Blood Pressure Monitor Reviews

Panasonic EW3111W Precise Logic Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor

Panasonic of Japan, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies, is also a prominent manufacturer of a wide range of personal healthcare products. The Panasonic range of blood pressure monitors are among the most popular on the market.

Unfortunately, it is seldom possible to find objective reviews of blood pressure monitors on the internet.

An excellent background resource is “Home Blood Pressure Monitoring: A Technology That Has Come of Age,” an article on the US Pharmacist website. It says:

The home blood pressure monitor market is flooded with a multitude of manufacturers offering closely competitive products. These products continue to change with respect to their complexity, variety of functions, and cost. Accuracy should be the primary goal for device selection. The number of products available to patients can understandably cause confusion and an opportunity for the pharmacist to provide knowledgeable information to the buyer. Internet-based medical device retailers are another common venue for purchasing a monitor. Data gathered by Information Resources, Inc showed that at least 65% of the home blood pressure monitors in the US are sold by Omron Healthcare Corporation.34 Other popular device manufacturers include A&D Medical/LifeSource, Lumiscope, Mark of Fitness, Panasonic, and Samsung. All are producing high-quality, clinically tested monitors.

Amazon.com has some consumer reviews of the Panasonic EW3111W. Here’s one:

Like so many other reviewers, I'd have to say that the measurements correlate fairly well with the readings by my local doctor's office. A couple of things to remember:

You have to align the arm band correctly to get an accurate reading. The unit only goes up to 150 on the pressure scale while inflating, other units are adjustable between 140-160-180. It's a comfort thing, 150 is fine for me.

Panasonic does a good job with this technology.

And another:

My normally stable blood pressure for some reason shot up and I was put on medicine and told to watch it. I needed a blood pressure meter. I checked the ratings on Amazon and found this one which seemed to have the most favorable ratings. I wasn't disappointed when it came.

It's easy to use. Just push a big yellow button. My previous one from years ago got more error readings than it gave correct ones. This one has had only one in two months.  You can use it on either arm. This is nice because I can check it's accuracy that way. I brought it to my doctors office and compaired with a manual reading and it was correct. There are two other big save buttons for saving readings. So two people can save their results.

What about the but. While on the phone with my doctor he wanted some of my past readings and I could go back thorugh those I saved but there is no date or time stamp. After a while it gets hard to remember if 17 was Tuesday morning or Monday night. To complicate matters it doesn't save it unless you push one of the save buttons. So you can't tell if you forgot to save a reading.

I found this meter to be simple and accurate but if you really want to monitor your pressure you still need paper and pencil to use this unit.

* Get the Latest Price on the Panasonic EW3111W Precise Logic Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor.

February 21^st, 2006