Omron HEM-790IT Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor with Health Management Software

Suggested Retail Price: $89.99

Rating: 9/10

Product Specs

• Automatic style
• Cuff size is 9 to 17 inches in circumference
• Runs on included AC adapter or 4 "AA" batteries
• 5 year warranty 

Features

• Comes with Omron Health Management Software and USB cable
• IntelliSense monitor
• Detects irregular heartbeat
• Hypertension indicator (includes morning hypertension indicator)
• 200 memory units
• Comes with storage case and instruction manual

Disadvantages

• Can give inaccurate reading
• More expensive than most monitors
• Too many error messages

Review

If you're looking for a premium model loaded with extras, then the Omron HEM-790IT blood pressure monitor might be the right one for you.  For the most part, it's very similar to the Omron HEM-780, but with the notable exception of including software to track all your results and statistics.  Since it is a premium monitor, realize you will be paying more, but you do get a ton of extra features compared to the average blood pressure monitor.

Chances are, if you purchase the Omron HEM-790IT blood pressure monitor it's because you'll want to use the Omron Health Management Software.  It's simple to use, and all you have to do is connect your blood pressure monitor to your computer with the included USB cable.  The software can keep track of all types of useful statistics, and makes systolic and diastolic blood pressure graphs, and also pulse graphs.  It's even capable of tracking morning versus evening statistics.  This software is a good time saver since you won't have to worry about writing this all down for yourself. 

There are, however, a few improvements that would help the software.  First, there's no way to edit the data if someone else accidentally uses the wrong profile on your blood pressure monitor.  Also, there are some annoying though minor problems, like not being able to maximize the graphs and not being able to see a week by week graph.  Fortunately, Omron does support software updates, so hopefully some helpful patches will be released.

Aside from the software, there are a lot of other nice extras for the Omron HEM-790IT.  The IntelliSense technology provides automatic inflation for your blood pressure monitor cuff, which makes for a more accurate and comfortable reading.  The cuff can range from 9 to 17 inches circumference, which will fit most people just fine.  This blood pressure monitor can also monitor for irregular heartbeats and morning hypertension.  And if you live with someone else that needs to monitor their blood pressure, the 2-user plus guest mode will come in handy.

Overall, this is a very good blood pressure monitor.  It suffers from a few reliability issues, mostly stemming from the cuff, though you have the insurance of a 5 year warranty.  A few people find that they get inaccurate readings by as much as 15 units too high or low, so make sure you compare your readings with your doctor to make sure your blood pressure monitor is giving an accurate reading.  If you've decided you would like to buy either this model or the similar HEM-780, it basically comes down to the software.  If you think you will use the software, by all means get this monitor, since most people will feel it is worth the small increase in price.