Two items for home use although the second could have uses almost anywhere. First a Blood Pressure Cuff for all those who need to keep regular checks. The second is a USB temperature sensor that works and reports it.
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Omron MIT Elite Plus
Not long ago I told you about a very nice Blood Pressure monitor, this one is slightly different and also keeps a lot of readings in memory. It is a rather different design and works in a slightly different way to produce the same result.
Unlike in a doctor’s surgery or a hospital these units are designed to be used by the patient and for me anyway when fitting to yourself a little extra length of cord is always useful, this is not required when being fitted onto you.
You get the unit, a set of four ‘AA’ batteries, the cuff and the connecting lead, a software CD and USB cable, a substantial manual in eight languages and finally for those that travel around a rather nice zip up fabric case.
The unit is 15.5x7.5x3cm, the 60cm hard wired air lead – at the cuff end – fits into the left side of the unit. The four ‘AA’ batteries fit into the base of the unit.
The face has a 10.5x5cm display and below this a central button on/off start and the ability to set time and date on the left and store your readings on the right.
While it looks different to most of the units found in your modern doctors surgery it works in much the same way. Fit the cuff on the arm just above the elbow with the air tube pointing down along the lower arm and press the button.
The days of the nurse/doctor taking your pulse is not required as the unit gives both the blood pressure readings and the pulse.
The display shows the Systolic reading at the top in close to 2cm numerals the Diastolic reading below at the same size then the Pulse in just over 1cm numerals and the time in a line below that in slightly smaller numerals. There are a number of graphics on a bottom line and your pulse is also shown just to the left of the time in a graphic.
Once taken you just need to press the ‘M’ button on the right of the on/off to store the reading.
The Omron MIT Elite Plus is available from the link below for £102 with free delivery.
http://www.homecare-products.co.uk/Personal_Care/Health_Aids/OMRON_MIT_Elite_Plus_Blood_Pressure_Monitor.aspx
Brando Temperature Sensor
This looks just like a memory stick and plugs into a USB socket; however it displays nothing at all on the device.
All data is shown within applications within Windows. You can set it to display the temperature at given intervals either in the software or in a spreadsheet application. The readings work in a range of -40c to +80c. It has a built in Lithium Battery that charges from the USB port.
It can store nearly 100,000 readings so it can be left in a place to check how temperature varies over a period once you have set the requested sample times.
Even for Brando this seems a niche unit but once you have a use it will do the job for you over an extended period.
It is available from the link below for $42 (US) plus p&p $3 (US) whatever the size of your order.
http://usb.brando.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00698