I have been using this device for 1 full cycle and overall I like the product. The alarm feature is very nice and convenient to ensure that you are testing at the same time every morning (which is important when charting). It would be nice if there was a backlight on the screen but this is not a huge issue since all the temps are stored. The biggest negative about the device is how long it takes to record the temperature - somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes usually. It's a little bit heavy and to lay there waiting for what seems like forever is a little frustrating. The monitor is good about showing what phase of your cycle you are in and calculating your personal coverline based on your temperatures, but to get the clearest picture of how your temperatures fluctuate, you really need to put the temperatures on a chart. I called to ask about the software to plug this into the computer and download the temps but the company told me it was very expensive (hundreds of $$s) and that you don't need it. That was a little frustrating but I found a great website online that will create a perfect chart (and analyze it) for you simply by inputting the data from the monitor ( [....]). Since the monitor stores all the data you need for 6 months, charting is quick and easy to do whenever you have time (you don't have to worry about inputting it every single day). Overall, I recommend the BBT method and this particular themometer. It is a little pricey but way less expensive than the ovulation tests and other monitors that require testing sticks, etc. If you use this for 2 months, it will be cheaper than most other products out there. Optimus Petit Sophia Fertility Monitor
If wanting a natural contraception device, this one is great IF used with charting as explained in the book 'Taking Control of Your Fertility.' Otherwise you just know what your basal temperature is: out of context, that doesn't do very much for you.
I do wish it had a screen that lit up... but it stores the information so you can get it later if you want when you turn the light on.
I really like this thermometer. I adore the alarm clock feature! It stores all my temperatures to no fail.
I primarily use this device as part of my natural birth control routine. I don't entirely trust the "fertility" monitors in the beginning of my cycle. For example, it says that I am not fertile on day 11, but I am on day 12. I monitor my fluid so I am pretty darn sure I could get pregnant on day 11. I think its dead on accurate predicting ovulation. My temperature goes up and I'm "safe" three days later (which it indicates).
It saves me time to know exactly what "day" I'm in my cycle just by glancing at the device in the morning. I guess I could do the same thing with a calendar but that involves get a pen and writing stuff down :P
If you buy this I recommend getting a book on natural birth control methods as well to monitor your cervical fluid.
While Amazon's price is double what I paid, I love love love this thermometer. My favorite feature is the built in alarm clock. I also love that it stores so many temperatures and allows you to enter other data throughout your cycle. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a backlight to see the temp in the dark, but since it saves it automatically it's not that big of a deal.
This fertility thermometer is difficult to use. Better read the instructions in detail before setting it up. The description said it could be plugged into the computer to download the charts, but it didn't come with a cord. It isn't a normal USB plug, its tiny, so you better be prepared to go to Best Buy to get what you need.
The temp is very accurate, but it takes FOREVER to get a read and its very heavy, so you have to hold it with your hand. The alarm is nice and helpful, but there's no way to shut if off once it starts if you don't want to take your temp that morning. It will beep for about an hour. I was out of town and my husband ended locking it up in the linen closet so he wouldn't have to hear it going off.
I probably would not recommend it to friends, too expensive, complicated, and heavy for my taste.
Others have commented that the software to connect this device to a computer is nonexistent or very expensive. Here's how I did it. (Note that while the product appears identical, I'm not sure that the "Optimus" version available on Amazon is exactly the same as the one from Craig Medical, so no guarantees that this will work for you.)
1. Software and USB cables are available from Craig Medical (just Google "Craig Medical Sophia") for $55. They will send you a USB cable to connect it to your computer and "Madonna" software on a CD. The USB drivers only support Windows 98 and 2000, so if you have an old machine with one of these operating systems you should be good to go. If not, see step 2.
2. The device is manufactured by Nishitomo in Japan, which produces a whole line of Sophia fertility monitors for the Japanese market. For whatever reason, they have stopped producing export versions of the software, but the latest Japanese version is available for free. It runs on all modern versions of Windows (including 64 bit) but there is no Mac version. To find it, Google "madonnav270jpn" and you should see a single result. The page is entirely in Japanese, but the download link is at the very bottom (6.01MB).
3. Installing the software is a bit of a guessing game if (like me) you don't know Japanese, but there are only about three steps and if you accidentally click "cancel", try again. At the first screen, option 1 installs the program and option 2 installs the USB drivers. You need both.
4. The CD from Craig Medical contains a user manual for the older English version (2.30). All of the menu commands and window options are in exactly the same place in the current Japanese version, so you can use the manual to figure things out. The program is really quite simple, and all you need to do is create a file, open it, select USB data transfer, receive data from the device, and graph it. Note that the old English version will run on Windows 7, but it will not receive data from the device, even with the updated USB drivers installed.
This is more trouble than most folks would care to go through, but it works for us. In my opinion this product is only worth the price with the software option. It does log data for up to six cycles, but trying to interpret graphs on an inch-wide LCD screen is annoying. And if you use a separate program or online service for charting, you might as well buy a cheap, simple basal thermometer and write down the reading each morning. - Fertility - Thermometer - Basal Thermometer - Ovulation'
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