Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Health Management Software
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Customer Reviews of Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Health Management Software
Customer Review: Excellent Pedometer - Great software - Get motivated!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have not used pedometers much, but really like this unit for a number of reasons. First, it is quite compact and can comfortably fit in a pocket and not feel bulky (you can wear with a clip too or hang it from a cord off a belt). Second, it really seems to accurately count steps. I tried it a few times by counting 50 or 100 steps with the unit in my pocket and it seems to be right on target as a step counter. To measure distance, I walked a 100 feet a couple of times to set my stride. With the stride in place, the distance measure seems pretty accurate. I walked a known distance (about a mile and a half) and then looked at both the step count and distance. The distance was a little short, which meant I needed to make a slight adjustment to the value of the stride. I made the same walk again and got the calculated distance was exactly on target.
Conclusion: This is an accurate pedometer in terms of counting steps and estimating distance.
I also really like the software. You simply attach the pedometer to your computer (I have a a PC with XP) and the data then download. You can look at your total number of steps by day (or hour within the day), the number of steps at an aerobic rate (defined as part of walking ten minutes or more at a stretch), and distance walked. There are also estimates of calories burned and grams of fat lost, based on you weight and age -- I have no idea if these are accurate. As a nice feature, you can look at all statistics by day, week, or month.
The software is very easy to use and as bonus also interfaces with some of Omron's blood pressure unit.
I have really enjoyed using this pedometer in that I can slip it into my pocket in the morning (and am glad it doesn't take up much room) and then look at my step count for the day. I have given myself a daily target (10000 steps) and am now finding myself doing more things to get in extra steps each day -- parking further from my destination, walking a bit further to pick up for lunch, or just treating myself to a 10-15 minute walk during my workday. These things add up and now I have a sense of what all I need to do during the day to reach my step goal.
You pay a bit extra (not that much) for a pedometer with many features, including the software. I suppose you could save a few dollars by not getting a version with the software, but for me, being able to easily track progress is one of the best things about this pedometer (can also print out reports, output data to a spreadsheet if you want). It seems to be worth a bit more to have this sort of tracking (though I do wish they had sotware for Macintosh computers!).
Highly recommended!
Customer Review: Looking for something else to replace this
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this for a fitness challenge that my employer was having. The pedometer only lasted me six weeks.
My employer started a fitness challenge that required us to record our steps each day, regardless of if they were running or walking. I run daily, but prior to the challenge, never had the need for a pedometer. The pedometer, seemed to work well when walking, but always under counted, when running. Sometimes only half of my running steps were counted. I know this, because I run 5 miles per day on a treadmill (same speed, same distance, same incline). I even tried a second pedometer and counting steps in my head, but the number of steps recorded by this pedometer were always low and varied widely.
This pedometer says it doesn't need to be placed upright to work and can be placed in a bag, pocket, etc. When running, it was even less reliable, than stated above, when placed in a pocket vs the belt clip. When walking, it seemed to work ok, in both my pocket or when using the supplied clip.
The supplied clip is poorly designed. It's bulky and places the center of gravity, near the middle of the pedometer. This causes several problems, for example: If your pants/shorts are not tight or rigid at the belt line, the pedometer, tends to lean forward and stick out. This causes the clip to lose it's grip. It wasn't uncommon for the pedometer to fall off or get knocked off.
The reason for the short pedometer life, was my fault, but I feel the bad clip is partly to blame. Due to the poor design of the clip, I had been running and had the pedometer, in my pocket. I would have preferred to have it clipped to my belt line. One day, after running, I threw my running clothes, into the wash (pedometer and all). They weren't kidding, when they said the pedometer is not waterproof. Had it been clipped to my belt line, instead of being in my pocket, I most likely would not have made this mistake.
PROS:
*Worked well when walking
*Can be placed in a pocket or a bag
*Neat features, including the ability to transfer your results to the PC.
CONS:
*Poorly designed belt clip. Doesn't do a good job of securing the pedometer.
*Kind of bulky. Even worse, with the belt clip.
*Highly inaccurate, when running. Results varied widely, from day to day.
*Devices of this nature, should be water proof. It's far too easy to make the mistake, that I made.
I may end up buying another one, due to the fact that I haven't found anything else, with the same features, but for now, I'm holding off. At the moment, I'm using a cheap pedometer that works great, but lacks the PC tracking features.
Customer Review: The Belt Clip Sucks
Summary: 1 Stars
This past Monday, I purchased an HJ-720ITC Pedometer. I have to say that I've owned other pedometers, and am quite impressed with the accuracy of the unit and all of its features. The unit gives really great feedback and contains a lot of useful information. I also really like the Omron Health Management software, too. I like being able to keep a record of my progress. Why one star, then?
Because this morning, I got up and was getting ready to go out for a walk, when I was disappointed to discover that the unit had slipped off my belt some time last night and was gone. I wasn't surprised, really. This is not the first time in the last five days that this has happened.
