDM and pray for connection. The new PDM has a mini USB cable port built right in — the same kind used on most digital cameras. When their new software comes out in June (Godspeed!), connection is going to be so much easier, without any proprietary equipment required. The company tells me this will allow for easier upgrades, too.
I know what you’re thinking: have they change the IOB (Insulin on Board) feature on the OmniPod system? (controversial because it currently shows only insulin delivered as a correction, and not remaining insulin from a meal bolus). The answer is no — for practical reasons, they tell me. A change like that would have required further FDA evaluation, dragging down the company’s ability to introduce an updated PDM in a timely fashion. Personally, I’m glad to have the upgrade now rather than much later, as the case would have been. I’m used to taking mental note of my meal boluses for IOB purposes, although I really think this ought to be fixed at some point.
Anyway, the new model also features a new menu option on the home screen called “More Actions.” Here you now find the operation for “Change Pod.” It’s definitely a good idea to make this vital option more accessible, I think. Two other items in this menu are prompts to “Add BG Readings,” and “Assign/Edit BG Tags.” My take on these is that they’re meant to encourage people to actually use the record-keeping features more intensely, in anticipation of the new OmniPod Carelink software that will finally allow users to capture their records in a useful way (!)
Something else new is no more default numbers during setup. “Often, people get pumps who have no idea of their insulin requirements. They think the machine will take care of everything, so this is a safety feature,” the Insulet rep tells me. “Otherwise, people often just use the default number and think that’s their setting. Now they’re forced to enter their own numbers and not rely on any defaults.”
BUTTONS, BUTTONS
The buttons on this new PDM are smaller, and “tighter.” By that I mean, you need to have strong fingers. My unit may just be stiff because it’s new, but you practically have to stand on the “home” button to activate it, and you have to hold it down real hard for several seconds to turn the PDM off. I’m told that this is also a safety feature, so people don’t push buttons by accident; I’m feeling very safe.
As you know, the upgrade price is $150. Insulet didn’t have a dollar amount for new customers yet, but they expect the current PDM price of $950 “to go up a bit.” TBD till their official launch at the ADA Conference in early June.
Use your super powers to get us Mac Users a special price on Windows for OS X so we can use the software.
They’re small changes, but it looks like a big improvement! I wish my Ping had a meter like that!
“Insulet tells me they’ve now got the highest resolution screen available.” Amy or anyone, what does that mean exactly? The highest res screen available for the hardware that it’s matched with? Or the highest res screen available for this screen size? (seems unlikely)
“btw, the clear screen on the OmniPod’s new color PDM has now been designed so that it can easily be popped out if it needs replacement. “You wouldn’t believe it, but lots of people try to clean their screens with Unisolve!” (Yipes!)”" Really? What’s Unisolve do to the screen? Does it haze up the glass or does it get into the crevices and zap or corrode stuff? Do you know what that means, Amy or anyone?
Thanks in advance.
Looks like an improvement, especially since the old screen is so hard to read, and I’d definitely want one if the upgrade were cheaper, but the one thing I was hoping for was a fix for the IOB issue…Their IOB calculation is almost useless as is, and it’s a pain to look back at when you’ve bolused for a meal and try to guess how much of that bolus is remaining. I’ve gone low so many times from miscalculating!
You didn’t mention the test-strip insertion light I think the new PDM has, which would be so useful for those middle of the night tests when I fumble to get blood to strip without waking my husband. But still, without the improved IOB, I don’t know that the cosmetic changes are worth spending $150 for when my old PDM’s still working fine.
@Colleen: I’m confused, your Ping did come with a meter like that didn’t it? The one included with the Ping system has basically the same feature set (plus insulin on board, of course).
Generally this thing still seems too big to me. In the ten years that I’ve been pumping I’ve never really minded having a tube+infusion set as long as my pump is small enough to comfortably fit in my pocket. The remote for the OmniPod looks like it could very easily be an inch smaller – lots of extra plastic above the screen and extra whitespace at the bottom of the home screen could be eliminated. I’m not sure that you got the full answer from OmniPod about why they didn’t make it smaller — maybe they didn’t want to rewrite all of their interfaces or content, or maybe some other cost issues got in the way. It does seem like there’s still wasted space either way. I could get behind a smaller remote along with the smaller pod that some other company is releasing later this year.
Thank you, AGanger, for mentioning the Mac issue. I think we Mac users need to band together & lobby Abbott for a Mac version of the CoPilot software. There must be a Type 1 Mac programmer out there somewhere…..
Talked with Omnipod the other day – MAC users need not worry. The new software is web based and we can use like normal people. So they say.
All I wanted was for the darn thing not to BEEP so CONSTANTLY. Just called to see if there’s a vibrate function that might reduce the frequency of the beeps, but alas, no go.
[...] On a dry note: Check out what other Podders are saying about the PDM at TuDiabetes and Diabetesmine. [...]
The new light on the end which allows tired moms like me to SEE when they are testing in the middle of the night is worth the entire cost of the new PDM in my opinion! And while I know the IOB issue is a problem for some folks, this is the first pump we’ve ever used & I want to note that not having this feature doesn’t bother us at all. I think it’s all about what you’re used to.
Oh, also wanted to mention that the new PDM comes with the new software which is MUCH more user-friendly & capable. =) Store 90 days worth of info & it’s all online for your endo to see as well whenever he/she wishes. I’m a mom who hand-documents it all now & I’d hate to think of the HOURS I’ve spend doing this for 3 years now. I’m hoping this will make my task much less daunting.
I have never blogged before but here goes… well i got the new PDM for free being age 14 and cute and sweet and polite and pulling in the tears saying I’ll cancel the omnipod and bdabing here it is i love but the buttons are so hard to push my dog had to put his weight on it to push it the first time and yes the software works great with macs also customer service is so incredible i absolutely love it they are so kind except for one but i wont mention pete’s name that would be ruse!!! anyway i love customer service! any time i feel like a new pdm (cracked screen or bad tester i call up and a new ones there in 16 hours. the next day.
I have the new PDM and it was the first pump I was ever on. I loved it, until yesterday when I dropped it and the LCD screen broke (not covered under warranty and is also not serviceable. So one month after starting on the PDM I will be out a few hundred dollars to replace it. And to top that off I have to wait until tomorrow to even order the new one. Customer service is good but I tried to set up my PDM with my Mac and it reset the entire PDM and wasted the pod I had on. There are a few kinks that need to be worked out most definitely and I would really like to see them offer some damage insurance.
The durability of the upgrade has been disappointing – and the lack damage coverage or repair ability upsetting. My daughter used the generation 1 PDM for almost two year with very few problems and great service. Took advantage of the upgrade offer in August – LCD screen broke last week – with no known abuse…$500 replacement cost! Replacement came today…LCD screen broke within 2 hours of set up…definately no PDM abuse this time – obvisiously the gel covers set with are intended to protect…not the screen though…oh yeah, 3 pods failed within the last 24 hours…not having a good week!
So there is a way to get the software up and running on a Mac? I have Mac OS X Snow Leopard. What do I have to do? Can anyone help me?
Check out our blog. Ean just got his first omnipod! He is almost 2 years old.
http://supersweete.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the help!
Diana
[...] On a dry note: Check out what other Podders are saying about the PDM at TuDiabetes and Diabetesmine. [...]