They are all pretty much for a muchness. You have a spring loaded finger *****er and most of them take a standard size disposable lance which you're supposed to use once and discard, but they are fine to use a couple of times unless you've got dirty hands all the time.
So the unit itself; you pay for features like USB connection and data logging, and, more recently, completely pointless features like colour screens which only serve to reduce the battery life and over-complicate a unit that only needs to be very basic. Some of the better ones only need a tiny blob of blood, which means you only need the finger *****er on a light setting. If you have to test several times a day this is a godsend, because you end up rotating which finger you use and if your fingers are cold it can be very difficult to get enough blood out for the cheaper units. Obviously, if you have to use the *****er on a high setting, the lance goes in a long way and bruises your finger.
The physical size of the unit seems to bear little correlation to the price. It's the test strips that work out expensive.
Some of the test strips need you to scoop the blood in the side, and some in the end. Neither are better but you might find one easier to use than the other.
It's a bit of a minefield to be honest and if you need to use one on a regular basis you're going to get through a few before you find one that suits you. Based on what you've said, I'd probably just get a cheap one to see how you get on. At the end of the day, a Type 1 diabetic's life depends on the test meter, so I wouldn't worry too much about their accuracy. You get the odd test strip that is a bit out, but any diabetic worth his salt will realise and either use another test strip or check the calibration of the meter, which you do by the batch number on the pot of test strips.
Edit: Ok, the swear filter doesn't like the word
p r i c k e r 
