Health o Meter HDL820-18 Digital Scale with LCD
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Customer Reviews of Health o Meter HDL820-18 Digital Scale with LCD
Customer Review: WARNING: Much Less Accurate Than You Think!
Summary: 1 Stars
This scale includes some sneaky and deceptive firmware that makes it seem much more accurate than it really is.
Here's why I bought this scale: a friend had this scale, and to test it out, I weighed myself three times. Each time I weighed 167.6 pounds. "Wow" I said, "This scale is really accurate." So I bought one.
However, after I bought it, I determined that if two successive weighings differ by less than a pound or so, the scale will show the original weight. In other words, the scale lies about the weight so that you will think it is accurate. That is, if two successive weighings are close, that is, if it is likely that the person is weighing him or herself twice, it displays the original weight.
Here's how I determined this: I weighed myself four times, and got exactly the same reading (e.g. 167.0). I then weigh something else, or weigh myself with one foot on the floor. After "resetting" the scale, I weigh myself again, and get a reading of "167.8."
Another test is this: I weigh myself then pick up a glass with 12 ounces of water in it, and weigh myself again. The result: same reading.
This "feature" is very inconvenient if there are two people using the scale who are similar in weight. But even if you live alone, you will find that your readings are much less accurate than you think.
Here's what I want in a digital scale. You step on the scale, and it shows your weight. Every three seconds the weight may go up or down a bit, due to measurement inaccuracies. I suspect that this is how the company designed it originally, but that the variations were so large that they knew people wouldn't buy it.
If you want an accurate scale that doesn't deceive you, look else where.
Customer Review: Accurate and easy to read
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm more than satisfied with this scale. I was concerned that I would have to buy a more expensive scale to get good accuracy (see reviews of other digital scales in this price range,) but I've tested it several times over several days, and my weight varies by 2 pounds or less over the course of the day. My first weigh-in of the day is pretty much the same as previous mornings, sadly.
The neutral color (grey) and glass would blend in well with just about any decor, and the LCD screen is easy to read, with 1.5 inch high numbers.
The only thing I don't like about it is that it creaks quite a lot when I step on it, even though I'm nowhere near its 330 pound maximum load. That problem is in my head more than in the scale: I don't think it's going to break, but it sounds like I've got two people standing on it at once--I'm not THAT fat, am I?
An added feature is that when I'm craving, I go into the bathroom and look at it, and know that it isn't going to fall for any of my excuses tomorrow morning. So the last piece of cake still sits in the fridge. The scale has intimidated me into not eating it.
Accurate, easy to read, easy on the eyes, and intimidating--I think it's a good deal.
7/12/2008 update: Two years after I bought this scale, I like it as much as I did when I first got it.
In fact, today I realized my mother needs a scale, and I bought this one for her. I threw in a Sudoku book and got free shipping. And I look like a very thoughtful daughter. ;^)
But I got her this scale because I know that, even with her no longer perfect eyesight, she'll be able to read the numbers. And I know that after two years of daily use, this scale is still accurate.
Customer Review: I lost over 40 pounds thanks to this scale!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay all that weight loss may have had a little to do with self effort but the scale definitely helped. I tried dieting a lot before without checking the scale regularly and they always failed (due to many factors but not keeping accurate track of my weight was certainly one of the issues). I bought this scale in 2009 (as I write this - it's been a little over a year that I have been using it). So far the original batterys are still going strong and the scale works great.
When I initially got it I was disappointed about two things:
1. The batteries used are those flat cell types like the ones in watches. So finding replacement for them would be a little harder than replacing standard double or triple A batteries.
2. The scale is made of plastic/glass material and when you look at it, you feel a little uncomfortable stepping on it thinking it might break.
The latter of these fears in unfounded however because I have been using it almost everyday for over a year and so far no damages. The best thing about the scale besides it's sleek look, is the fact that it's extremely accurate. Most spring scales will show you two different weights if you step on it twice in a row, this ones shows the exact weight to the decimal. Overall I'm very happy with the purchase and would never think about going back to those inaccurate spring scales which frankly are a pain in the butt.
Recomeded!
Additional info: I am a 21 yo male who currently eights 168 lbs and at the highest weighted 205 lbs.
Customer Review: Not accurate past 1 month
Summary: 1 Stars
I have had this scale since January of this year and it was perfect for about a month. I didn't bother to weigh myself twice because the reading on the scale matched the readings I was getting at the gym (I took it with me to check). So, despite all the bad reviews that talked about inaccuracies, I continued to trust my scale. After about a month I started getting readings that didn't quite look right. I was gaining when I should have lost and losing when I should have gained. I just chalked it up to careless dieting.
Finally, last month I started getting these crazy 5 pound "gains" out of nowhere. I stepped off the scale, waited a couple of minutes, got on it again and amazingly enough, I was back to my normal weight. I did it again and suddenly I'd lost a pound. One more try shows I gained 1.5 pounds. Today I got on the scale and couldn't believe my eyes: It says I lost TWENTY POUNDS in ONE WEEK. Um, yeah. I did my usual routine of waiting a few minutes and getting back on it. I got two readings that say I lost 20 pounds and three normal looking readings.
This scale is terrible. If you only need it to be accurate for a month, go ahead and buy it. Otherwise you'll be doing what I do now: averaging the weights you get over a 10 minute period and throwing out results that look way too good to be true.
Customer Review: Useless
Summary: 1 Stars
A scale is a simple device that has one and only one purpose: to accurately report the weight of an object placed on it. This scale will do that with a margin of error of roughly +/- 20%. If this is good enough for you, great, but personally, I buy a scale to give me accurate weights, not ballpark estimates.
What's worse, this scale employs trickery in its reporting. Stand on it and it will report a number, based on your actual weight, plus or minus 20%. Stand on it again and again and it will report *the exact same number* every time. Weigh something else, then weigh yourself again, and you will get a completely different number than the one it kept repeating before. Rubbish!
Instead of widely used AA or AAA batteries, the scale uses a CR2032 battery, which costs nearly $6 these days - approximately $6 more than the scale itself is worth.
This thing is literally worse than the weight guesser at the carnival and it doesn't even give you a stuffed animal when it screws up. I wish I had returned it when I bought it three years ago. Now all I know is that I weigh somewhere between 125 and 150 pounds.