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: Pedometer and accompanying software bombed
Summary: 1 Stars
Purchased this item Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Advanced Omron Health Management Software about 7-8 months ago and up until April 2009 it worked great and then began having issues with it. The first episode was during a winter walk it dropped 2 miles off my entire walk. The other thing that is really annoying to me is that it does not accurately measure 'mileage'. My pace is about 2'8" and according to Google Maps a single lap on my route is about 1.6 miles, the pedometer? About 1.4 miles. The draw back to Pedometers in general I have found is that they are based upon an expectation that each and ever step you take will be the equivalent to your programmed step range. Considering that was even humanly possible, why am I losing mileage according the pedometer?
Next up on my hit list.. the software has dropped and / or is no longer importing all of my walk data. The last 45 days it has chosen not to load the first 9 days of April and the first 9 days of May and now the first 4 days of June. WTF?! I WALKED those days! After trying several hours today unsuccessfully to reimport the missing days using the exported csv as the template, it frustrating to realize that I have lost that information for good. The software apparently can 'detect' changes made to the CSV and will not allow you to import information it didn't generate. Why? It's my data... why keep me from importing the information??
I feel my only recourse at this point is to make this issue aware to others who may be considering buying this product. Maybe you won't have an issue, maybe I just got a bum (tranlate lemon) product that decided to go south after only about 7-8 months of use. But since one of the main selling points of this product was that I would be able to keep track over time how much I was walking, if it is not going to work correctly, it isn't much use. I was consideing buying other product from Omron.. I am now rethinking that. As of now I have lost walk informtion I can never get back and that is a considerable disappointment. If I wanted to simply record basic information about my walk habits, I could have done that with a simple $10 drug store bargain basket pedometer and an Excel worksheet. That is about all this one is good for now.
Customer Review: Good but not perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had the unit for about a month now (2009-03-22). It seems to accurately measure my steps. It does a reasonable job even going up / down stairs. So all in all, I'm happy with the product.
The downside is the software. It is poorly written. For example, once you add yourself as a user the very first time you run, you may sit there scratching your head trying to figure out what to next. So you go through the menus and find nothing to use to actually get to the meat of the program. So you look at what passes for a toolbar. Go to the options? Nothing there. Don't want to create a csv file either as it doesn't have any data yet. Hmmm three buttons to add/change/delete a user. Probably not my choice. Graphs Screen? Nah, not until I enter some data. NO WAIT. It turns out that is what you want. Or you can double click on your user name. Not even a right-click will get you anywhere.
Hey Omron. How about sending your programmers to some user interface classes!
Once you get there, the software is pretty simple. Not much to do so you will figure it out. UNLESS, like me you notice that it also handles blood pressure. I have an Omron 780 with no computer interface (looks like a 790 is the same thing with an usb port). So I wanted to manually enter the data. Well to make a long story short (including find the Access mdb password - Fk4+0fK[L9j). Well I found the one place to do a manual entry. Click the weekly graph. Click the Blood Pressure and Pulse option. You will see a "View/Enter Data" on the right side of the window.
If you decide to hack around in the access database directly, be careful. Make a copy first. Enter the wrong data as I did and you might just cause an unhandled VB exception the next time you run the product. Now who would have thought that a text field for time would have to be all digits otherwise their conversion to an integer would fail.
Disclaimer - I have worked with computer software since the 1960s. I have written software for large and small companies as well as having published both shareware and commercial software products. I started my windows software work in windows 2.1 in the late eighties and am currently a partner in a small HR software company. And yes, I've also written my share of dogs.
Customer Review: Not A Bad Pedometer, But It Has A Few Quirks
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using this pedometer for a few weeks now and have to say that all-in-all it is a pretty good model.
Basically, after set-up, you carry it in your pocket (or wear it on your belt) and it tracks your steps and your aerobic steps by the time you take them. You can then off-load that data into a program that will draw graphs that will compare the steps taken against the targets you set.
The good stuff: The pedometer is pretty easy to set-up, the interface on the computer is good looking and largely self-explanatory. It comes with a wrist strap and a clip so that it can be worn like a pocket watch or strapped into your briefcase or purse. It will apparently even count steps when it is being carried in one of those locations. (Though I have not tried this.)