I'm a guy whose pockets have a lot of competition between bills, change, keys, a cell phone, an iPod, various papers, and a wallet. Since I'm not about to wear the thing around my neck like a talisman, don't have much room in my pockets, and don't always carry a bag, the only practical place for it is on my belt. The belt clip that came with the HJ-720ITC was just useless, however.
The first day, it slipped off entirely. I didn't discover it for a half hour and went running through the parking lot at work to find it. A couple of other times, I heard it hit the ground while I was reaching for something in one of my other pockets. I got to the point where I was compulsively checking every few minutes to see if the unit was still there.
This morning, I was disappointed, but not surprised when I discovered it missing. After the first few times of having it slip off my belt, I knew it was just a matter of time before the unit would be gone. And it's such an incredible shame. It is otherwise so well thought out and designed and does its job so incredibly well. It is, however, nothing short of negligent for the Omron engineers to give so little thought to the clip on a device that's designed to be carried around!
Today, people are used to throw away electronics, and I suspect after six months or a year, if the unit had failed, I would have eagerly ponied up another fifty bucks for another one. But after five days? I just feel ripped off.
I've complained to the company, but won't be demanding a replacement. What good would it do? In five more days, it will likely be gone too. If the folks at Omron are listening, what I'd really like is for the quality and thought that went into creating the pedometer itself to be extended to clip. Until then, however, I can only tell potential customers to just stay away from this nice unit held in place by a shoddy piece of junk.
Customer Review: Great pedometer with serious flaws
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me say I love this pedometer's features. Once configured it does a great job at keeping track of your steps accurately. The statistics are great and I use the 7 day history feature often to make sure I'm on target. It has a big, clean display with easy to use buttons.
I've used the Omron HJ-720 for 6 months, walking twice every weekday. While it's a great step tracking tool there are some glaring issues with the design of this gadget.
1. The clip is worthless. It will pop off your belt/pants/pocket several times a day. Thankfully it has the security string with clip and if I didn't have that I would have lost this the first week I used it. At first I thought I was just bumping into things, not used to the bulkier frame of the pedometer but the behavior has persisted for the entire 6 months of ownership. This pedometer can accurately measure your steps even if hanging loose in your pocket or from belt/pants. This is a good thing. I don't know how many times I've felt the pedometer just dangling from under my shirt and I have to clip it back on to my belt. There are other great clip designs and hopefully this will come out with an improved clip.
2. This thing is power hungry! It never turns off so after 6 months I was getting the low battery indicator. Here's the warning. When you remove the battery and insert a new one the entire thing resets. I was quick about it too. I had the new battery ready and popped it back in within seconds. All steps and all settings - gone.
Thankfully I had uploaded my stats to the software a few weeks ago so I didn't lose too much information, but now I have to set the clock, my weight and my step again. This means I have to walk 10 steps, measure the distance and divide by 10 all over again. Basically you'll have to do this twice a year but it's annoying. Other devices have a miniature internal battery that can keep your settings stored while replacing the battery. This should really be addressed in a future release.
Overall I'm happy with my pedometer from Omron but the clip and battery issue are annoying so I'm only giving it 3 stars.
- PLUS
Accurate step counter.
Lots of information about your walking.
Easy to read display.
Great software for trending your walks and reaching daily goals.
- MINUS
Horrible clip solution.
Bulky size.
Battery only lasts 6 months.
Replacing battery wipes all settings and data.
Customer Review: Great, but not perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used quite a few pedometers in my day and this one is by far the best. Not perfect, though. Some of the pros: the flexibility of being able to carry it in your pocket or bag is not to be underestimated. If you want to wear your pedometer to work but don't want it to be obvious, this is ideal. I also love the software option. In the past, I would mark my progress in a little notebook. But the fact that you can plug the unit into your computer and instantly see your data in the form of charts and graphs is great! Seeing a visual display of your progress on the screen is a great motivator. This pedometer is remarkably accurate and has some nice bells and whistles, like measuring aerobic time and calories burned.
OK, now the cons: My biggest complaint is that there is only one user setting. I would like to be able to have different settings for multiple users, or for different strides. For example, if you have your stride set for walking, but you wear the pedometer running, you won't get an accurate read. Also, if a friend or family member wants to use the pedometer, they will either have to re-set everything or know that their reading is going to be way off. The walking stride of a 5'2" woman is much shorter than that of a 6' man and will greatly skew the results.
My other big complaint is that you can't measure the distance of a particular stretch of road/trail/track. This unit is designed to give you an overall reading of a 24 hour period, which is great, but I wish there was an option that allowed you to set it right before a run or walk to know the particular distance of that stretch.
Other minor complaints: the unit is kind of big/bulky when in the belt holster. If you take it out of the holster and put it in your shirt pocket, it's slim and you don't really even notice it. I saw some people complaining about the holster breaking or not holding onto your pants. I have not had this problem at all yet, but I've only had the unit for 2 weeks. Other gripes: the manual could be better and the safety clip/lanyard could be thinner/less bulky.
Overall, a great pedometer. It's the best I've used and I'd definitely recommend it.
Tip: measure your stride several times and take the average of those measurements. I found myself taking longer strides than normal when I was measuring so I did it a bunch of times.