I know, creative title right? I’ve been meaning to write this post for a bit, but well life. That’s my excuse, that’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Earlier today my friend Christel, (we had food together and I got to play with the Kid, she is now a friend) asked a question in regards to pumps. With the fold up of Asante, she is looking for something new/old. So because she asked about Animas and the pros and cons of the Ping vs. Vibe pumps, it is time to write my thoughts.

I am doing this bullet style:

Vibe: The Good

• Integrated with the Dexcom G4
• Waterproof
• Reliable brand
• The updated interface to be able to just push the up arrow to have the bolus calculations appear is nice
• Solid pump
• Comes in colors, (I like pretty things)
• Easy to use
• Small Basals
• Still pretty good battery life
• Comes with Verio Meter
• Did I mention it’s waterproof?

The Bad (Mind you these are my issues)

• Certain pump features are slower than they were on the Ping, i.e. Audio Bolus takes forever to program
• Certain pump screens take a moment to process
• Not linked to any meter so no remote bolus options (not an issue for me, but Tina had complaints on this)
• The older Dexcom algorithm is on it, but still accurate
• If you forget to adjust the speed of your bolus’s it hurts like a mother

The Ugly (I know this is just me, I love my pump, but we need the full list)

• The pump claims to be able to hold 200u of insulin. I have only ever been able to get the pump to recognize 198 units, not a big deal but…
• The pump makes me prime out insulin until roughly the 188/187 mark, even if the pump and tubing are where they should be…
• So I am wasting insulin where I shouldn’t need to be wasting it
• Downloading data via the ir Port is a bitch, I don’t even bother, nor can you use that port to eventually update the software
• Their website is slightly dated, you cannot access the estore from your tablet or phone
• Their record keeping on the site does not let you actually delete old or wrong addresses, I have so many addresses it is driving my OCD crazy
• The company has outsourced some of their support and billing, it took me 6 plus months to resolve an “outstanding balance” that was a hiccup in their system, I lost track of the phone calls made to them on this

While a lot of the ugly comes from a customer service standpoint, the not holding the 200u makes me nuts. Now in the course of three days I go through roughly 170/180 units of insulin and have that cushion, sometimes it is nice to know I might be able to drain the reservoir to 0. I’d like to have those units back. Granted my older Ping was able to function at 195, the newer one I had that was a warranty replacement was in the same 190 – 188 category. It seems like a small thing, but if you say 200u it should be able to function with 200u. What if I recycled my tubing so it didn’t need to be primed? That’s wasted insulin.

One of my biggest fears with this pump was the battery drain from the CGM, to be honest is the battery life that much shorter? Not really, I mean if it alarmed a lot and was accessed a lot, maybe so, but I am getting roughly the same amount of battery life as I was with my Ping. I’m happy to report that the CGM portion of the Vibe will continue to function and remember where it was if your pump battery does die. More so if you are in start up mode for the CGM, once you replace the battery, it is business as normal. I will mention the fact that usually I am able to replace the battery within a short period of time. Not sure what happens if the battery dies while you are sleeping and don’t catch it till the morning. The one thing though with battery life and this I am still trying to ascertain is that I feel the warning window of low battery to dead battery is diminished. It used to be that the first time I saw the screen that said low battery, I had roughly a day or so before the battery died. With the Vibe, I have had as little as 4 hours to about 10 hours. I am still trying to sort that out.

All in all, I am very happy with this pump, the slow screens can be annoying if you are used to the speed of the Ping, the updated UI is nice, the CGM is great for me. I play Ultimate Frisbee and while my CGM is on the sideline, sometimes I will be out of range. With the pump, I can just look down and see the numbers.

Before upgrading to the Vibe, I had been using the Ping for over 5 years I think at this point. I’ve lost track, it has been my companion for so long. The good is pretty much the same for both pumps with the obvious omission of CGM Capabilities. In fact much of this list is still the same with a few small updates to each category.

Ping: The Good

• Waterproof
• Reliable brand
• Meter Remote, which some people like
• Solid/Durable pump
• Comes in colors, (I like pretty things)
• Easy to use, once you get past the quirks
• Small Basals
• Great battery life
• Did I mention it’s waterproof?

The Bad (Mind you these are my issues)

• No CGM access
• The Meter Remote is an unbelievably bulky One Touch meter
• There have been no updates to this meter at all, knowing that there are people who love the Meter Remote, why not make use of one of the other meters such as the Verio to do do the same as the One Touch Ultra
• If you forget to adjust the speed of your bolus’s it hurts like a mother

The Ugly (The same for the Vibe, except sometimes the prime will give more insulin capacity)

• The pump claims to be able to hold 200u of insulin. I have only ever been able to get the pump to recognize 198 units, not a big deal but…
• The pump makes me prime out insulin until roughly the 188/187 mark, even if the pump and tubing are where they should be…
• So I am wasting insulin where I shouldn’t need to be wasting it
• Downloading data via the ir Port is a bitch, I don’t even bother, nor can you use that port to eventually update the software
• Their website is slightly dated, you cannot access the estore from your tablet or phone
• Their record keeping on the site does not let you actually delete old or wrong addresses, I have so many addresses it is driving my OCD crazy
• The company has outsourced some of their support and billing, it took me 6 plus months to resolve an “outstanding balance” that was a hiccup in their system, I lost track of the phone calls made to them on this

I remember years ago when I left my Medtronic pump behind how excited I was when I got the Ping. Not only did I like the pump and the programing, having access to the food database, the ability to program tones, etc excited. That lasted about 3 months. After that, I just liked the fact that the pump was a solid pump. The fact that it was waterproof was awesome and I could take it swimming with me, was a plus. There was no wrong with the pump. Even 3/4 years ago when my pump was out of warranty and broke, the people at Animas sent me a loaner pump until I made the decision between pumps on the market. After being on the fence for so long, I decided to stink with Animas, even though the Ping system was showing it’s age. Partly because the promise of the Vibe was out in the world and I kept hoping it would be sooner or later. In the end when the Vibe became available, I switched, am I happier with the Vibe? I can’t say, I think it is a balance for me.

When it comes to choosing a pump, truly you need to make your own choices. You need to weigh the use of the Key Features of each pump against each other. Is having Dexcom integration a deal breaker? Will having the meter remote make your life easier? Do you even use One Touch products? Will your insurance cover the strips? How fast do you want your pump to be? The base unit of the Vibe/Ping are pretty much the same, aside from the CGM and slightly updated UI. That is truly all the difference. The question is, do you need or want it? Would you be happier without something else beeping at you or are you better off with that second alarm buzzing on your side?

I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice nor medical opinion, this is just me. I have no issues talking about my opinion on these products, but this is not Gospel, the would be Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Seriously, though if you have any questions I can and will happily give more input. This was just supposed to be a small post to help someone out.