The bad stuff: The clock on it is not the best. Mine gains about three minutes a week. The unit's face must be within 30-degrees of vertical while being carried or it will not register steps. It does not matter how the unit is oriented as long as the face is nearly vertical... If you think of it like a coin, if the coin is standing on its edge, it works, if it is laying on its face or its back it doesn't. This is pretty easy as long as your pockets are fairly tight... but as I tend to wear loose clothing when I work out, I noticed that the thing was not registering the time I spent on the treadmill. I went back and read the instructions and discovered this. Clipping the thing to my belt during the workouts has fixed this issue.
Overall, I would recommend this. There are a couple quirks that bother me as a software designer, but the average person would probably never notice them. For example. If you leave the PC program running and the pedometer hooked-up to the PC, the system will put your steps on the wrong date... (This happened to me once!) I set-up to transfer my steps on Friday night and then the phone rang. I found the thing still connected the next morning, finished the offload and then noticed that Saturday was already populated with the steps I had taken the day before.
Oh well! Too bad the only way to correct data errors is to uninstall the software and start over!
But as I have said all-in-all, this is a pretty good pedometer and I would recommend it to a friend.
Customer Review: Excellent pedometer and software
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this is an excellent pedometer -- it does the job well and accurately. It counts your steps whether it is clipped on, in your pocket or in a purse. The auto-reset to zero at midnight helps keep you honest. Like the software - a couple of clicks and your data is automatically uploaded. It shows your results on a daily, weekly, monthly,and annual basis. Omron is the only company I have seen that provides you with software.
I think the manual that comes with the device could be slightly improved but here are some tips that may help you with setting it up and using it for the first time:
(1) With the back cover off, make note of the serial number. It is engraved into the case in tiny letters near the bottom. It is a six character mix of letters and numbers. You'll need this for registration later.
(2) Before starting to configure your pedometer, you will need to calculate the length of your stride. Pick a starting point and walk 10 regular steps. Measure the distance in inches and divide by 10. Make a note of the result to use later.
(3) In the software, I suggest setting modest "daily goals" to start. Adjust your goals up or down anytime through the software's Options menu as you get use to the pedometer.
(4) The "Set" button on the front is smaller than the others and is intended to be used occasionally to reset the time, your weight, etc. as needed - it does not reset or delete your step data. As a good practice, upload your pedometer data regularly as a backup. In the unlikely event that the "Set" button is accidently pressed , just press "Set" another 4 or 5 times and you'll come back to your normal "step" screen.
(5) Step count - this pedometer shows total steps (both aerobic and regular steps)in the "step" count screen. To see only the aerobic steps accomplished for the day, go to the next screen. It keeps a separate count for aerobic steps (60 steps or more per minute continuously for 10 minutes or longer).
(6) While you can view the last 7 days of step data on the device itself, it actually holds up to 42 days in memory. All data is viewable once uploaded to your pc.
Hope this helps... I highly recommend this device.
Customer Review: Works fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
Very easy to use - love that it resets itself every night and can store weeks of data before being connected to the computer. The unit is very accurate - I counted off 500 steps walking in a straight line and it came up with 503 on the display - pretty impressive. I tested another unit this way and it didn't even come close. It is nice that it also tracks calories burned, and what it calls aerobic steps (these are periods of time where you were walking/stepping for over 15 minutes continuously). Now all of this is nice enough, but when you match it up with the software it gets really cool. A very quick download of data, and your computer can now track how you are doing in all the categories (steps per day, aerobic steps per day, calories per day, etc.) and you can set goals for yourself, and it will tell you how you are tracking towards your goals (with little smiley faces indicating how close you are) - the tracking is daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly. The longer tracks show averages, so although you may miss a day from your goal, the next day you can make up for it, and your weekly average will then be back on target. The software will even track your all time high marks, with the dates you hit them.
Overall, I think the product is well made, and very simple to use. It is accurate, and can be just tossed in a pocket (nicer than having to wear it on your belt, I personally hate things hanging off my belt). It is working well for me - I've set goals, and find I'll force myself to go for a walk when my daily total is below my target... I've changed nothing else about my life (eating, other exercise, etc) and I've lost 3 lbs since I started trying to hit 10K steps a day...
The habit is infectious as well - I have 2 friends that are also tracking steps and we compare how we are each doing (I don't use this feature, but if you share a computer with someone, the software can also track multiple devices with names associated with them). Just the other day I found out my mom and dad are getting in on the game - Dad is doing laps at the shopping mall so he can get his count up higher... a great inexpensive gadget to prompt more people into getting a little more exercise... it doesn't get much simpler than this...