? Meter dillema: AlphaTrak2 vs. ReliOn Confirm vs. Relion Prime

I read the previous posts on here comparing the different meters. I still can't seem to decide what to do.

I was using AlphTrak2 for Frosty for the longest time because I was getting inconsistent results with my ReliOn confirm. But I was spending $200 a month on strips, and due to his latest vet expenses, I can't afford it anymore.

I had the ReliOn confirm already, so I got 100 strips for it at Walmart, for the $35.99 or $36.99 or whatever the cost is. I used it today and compared readings to the AlphaTrak meter - they were lower as expected, but the relative curve was pretty similar, so I was happy with that.

Then @Beck and Grandpa brought it to my attention that Freestyle Insulix strips fit the AlphaTrak meter and are $30 for 100, so cheaper than the Confirm. Great, I thought, after we use up our Confirm strips, we can go back to these!

But THEN, someone on here mentioned Relion Prime, and how cheap it is as well as the strips. I did some reading here, and I see 2 potential issues - it takes more blood, and people get an error message on it more than the other meters.

Since I've been testing Frosty for 9 months now, I am pretty comfortable getting whatever size drop of blood I need (his ketone meter NovaMax takes a ridiculously large drop of blood. But after some practice I was able to use it without issues). However, having been sick over the last 2 weeks, Frosty is now anemic, and I am worried that even that tiny difference will somehow make his anemia worse.

Also, those who use the Prime - how often are you guys getting that error message? Does it happen even when you get enough blood? Does it seem to be random, and would you say it offsets the cost of the strips?

So I am trying to decide which meter I will be settling on. Please let me know what you guys think.

Thanks!

EDIT: The NovaMax Ketone meter takes 0.8 microliters of blood, in case anyone is wondering.

 

I would stick with the confirm or alpha. I use alpha with insulinx strips. So far I've gotten them cheap on eBay ($11-15 for 50 strips), and as you said they are $30/100 on amazon. I wouldn't want to have to get such a large sample all the time from my cat that the prime requires. Your call though.

Since switching from alpha strips to insulinx I went from spending $150/month to about $45.

 

Of course I am a believer in the Insulinx, but I also have the Nova Max Plus for ketones. When I ran out of strips for my AlphaTrak, I used the NovaMax for glucose testing. The glucose strips for the NovaMax are affordable and use the same blood sample size as the AT. You already have a human meter similar to the ReliOn.

 

I didn't even think about using the NovaMax for glucose. What I don't like about it is that once you insert the ketone strip, if you insert it incorrectly or the meter times out, the strip is wasted. Is it the same for the glucose strips? Looks like they're $28 for 100 on Amazon, which is even cheaper than the ReliOn Confirm. Hmm...

I am thinking that if all goes well and we run out of the Confirm strips, I can try getting the Prime since it would only be like $26 for the strips AND meter, and seeing if I like it.

I suppose I could also try the NovaMax strips just to compare. Why not... try them all out. I just hope we have the time left to do all that

 

I don't remember wasting any NovaMax strips when testing glucose. It uses a tiny drop. I almost stayed with the NovaMax when my AT strips came in.

I had the Freestyle Neo as my first meter. It used too much blood and I wasted a ton of strips.

 

I've used Relion Prime for 3 1/2 years and had maybe 3 error messages the whole time! I love it and have no problem getting sufficient blood for the tests. It's less than $18 for 100 test strips.

 

I read reviews of meters when choosing and found Relion Confirm compared relatively favorably with the more reliable human meters, so I stuck with Confirm for quite awhile. Now though I am using the Arkray Glucocard meter. Arkray makes the Relion Meters for Walmart. The company was sending the meter with about 10 test strips free (and those are the Sensor Plus One strips). This is the better of the two Arkray meters as far as I know. It measures lower than other meters, like the Relion, but I factor that in. So far, I'm finding it reliable enough.

 

It's MY fault when I get error messages on my Prime. It sips slower than my Micro, if I'm shaky when I test and move the strip away from the drop while it's still filling, it errors for not enough blood. I have to just be conscious of that.

The Prime doesn't stay 'active' as long as the Micro but that's no big deal.

I find that the Prime and the Confirm/Micro read the same. I prefer the Micro due to it's fast sip and small drop but some weeks are tight, budget says Prime. In fact I started using mine again last night.

The Prime takes the same size drop as the Alphatrak.

My two cents....

 

All input is appreciated! I decided I will try them all out and see which ones I like better , if all goes well and Frosty continues to do well. Then I will post my review!