1700 Medication Dispenser, Basic (1700)

After comparing specifications at Amazon of several auto-dispensing devices to find a mid-point of cost and reliability, I chose this one. It arrived promptly, well-packed, in good condition, with all parts and instructions. Durability: It has been in service for 56 days without a hitch. It's tamper-resistant, not tamper-proof, which is fine for a non-hostile environment. It's mainly plastic, so treat it gently. If you feel the need to use force, you're doing it wrong - go back and read the instructions until they sink in. I read some reports that it's hard to get the lid on: If you look closely, you will see many regularly-spaced tangs that fit into slots under the outer edge of the lid. Here I disagree with the instructions, which say to press your hands "at 9 and 3 o'clock" to rotate the lid into place, and may actually make it more difficult because the plastic lid is somewhat flexible, permitting slight misalignment of the tangs and slots. Instead, place the lid like it says - turned slightly clockwise so the tangs align with the slots - then lightly swipe your fingertips around the outside edge on top of it to jostle any misalignments into place. Then use uniform mild pressure to rotate the lid counterclockwise so the central viewport aligns with the face of the digital display, then lock it. Of course before putting on the lid: remove any templates, make sure the key is in and the lock is unlocked, make sure none of the pill cups are so full that pills prevent the lid from settling into place or interfere with rotation of the carousel, make sure the alarm/dispensing lever is pushed toward the center until it clicks into place, and make sure the small dispensing door on the lid is closed toward the outer edge. The position of the lever and the door are critical to avoiding damage. The instructions say what to do, but they don't stress the importance. In normal operation, the alarm sounds, then you open the dispensing door all the way (pushing the internal lever toward the center) until the alarm shuts off, then remove the pills, and then close the door. Performance: The clock stays on time and the backup battery remains charged via the AC power cable. The alarm is loud enough for people with average hearing and certainly long enough to be noticed. If one's hearing is impaired, and/or most of his time is spent in another room, the alarm may go unnoticed. I can't fault the manufacturer for compromising on how obnoxious the alarm should be. Generally it's good enough. Complaints: None, really. None of the other $800 kryptonite models were on sale for $10; but I "got what I paid for" and more, because I had no experience with such devices and experience has taught me to mistrust the reliability of mechanisms made of plastic. Setting the alarms was a bit tricky until I figured out the timing of when to press and hold the buttons; this is similar to the timeouts you may experience when using functions on a cell-phone. It would be nice if there were small pins on the inner control facing that fit into corresponding holes in the templates so the templates don't easily slide out of position while filling the pill cups. Overall: Most of the stuff I buy from Amazon is, in the grand scheme of things, trivial and/or commonplace - who's going to benefit from reading review #1,000,001 of Windows 7 Pro? This device is not in that class; it's a good machine that is aiding an elder's health. Having moderate experience with machines, I have no reason to think this one will fail any time soon. If it does, you will know it.

I purchased this product more than two years ago and I have to say its been a FANTASTIC product. Its allowed my father (now 87) to remain at his care level (which is VERY EXPENSIVE service for med management) this box has paid for itself MANY times over at his assisted living facility. It has worked consistently and flawlessly even when the power cable is removed. Its great and easy to pack up when he comes to visit us... we grab it and pack it in his suit case since the pills stay locked in there little dose containers until dispensed. My dad is VERY independent, and this tool has allowed him to feel like he can be independent of his nursing staff which is a HUGE plus for him. After living years independently, in just a few short years my father lost so many of his freedoms... his home, his wife, his car, and other simple things... this tool allows him to take back and keep some of his own self-care in "his" control. Before I had purchased this product, he was constantly being chased around by med management nurses two or three times a day with a dixie cup and water... Now he's taken this back and also uses this box to also tell him when to take his inhalers which he keeps on top of the box. It only took a week or so for it to become an integral part of my dads life. The locking keys are a MUST... since his assisted living place has a requirement that pills be locked up at all times including his bottles. I found I could put a full 14 days worth of pills in this box and it would dispense up to 4 separate times (of which I only used two). Filling by me only takes a few minutes every so often and its really easy to administer additional medications on an unplanned basis. My dad had pneumonia a couple months ago and adding a 10 day antibiotic to his regiment of pills was cake. Eventually my dad will probably age to the point of not being able to use this box at all... in which I'll probably fill it with Tick Tacs just so he can gage his day by the alarms hes become so accustomed too... its been that helpful in marking the periods of his day. Hopefully this review is of some help to someone out there with an aging mother and father. Paul

My mother was able to put her finger in the dispenser, rotate it to access the next days med dosage. Therefore taking double doses of her meds. In my opinion, it was not a safe option for my mother. I returned the dispenser.

I bought one of these for my elderly mother with memory loss 2 years ago. It has worked out well. Recently my dad has been forgetting his meds too, so I ordered another identical MedReady 1700. The device works well. My mother's has not had any problems in two years. It's straightforward to program, but you will need to read the instructions. I like that the alarm is loud and obnoxious so you can't ignore it. I also like the fact that you can set the alarm to continue buzzing for up to 4+ hours in case they're out of their room when the alarm goes off. The devices are made of rigid plastic, probably polystyrene. It is not the most durable and will could easily break if dropped on a hard surface. The one I ordered for my father arrived from Amazon with a small piece of broken plastic rattling around the unit which someone at MedReady's QC missed. It was not critical to its operation, so I did not bother returning it. If you get one of these, you will want to buy the extra tray and lid to be able to refill before you go over to your parent's place to swap out the empty tray.