A comparison of commercial auditory evoked potential units: the economy units

As the first in a series, the present study was designed to compare and provide a consumer-oriented overview of commercially available auditory evoked potential (AEP) units with a basic price of less than $10,000 (i.e., the "economy" units). The following AEP units fell under this category: Algo-1/Algo-1PLUS, Amplaid MK-10, Nicolet Audit V, Bio-logic PASS, GSI-55, and Modular M-100. Descriptive information and the names and addresses of at least 10 users were solicited from the manufacturers for each of these units. Questionnaires were sent to the users, which asked them to provide information on how their unit was used and to rate some of its features. Results indicate that the economy units generally meet the needs and expectations of the users. They offer the advantages of being easy to use, portable, and reliable. Primary disadvantages relate to lack of flexibility, a problem that could generally be accommodated by upgrading to more sophisticated (and expensive) units.