I imagine it largely depends on your goals. I wanted to get insights into how my blood pressure is affected by various activities (e.g. when sleeping, traveling, working, meditating, working out, after physical/emotional stress, when taking certain medicines, etc.) I also wanted to see long-term trends month-over-month and year-over-year. For these purposes Aktiia was the easiest option I found.
As a side note, the accuracy of individual readings is not something I’m concerned about since they’d get averaged out over time. Even if a reading shows 120/80 while in reality it might be 125/85, my main focus is on trends and correlations.
There should be a code and a Web address inside the Contec ABPM50 box, I think printed on the inside of the lid. I think www.dlsoftw.com, 05RK1069. You can also find this with some digging on the Web. I, and someone else who posted, am unable to print from the report. Contec has later software but I am still trying to get it from them. The cuff is designed for a nurse to fit it, replace it with a cuff with a metal D-ring; I salvaged one from an old BP meter. ABPM50 is very good, manual is terrible. Download https://www.nostics.co.za/Admin/Menu/Uploads/download_file.php?f=Contec_ABPM50_instructions.pdf
To generate a CSV file, use the “Derive data” suboption in one of the menus.
For anyone who comes here (too late for original poster): if you have a BPM with a cuff without a metal D-ring, you need someone to help you with it. Or chuck it out and replace it with a D-ring one (I used one from an old BPM I had).
The standard BP cuff without a D-ring is designed for a nurse to fit to a patient; it is difficult to put on oneself, but fine with a helper, faster than a D-ring. A D-ring cuff is very easy to put on yourself. I’ve posted some detailed information in other posts here over time, some of which I’ve just updated, including a link to simple instructions instead of the confusing manual. Lots of Amazon reviews are worth a look, typically “terrible cuff”, “terrible manual”, “it was so difficult to get an ambulatory reading that I just take spot readings”. I find the ABPM50 very good with a decent cuff and a bit of time to work out how to use it. You need to stand (or sit or lie) still during each measurement. If set to measure, say, every 15 minutes, it triggers on the quarter-hour (8:00, 8:15, 8:30, …), not every 15 minutes since you started it, so you know when it’s going to happen (so long as you’ve set its clock accurately!)
Here is a video about the D-ring cuff. For ambulatory use I point the tube up, not down my arm; I think this is standard and OK, but not 100% certain. I get reasonable 24-hour readings.