Hi there - I have not been on that one, but controlling the pump from the meter is a common feature of most pumps. I've been on medtronic minimed, animas ping and omnipod so I can give you feedback about any of those.

Here is a website where you can compare models http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes-technology/insulin-pumps/current-pumps/pump-comparison

In looking at this comparison I’ll just note some things that stick out to me and it will really be based on your needs if they are important things or not

Size – it is a little larger in size than the ping or the minimed, but when talking mm, a few isn’t that big of a deal.

Reservoir size – it’s 315 which is good if you need a lot of insulin. Some do, some don’t. Your doctor could give you an idea of how much insulin you will need in a 3 day period (that’s how long a reservoir lasts) for a pump. If you will need >200, that is something to be conscious of when shopping for/comparing pumps because not all offer that amount.

Basal increments are great – very fine tuned.

Basal interval – I think this means how often you can adjust your bolus – for example from 12:00pm to 6:30pm – it is set at x. Most are 30 mins (I think the omnipod should say 30 on this comparison, that’s why it’s throwing me). The accucheck is at 60 which means that if you wanted to do the above setting, you’d have to choose 6pm or 7pm as the end time. This is not a huge deal, but it does surprise me that it’s an hour.

1u bolus duration – this means how long it takes for 1u of insulin to be delivered from the pump into your body. A lot of people complained when the Animas Ping first came out that it had stinging boluses – hurt because it was being delivered too fast. I think that is when they added the 3 second option in and now it has 1 and 3 seconds to choose from. I never had an issue with having it set on the quickest setting, but some did. That being said, the other meters have longer delivery durations – going all the way up to 40sec. That was a complaint of mine on the omnipod that I voiced to my rep. She said it was because they found that slower boluses meant less occlusions (insulin getting kinked up in the tubing or upon entry). True or just a sales pitch, I don’t know But just putting it out the for you to be aware of. The Accucheck has a 5 sec – so you could have issues with stinging or occlusions, but I wouldn’t be terribly concerned about that.

Batteries – I have not seen a pump that takes a rechargeable, but the accucheck does. That’s cool in my opinion.

Memory – Accucheck references diary entries vs days. That’s interesting because I’m not sure how long it would take to accumulate 1000 entries (a lot of things are considered an entry – see their list). Trends only go back 7 days. To me, this would be a concern as 7 days is more of a snapshot in diabetes time than a trend. I would prefer it go at least 60-90 days. When visiting your doctor, they probably would prefer more than a 7 day memory too. That’s just my personal preference. Might double check with the rep on that feature.

Water tight – 8ft for 1 hr. It’s good to be waterproof if you drop it or want to wear it swimming – just make sure you don’t go over an hour, which might be hard for a day at a water park or pool so just don’t forget.

I don't think any pump is horrible, it all comes down to the little nuances of what each user prefers and they all work pretty much the same. For me, I prefer to not have any tubing and the omnipod gives me that and i won't switch back to a tubed pump unless there is some major problem I encounter. I would suggest checking on local groups or JDRF meetings to see if they have any pump comparisons coming up. This is an event where sales reps from each major pump manufacturer are on site and bring the pumps, the different connector types, etc so you can see them all in person in one place - very nice when trying to decide!! There is a meetup group in San Antonio - http://www.meetup.com/Pancreatics/ and there is a JDRF conference coming up on 6/21 in Austin and I'm sure various pump reps would be at that.

Sorry such a long response, good luck and please feel free to PM me or list them here if you have any questions (I just don't get emails when response are posted and I forget to check back very often).

Did your endo talk to you about basal testing? The idea of basal testing is to isolate basal insulin and see if your glucose changes. Otherwise, you may be waking up high because your dinner bolus rate is too small. Also, basal testing should help more closely define when changes need to be made. Maybe you are actually dropping low at night and then your glucose is raising and you are waking up high because of dawn phenomenon. For example, maybe you need to lower basal rates at 1am, and then raise them again at 4am... basal testing will help identify that type of thing.