When I travel with just carry on I would like to use one of the travel CPAP's They are both very expensive, when not covered by insurance, so I want to make the right choice before investing. Do any of you in this form own either the Z1 travel or Airmini and have an opinion on one versus the other and how well they actually work ?
Thanks
There are a lot more travel CPAP options than just the two you mentioned. I would consider battery life using a machine like the DreamStation Go although it is pretty expensive and perhaps if money is an issue, a machine from a less well known company: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/apex-xt-fit-cpap-machine.html
Keep in mind your pressure setting(s) from your prescription when buying as most of these machines only go to 20. Keep in mind power requirements because in the event no power is available, a long battery life and an integrated battery seem important considerations. I don't care for the ResMed travel machine because they force you to use one of their branded masks.
Google travel CPAP and it seems there are more and more of these specialty machines on the market. Good luck.
I have the HDM Z1, and have travelled extensively with it for the past 3 years. I have spent about that same amount of time looking for a replacement, but to date have not found one, because nothing—until perhaps recently —matches its small form factor. I’m not that crazy about the Z1 for several reasons:
The above said, I love the smartphone app and Bluetooth control-and-record interface. I also love the form factor and weight (or lack thereof) and great packability.
I’m watching this forum, because I am looking for an alternative to the Z1 for travel.
Sorry for the late reply, I don't come here much. I have the ResMed AirMini and I love it! My family is in the Philly area and I work out of Chicago, so in addition to frequent business travel, I visit home with the AirMini, too, I probably have 30 nights on it in the last 4 months.
It's quiet--not as quiet as the AirSense 10, but still, quiet--a slight whine from the machine as it adjusts pressure (I has the AirSense technology), and the humidifying mask makes a little more air whoosh noise than the standard masks, but again, not much. For the size/weight form factors, the extra noise is a small price to pay. Does not bother my wife at all, to put it in perspective, it's quiet.
I find the HumidX Plus cartridges to do just fine for humidification for me. My mouth may be a little drier than with the AirSense 10, but I'm going to try a chin strap and see how that works. Since I sometimes wake up without dry mouth, and sometimes am dry as a bone, I think in some positions I may be leaking through the mouth a little bit. I get as good sleep out of it as I do with my AirSense 10, which is consistently good.
I cannot compare to other small CPAP devices, but there are Internet resources which do. I'd buy another AirMini in a heartbeat, if this one dies, I just love it.
-John
I have the Z1 travel CPAP and have used it for about six months straight, as I travel all the time, and I like it very good except that it is noisy. I tried the Qtube muffler on it which maybe cut the noise down 50%, however still had the annoying whirring noise that seems to transmit right through to your mask, recently I purchased the collapsable travelhose Which has drastically cut the noise down to a very acceptable level, even without that muffler on it . Plus it is very convenient size. The whole hose collapses to about 1 1/2” x 10 1/2” long for storage and extends to a full six-foot. I am not sure the durability of it, because I haven’t had it very long but I love it!
I was a bit doubtful about getting the expensive Air Mini, I normally use an Airsense 10 but was looking for a travel machine. The Air Mini will now be my primary machine its simply amazing. I read a lot of negative reviews about noise and for some reason people saying air from the vents. I find the Air Mini less noisy than my Airsense 10 and no air from the vents at all. There is a ver slight noise from the humidX chamber but really no more noisy than any CPAP machine. As far as therapy results I am getting a much better AHI “events” score with the Air Mini than I get with the Airsense 10. The machine is a dream to travel with I LOVE the bed mount kit and especially the easy mount for under the mattress makes using the Air Mini in a hotel a dream. I used the unit on Premium economy seat power no problems at all. I read some negative about the power adaptor coming loose on aircraft due to the heavy power adaptor , its not that big just that all the weight is indeed on the socket so to speak. Solution , easy = I bought the shortest 2m extension I could, into the aircraft power I plugged the smallest adaptor plug I could find, that went into the extension and the end of the extension I put the Air Mini power adaptor … worked fine and very easy, easier than plugging the adapter into the seat power socket. HumudiX works great. The only negative I give Resmed is that the APP only gives and very simple summary of your nights sleep results, there is no way to get detailed reports. The unit does upload your data to the cloud BUT customers have no access .. only the place you purchased the unit from can access the more details cloud info … THIS IS A BIG BIG mistake I think.. come on Resmed its 2018 you already have your cloud MYAIR solution give Air Mini users who are spending top dollar access to their information. However I give the Air mini 9 out of 10 I love it … 1 point lost for no access to cloud data.
I have the Z1 Auto to use on the road and when camping with the battery pack. Overal I prefer the performance of my ResMed AirSense 10 but the Z1 Auto is adequate for other times. The Z1 is much noisier than the AirSense although each is rated at 25dB. The problem with the Z1 is that the noise seems to come from the mask even when using the same AirFit P10 pillow mask with both machines. I can't justify the expense of the Z1 muffler or the humidifier so I can report on those. I have three battery packs for the Z1 which will allow me about four days off the grid. The batteries are way overpriced and it took me five batteries to find three good ones. I think Z1 battery quality control is better now.
This forum is excellent - thank you all so much. I decided against the Z1 because of the noise and went with the AirMini. I have had it now for six months and am VERY happy with it. It is an excellent machine and I agree that it is almost as good as the AirSense 10. I bought it from an online store and so I did have some trouble getting the data from it uploaded to the outlet where I buy my supplies from because otherwise my insurance was denying coverage as they could not see my usage. I would definitely recommend the AirMini
