1700 Medication Dispenser, Basic (1700)

Purchased this for my mother in law. In the past six months she went from no prescriptions to many. At 88 her memory and ability to keep tract is not at her best and she still lives on her own. This device has made helping her get her meds on time and proper doses. We also are able to track missed doses. Setup is a bit complicated but there are videos to walk you through that.

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 would give zero stars if I could. I purchased this and hired a nurse this week to set up for my loved one. It was set to go off at specific times 2x daily. Not even 24 hours into using it, it did this: "got a call around 12 that it was going off and spitting out medications despite not being set for that time." It did this twice! This is a very unsafe product. Do not get this for someone cognitively impaired. I also have the added expense of paid staff dealing with this problem and now Amazon won't reimbursed the product fully since it's past the window. Didn't matter it's sat new in the box until this week. Now my loved one is out money for this faulty product, staff hours to address the malfunction and additional funds on a new product. Save yourself the hassle!

I need a way to help my 101 year old father take his medications safely. I live 2 hours from him and need something foolproof. I looked at several less expensive products. I chose this because it plugs in and has battery. I was afraid the batteries would die and I’d have to drive 2 hours so dad could get his medicine. Reviews of other products mentioned that if the unit was tipped or dropped, the pill were displaced to other compartments. I practiced with this one once received and put very small pills in it. I shook it all around and upside down and they were not displaced. The alarm is very loud and in a low tone that is easily heard by the elderly. My dad has trouble learning to use anything new. He was able to silence the alarm and retrieve the pills properly the first time. So far, this item is just what I need to keep dad safe and not cause unnecessary trips to straighten it out.

Works great

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.

The app only works with a cellular connection or land line not WiFi and you need expensive devices to use these technologies. Without WiFi it eliminates the ability for family to help monitor parents.