Customer Reviews
BP was never easier 
2007-08-28
I've been using the Microlife Blood Pressure monitor for 5 months now steady. It has been the easiest device to use that I ever bought. I got sick of using the arm-wrap device and decided to give this one a try. Best decision ever. Contrary to the earlier reviewers, I found the software to load easy and fast with no mistakes and I never read any instructions. It is very intuitive. The connecting cable is easy to use and the usb end is perfect for any computer (unless you are using a really old model). I take my BP 2-3 times a day with it, and after a week or 2 I hook it up to my laptop, open the program, set the device on PC-Link, and hit the data transfer button on the program. Presto! It charts and graphs systolic/diastolic and pulse. Couldn't be easier. I changed batteries (2-AAA) after 3-4 months. I set the device to remove the data from device memory after transferring to the laptop. Makes transfer quicker.
Precise meter for your health 2007-02-25
Very useful blood pressure monitor with good features (heartbeat graph during measurement).
Poor software 
2006-04-22
The device seems to work, but the accompanying software and directions for its use are abysmal. I am a former software engineer, and it still took me considerable time playing with the software and the USB connection to get things to work. The directions for using the PC-Link are basically useless. The directions don't even tell a user that he must set the unit to PC-Link to start transmissions. This may be obvious to someone with a software background, but I'd be willing to bet that it's not obvious to the typical user.
The unit can handle up to two users, and my wife and I both use it. However, it is very easy to forget to set it to the correct user before taking the measurement. That, of course, fouls up the stored set of measurements, and there appears to be no way to correct such a mistake. The unit has no warnings or safeguards to make sure that you are set on the correct user when taking a measurement.
Also, the batteries do not last very long
Oh, yes, after uninstalling and installing the software three times, the install software neglected to put the help files (not very useful anyway) in place on the hard drive.
All in all, I would not recommend this unit. It was a great idea. Taking your blood pressure from the wrist is certainly more convenient and being able to download to your PC and plot data is a great idea. Unfortunately, in the case of the Microlife 3AX1-4U, the execution of those ideas is marginal at best.
smaller memory than advertised, poor software 
2006-03-04
The BP monitor itself seems to work fine. It inflates fast automatically and the results are easy to read. However, the Amazon listing advertises 99 memories for each of two users whereas the manual says it's only 30 memories for each user.
The PC connectivity is suboptimal. Although the device uses USB, it's not a standard cable type (why do manufacturers do that?) and the software is non-intuitive simply because they tried to dumb it down enough to make it intuitive. It behaves like no other software so you have to learn it all from scratch. It makes the assumption that the software is being used by a doctor for multiple patients rather than by an individual in their own home.
The data that gets downloaded from the wrist device to the computer is also hard to export to a different program. Exported files are XML format which is all very nice and up-to-date, only it's really messy to read into Excel or other programs.
Another thing to be aware of with wrist mounted units is that you have to keep the unit at the same height as your heart with your arm relaxed in order to get accurate readings. That means, if you planned to wear the monitor like a watch and just press the measure button whenever you wanted, it's not going to work for you.
All in all, the PC data download part of the product is disappointing, so I'd think twice about spending the extra money on this functionality over a regular wrist mounted device.
Ok device, worst software on planet 2008-04-04
The device is easy to use and very portable. But, it has been many years since I've encountered such poorly designed and buggy software. Many features are not usable... for example: adding comments to the reading history. The button is there but no fields are enables when clicked. The cursor blinks indication entry but typing is not recognized. Even the date field can't be changed. They both remain at 01/01/0001.
The USB software is a nightmare. You can't assign COM port so it will interact with other USB software, like my PALM sync program. I guess if this were the only USB device on your computer you may be safe.
So, get the monitor but forget about using the software unless you love to solve puzzles.
A GREAT monitor! 
2008-03-28
I just ordered my second 3AX1-4U as a replacement to the first one that got accidentally broken.
Every day I take my 87-year-old Dad and 80-year-old Mom's BP. They hated the arm cuff models because they hurt but love this one. Besides the customary usefulness of the immediate info from the readings, the computer link and software is amazing. Dad's not able to get into the doctor's office any more but the doc absolutely loves the sophisticated charts this unit generates. I mail them in to the doctor's office each month and they've actually been very useful. The USB cable is a bit weird but, oddly enough, it's been very sturdy and reliable.
When I went shopping for a replacement unit at Wal-mart they only had an arm cuff version from another manufacturer that hooks up to a computer. I really hope Microlife continues to market a software enabled wrist version for the many elderly folks that find an arm cuff version too uncomfortable.
The first set of batteries lasted almost a year! It's really accurate and easy to use but the software needs a little effort to learn and get installed. The accompanying software CD won't work in MS Vista but there's a Vista-compatible version on the Microlife website that will. Make sure you install MS's Vista service pack 1 to smooth out a few device driver bugs.
This unit is a hundred times more useful because of the computer generated charts that can be saved and used as a reference during medical treatments. They were a life saver the last time Dad ended up in the hospital. One of the resident physicians had ordered blood pressure medicine to lower Dad's BP but cancelled the script as soon as he saw the graphs for the last few months which showed an already low BP history. Great work, Microlife!
Great BP monitor with Windows Vista Software 2008-02-10
I purchased the Microlife Premium wrist monitor along with the larger Microlife Premium Advanced monitor. Both units have the capability of storing and downloading readings in graphic or chart form to the same software program installed on my desktop and laptop computers. We intend to use the wrist monitor for traveling, as it is super compact, and use the larger model for home use.
Both units have been tested against my Doctor's monitor and the readings were very acceptable. The table was well received by my doctor and can be printed, faxed or emailed to her office.
The monitor's USB plug leaves something to be desired but can be handled with lots of TLC.
Good job Microlife.
Reads a bit too high 2008-02-09
There are many features of this monitor that I love. It keeps track of 30 blood pressure readings for two users which can be loaded into a PC for analysis (software included). It can also be set to take your blood pressure once or automatically take three consecutive measurements and provide an average which should be more accurate. However, after comparing the readings to my standard arm cuff machine and with the one at my doctors office I found the Systolic measurement to be about 17% higher.
A+ FOR HOME OR PROFESSIONAL USE! 2008-02-08
This is probably the most accurate blood pressure monitor i have ever owned. most importantly, it hooks up to your computer! This feature allows you to record the data and print blood pressure reports. a must MUST buy.
