SeboTek

@Genome said:

I haven’t been to my audie for about two years so I went in today to get my programs updated. I have had my current aides for about 4 years. He told me that his computer wasn’t communicating with my aides and that he would need to fiddle with them for a while. He asked me if I wanted to try some new aides which are SeboTek Voice Q-800’s for a day while he worked on my Unitrons. These are Receiver in the Canal models which are new to me. I said sure and have them in now. The quality of sound that I am hearing is far superior to my old aides. It is much fuller and richer although I am getting a lot of feedback when I eat, turn my head a certain way or talk on the phone.
Anyway, I am wondering if the price is reasonable. He is asking $5500 for the pair. I asked if they were Bluetooth. He said no, Bluetooth burns batteries so T-coil is better. I asked about auto program changes like the Phonak units. He said no, that people don’t seem to like this feature and would rather have control over the programs. These units have a little button that you push to change programs.
It seems to me that these units are somewhat outdated when compared to Phonak yet they are priced comparatively. These SeboTeks have four programs and 12 channels. He told me that more channels are unnecessary but most top of the line aides to have more. Have any of you had experience with the SeboTek and how do you like them? And is $5500 a reasonable price for these units? I felt that I was getting the hard sell so am very interested in others thoughts.
Thanks for your feedback.

Sebotek created the reciever in the ear or canal hearing aids. Unfor. the big players
came along, stole the idea and did it a whole lot better. Sebotek had lawsuit against
most of the big players, Oticon, Siemens, which I believe had won.

Unf. sebotek tech, lags behind- for even lower pricing you could get a wireless instruments with bluetooth fun. So i think for that kind of money you could do quite better.

I’m going to echo xbuilder’s comments. Bluetooth can not be incorporated into hearing aids…yet. It’s too large, and would suck battery life. However, with hearing aids, you could add a wireless bluetooth device that could work with your hearing aids. It is a lot of fun when you stream music wireless from an iPhone (my pediatric patients love it).
$5500 for a pair of Sebotek Q800s is a lot. I hope they are offering lifetime in-house services and batteries for that price. If they are a great audiologist, then, they may have success with it, but believe that Sebotek is much further behind than most others.
Wasn’t it Vivatone that had the patent infringement case?
Cheers.

Thanks for your response. No, he hasn’t offered any extra service or benefits at this price. What would be a reasonable price that one should expect? What do you mean by “patient infringement?”