Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bradford on February 18, 2010 at 12:16pm

Those are coveted like gold lol. Even people who work for Abbott have trouble getting their hands on a cable (the USB to serial) :-)
I wish I could help you out, but I don't have one myself. Hopefully someone on here wouldn't mind passing one your way!

Permalink Reply by David on February 18, 2010 at 12:34pm

I'm not surprised, being priced as they are! Thanks for the reply. Figured it's not likely to get one this way, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I wish I could decide which software I would like better from just looking at the User Guides and then purchase that cable. I think I'd actually have to use each one to see which one is better for me.

Permalink Reply by tmana on February 21, 2010 at 4:56pm

Co-Pilot is a free download from the Internet. Have you tried using Co-Pilot with the cable you got from GlucoFacts?

Permalink Reply by David on February 22, 2010 at 5:40am

I don't have either cable right now but your idea is a thought if I end up getting the Bayer cable which is half as expensive as the FreeStyle one.

Permalink Reply by tmana on February 22, 2010 at 10:14am

The cables are specific to the meters. Bayer cables will only work with Bayer meters, Lifescan cables with Lifescan meters, Abbott cables with Abbott meters, etc.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on February 22, 2010 at 10:28am

If it is a "serial to USB" (the port that looks like a stereo jack), it may work...but I don't know anything about the Bayer meter, so it may not use the same type of set-up.
I have heard that Abbott is working on updating their serial plug ins to either USB-A, USB-B, or micro USB (all three are pretty 'standard' in the USB world...but I don't know which one might win). That being said, I'm pretty sure if you've signed up for the Freestyle Promise Program, you have 'free meter upgrades' for life...so although it's not a fix for you now, you have something to look forward to by upgrading your meter at some point (whenever they roll out the new meter) to a plug-in system that more people use. I've attached a picture of the various types of USB that folks use these days. Hopefully Abbott picks one of them (rather than that goofy serial plug that only they seem to use).

Permalink Reply by David on February 22, 2010 at 11:07am

Thanks for the cable education. I didn't know they used an uncommom type of plug. That's good to know. I am in their FreeStyle Promise Program.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on February 22, 2010 at 11:17am

Something I actually learned recently: as part of freestyle promise program, you can have free battery replacement as well. I heard this straight from an Abbott person (who works w/ the program). However, I haven't taken advantage of (or even looked into this) yet. I thought it was interesting though b/c in the past I've always just bought my own...
That's not really on subject here so I apologize for skewing the topic, but I thought I'd share the news I'd heard pertaining to that program.

Permalink Reply by tmana on February 22, 2010 at 2:35pm

Wow. I just replaced my batteries. Got a good deal on them over at Michael's (arts-and-crafts store)

Permalink Reply by tmana on February 22, 2010 at 2:45pm

Several meter manufacturers have told me that even though their serial-to-USB devices look identical (e.g. 2mm mini phono plug to standard USB), their meters are designed to be incompatible with third-party cables because of HIPAA regulations.

While going through 64-bit Vista issues with my Abbott USB cable, I got the impression that each serial-to-USB cable has its own device identification/BIOS/drivers. (One of our members -- don't recall who, offhand -- posted links to the source for the necessary drivers for the Abbott cable and the registry hack needed to make them work under 64-bit Vista. Bottom line: we had to tell the registry the cable had a different device ID than it thinks it has.)