The alarms and lights help with ensuring medication is taken regularly but the issue is the dispensing of the pills. Sometimes they get stuck and because my in-law has poor vision this can be a challenge. While consistency of taking her pills has improved still missing doses which is very disappointing. Now if you turn it over too fast you can pop the pills out of the cup. If you don't turn the lever hard enough they get stuck. So will probably return. Though better than just a pill box and separate alarm falls short of expectations. However keeping the pro instead. Key takeaway do not put gel capsules in dispenser plus pro eliminates some design flaws.

This machine was a Godsend. My 95 year old father-in-law was over-medicating and nothing we did short of taking his pills away, knocking on his door at pill dispensing time and watching him swallow them worked. Even then, he thought he hadn't taken his pills, and a hour later. he's upset because he thought we were depriving him. At first it was hard, he would call several times a day and say it wasn't working, but upon unlocking and checking, he HAD taken them... the machine was accurately dispensing. After a week or so, he began to trust the machine and now, if he is unsure, he takes a look at the display and the cup, and if it's empty, he is confident that whether he remembers or not, he has taken his pills. YAY!!

There is one suggestion I have, though. The handle that is on it, just doesn't cut it. He grasps the handle and pulls directly toward him - which doesn't dispense the pills, it slides the machine toward him and off the table. We removed the blue handle and created a 'slot machine' type handle that works perfect for him (picture attached). We cut a 5" piece of 1/2" dowel, cut a slot out at the end and slid it over the handle support. We then drilled a hole in the dowel to screw a screw through the support. And of course painted it white enamel. Every older person knows how to pull a slot machine lever, so this solved our problem. We also added some larger rubber feet to the bottom so no matter what he does, it will not slide around.

Note to the manufacturer, you might want to consider having two types of handles available to customers, because not everyone has a woodshop to create their own handle. (Picture attached)

Can be a big help, but beware of potential pitfalls. The pull handle works fine if you use the exact tilting motion that it's designed for. But if you pull it towards you, it will not move. My 88-year-old MIL bent the arm trying to make it work. Limited success there. Also, if your loved one forgets to put the metal cup back, you have another problem on your hands. Lastly, your loved one should be only moderately "forgetful" at best and able to understand basic mechanical directions. My MIL is too far gone for this device to possibly help her. She doesn't understand what the beeping alarm means and she's not at all mechanically inclined. I still think this is a fine device for most cases, but it doesn't work everyone (nothing does). I wish better luck for other buyers as this gizmo does exactly what is intended.

I did a LOT of research on pill dispensers for my 92 year old mother. Because some of her pills are very small and she has vision problems, my biggest concern was finding something that she didn't have to fiddle with transferring pills from a container to her hand. This was the only one I could find that allowed the pills to drop in the cup and she could put the cup directly to her mouth. Although there were a few glitches in the beginning, it is working out very well and is worth the money. The positives - good quality, sturdy and easy for mom to move the lever to dispense pills (not sure why some people thought it was awkward) ; the instructions are clear (it takes a little time to initially set it up) but the timer works well and the volume is adjustable. Also, the light flashes until the pills are dispensed which is helpful cause my mom's hearing isn't all that great either. Negatives: the pill slots are pretty tight and if you have gel-type caps in there, they can get stuck and not dispense. Also, if you have to take any pills out, you'll probably need tweezers. This runs on batteries (which -yay! - were included in the purchase!!) and I'm hopeful there will be some sort of indicator when they get low, otherwise it may just suddenly not work? I'll find out. But overall, it's proving to be reliable and a good purchase.

I used to keep my meds in those little plastic pill boxes labeled for each day of the week. I have meds I take in the morning and meds for at night. Problem was, I kept a set of the boxes by my chair in the living room and a set by my bed. Sometimes I'd start a new box in the middle of the week and I'd take it in the living room. Then I'd get ready for bed and that row of boxes was on a different day of the week and I couldn't remember which set of boxes I'd used. Also, I had an alarm set on my phone as reminder but many times I'd dismiss it and then forget to take the meds. So I'd get up feeling horrible because I hadn't taken the night meds.
Anyway, this machine is wonderful. I set it up for the a.m. and p.m. doses and it has a loud, shrill alarm that goes off when I need them. Trust me, you don't cancel this alarm and forget to take them. This sucker will go off continually until you tip the mechanism over and dump the pills into the receptacle below OR until the batteries die. You are NOT going to ignore this thing. Which is exactly what I needed. Haven't missed a dose since I got it. VERY pleased