First and foremost I have to let you know that I am NOT utilizing this to its fullest potential.
When I was looking for a pedometer I wanted something that will measure my steps and calories mainly, and I wanted it to be cheap.
Price: Under $20.00
Pros: Multifunctional, small in size.
Cons: Apparently the lack of the belt clip.
Color: It comes in a variety of white and: yellow, orange, pink, green, purple, or black and grey
Packaging: A no fuss cardboard box with a detailed instruction manual booklet that tells you all you need to know.
Size: Approximately 2.5inx1.5in excluding the strap.
Battery Life: Supposedly 3 years, I have had it over a year now and no problems.
Functions:
- Daily step counter
As you might have guessed, this counts the number of steps you have taken! Now there is one thing worth mentioning as far as this goes. I suppose this was not meant for the way I use it (pop it on in the morning along with my glasses and take off before bed) but to be clipped on when you are going for a walk or whatever.
That is why it has one little tick that might make some people think it is faulty. It is not.
It does not count the first four seconds when you start walking, unless you continue to walk after the 4 seconds. It does this to avoid counting the steps that are not a part of the walk.
I, personally do not mind this as it tricks me into making a little bit more steps and is in the end good for me.
- Daily distance walked
I have bought my pedometer in the UK so this displays the steps I took so far that day in a converted form of kilometers. I have seen US based ones that have miles on them.
- Daily calorie burn counter
I really, really wanted this one because there are about fifty different ways you could calculate the calorie conversions and you cannot ever know if your steps are the same as that person online who posted the conversion. Same goes for any other action. So this was one of the things that was a must as far as having a pedometer goes.
- Daily fat burn counter
This converts your steps into the grams of fat you have burned. It is quite useful and eye opening but also depressing as far as I am concerned. For instance, yesterday my 10,300ish steps are only 26.8g of fat.... too small of a number so I tend not to pay attention to it as much. But it is definitely good to have.
- Action mode
The Action Mode is a mode you can choose when you want to keep track of a specific activity. For instance, if you want to get specific measurements of the walk or jog you are taking.
I, personally, have never used this function so I cannot really comment on it.
Why? Well at first I had no need, and then I got my pedometer all sorts of dirty when gardening one day and then I took some heavy cleaners to it and rubbed off the lettering.... which caused me to forget that the button is not just there to bring the display up.
- Clock
Pretty self explanatory.... it tells time!
- Memory
This function memorizes your stats for the past seven days which is rather nifty if you are keeping track and want to know if you are doing better or worse than a couple of days ago.
- Cheer Squad
When you hit 10k steps in one day this lovely little fella shows up on your display and keeps dancing and happily cheering you on!
When my Omron pedometer was delivered it was in a smallish cardboard (well paper rather.... you know what I mean!) box. Nothing too fussy which is right up my alley. I decided it might be best, at least this once, to actually read the instructions before continuing.
I wanted this bad boy for a while so I was not going to mess a thing up.
The instruction manual is quite easy to read and easy on the eyes. It has plenty of photos, instructions and explanations of how and why. You can take a peek at it here :
www.omron-healthcare.com/data/catalog/3/132/1/IM-HJ-203-E%2002-10-2011%20EN.pdf
Before using the pedometer you have to set it up by putting in your stats. I believe it takes in your height, weight, and you will have to measure out your stride. So it is quite tailored to your body and it will not measure the same amount of steps for someone who is 5"2 and someone who is 6" tall. Not sure how the weight comes into play but I am sure they know and that is all that matters.
Once you are all set up, to bring up the display you press any of the buttons. The pedometer is on 24/7 and will track all your steps as long as it is attached to you so do not get worried if the display is off. The pedometer goes into sleep mode after several seconds, this means that it saves the battery by not displaying the information if you are not looking at it anyway. It is still tracking so have no fear!
Now for the attaching of the pedometer to your self. Another thing I looked for in a pedometer is something with a clip. I did not want a stupid band that has to be on my arm or something for everyone to see if I do not want them to.
The Omron HJ-203 hes a little strap which you attach to it and a small plastic clip. It works like a charm for me.
I will usually have it either in my pocket, if pockets are not available I clip it either to the hem of my top, or to the waistline of my pants, I often clip it to the belt loops as well.
Now I was told some customers are complaining about the fact that it does not have one of those pager type of clips which you clip to your belt. That is true, and for me, that is not a problem at all. If this is a must for you then I suggest you move on and look at a different pedometer.
- Durability:
Trust me, I am not the one to take utmost care of such things. Often times it dangles around me and gets smacked about, I have fallen on it, slept with it, accidentally buried it (gardening, do not ask), scratched it, got it stuck, dropped it a number of times, flung it down the stairs, and yes it has been washed and dried.... and it is still going strong!
So it is pretty darn durable if you ask me, true some of the letters have rubbed off but for what I put it through I do not mind one bit.
Overall, we are all different and have different needs. For some this pedometer will have far too many options and functions while for others it wont have enough information.
As far as I go, it works like dream for me and I would definitely recommend it!
EDIT:
There was some confusion about the clip, and can it or cant it be clipped to a belt so I took the closest pair of pants with a belt (hubbys and snapped a few photos).
Technically it can be clipped onto his belt as you can see. The belt is leather and when I take the clip off the little teeth leave a mark as I tried to show in the last photo, the longer the clip is on the deeper the mark... so not sure how advisable that is. But yeah it definitely does not have a belt clip as such.
Those are a few other ways I clip it, I also clip it onto the waistband of the trouser itself or on my tops.
I hope that makes more sense as far as the clip goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment