Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor
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List Price: Our Price: $89.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor
Customer Review: Top of the Line BIA Monitor
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm very happy with this purchase.
Tanita is a quality company as well. I've spoken with their customer service and it's top notch.
The documentation which comes with the monitor is also thorough and includes many languages for use throughout the world.
I've had my scale now for about 4 years. I've never had any problems with it.
Some bad news. If you're waiting for the price to come down, as it does with most tech products over time, don't hold your breath. I paid about the same price 4 years ago as it's going for today.
Since this is the best on the market for home use, the price probably isn't coming down anytime soon.
This scale is an awesome tool to track your body fat% and body water% which operate conversely. Raise your body water and lose body fat (and vice-versa).
So if you want to lose weight, drink more water!
Also, since it's possible to have a low body fat% but still have high levels of visceral fat, (which you can't see inside your abdomen), this scale will keep track of that as well.
That's important since visceral fat is an indicator for lots of chronic problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.
And the DCI (Daily Caloric Intake) and Metabolic Age functions are fascinating to say the least.
All in all, this isn't just a scale. It's a fascinating tool you can use to help you achieve health and wellness and then maintain it.
*Highest recommendation. http://www.ultimate-health-coach.blogspot.com
Customer Review: Sometimes the truth hurts...
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm 6' tall and 199 lbs. Comparing me to the sea of obesity that is modern America, friends and family always say "You're not fat". Government and insurance company tables, however, say that a 6' tall man should weigh between 150 and 185 lbs. depending on frame size. I bought this scale to replace a 10-year-old Tanita that has always had an annoyingly flaky memory. The new scale is consistent in weight measurement with the old one, to within about 0.5 lbs. Unlike the old scale, this one presents a lot more information including the fact that I am "medium frame obese", i.e., with a moderate amount of muscle but an excessive quantity of fat. Sometimes the government is right after all.
The scale gives dramatically different readings at night or first thing in the morning. Overnight I shed almost 10 lbs. of muscle and gained 3 percent in body fat. So the best that one can hope for with the body composition measurements is consistency, not accuracy (in fairness the manufacturer does explain that there is an ideal time of day to measure oneself if accuracy is desired, but I'm on the Steve Ward Diet and need to weigh myself first thing in the morning in order to decide how much food to eat during the day).
Maybe the billions of dollars that the TSA is spending on body scanners for airports will give us more accurate measurements every time we pass through airport security. For a device that costs less than $100 and touches one's body only at the feet, I think the Tanita does a pretty good job.
I will sign off like Eric Cartman... not fat, just big-boned.
Customer Review: Great scale for monitoring fittness and weight loss
Summary: 5 Stars
I always wonder how accurate the BMI method of calculating body fat is but as a relative indication (probably not to far off the actual percentage) it is an excellent tool to measure progress on fittness, weight loss or gain, and body fat. The scale sends an electrical pulse (undetectable to you) through one foot and measures the return signal in the other foot. The measured decrease in the signal is used to calculate body fat based on statistics of the general population. This scale also calculates muscle mass, visceral fat (fat around the belly organs)and a few other useful measures but the thing to keep in mind is the readings are all calculations using your weight and the electrical signal passing through your body. Again the calculations are based on statistics and studies of the general population that have been conducted. But my reasearch indicates that a great deal of effort has been put into these studies and I personally am comfortable with what the results indicate. Another improvement over my first scale is the literature and owners manual that comes with this scale. It explains the BMI method and other features of this scale in excellent detail and it also spells out the impact of the water content of your body which affects the signal passing through your body. This product is great and should be used by anyone who is an athlete, working on gaining muscle mass or trying to lose body fat weight. This is the second Tanita scale I own and this one comes with lots of bells and whistles. I am very pleased and recommend this product without hesitation.Customer Review: Proven accurate; Durable; Great at-home option!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this scale over two years ago after reading about it in Women's Health magazine ([...]). It was one of their top choices in their write-up on body composition technology after comparing it to several other methods widely used by health professionals.
The scale has 4 presets (so you and 3 other people and quickly and easily check your body composition). The machine asks several questions in setting up each profile including height and activity level. One gripe is that the scale doesn't automatically update your actual age (so, according to my profile, I'm still the age I was when I bought it -- but that doesn't affect the performance of the scale. It only affects the profile ID, so I haven't updated it). The weight, water %, muscle weight, and fat % functions are measured to the nearest tenth. The scale seems pretty sturdy (no glitches in 2+ years) and it looks sleek. It also provides additional indicators (visceral fat, metabolic age, etc.)
This is a great choice for an in-home, at-your-finger-tips, body composition reading. I highly recommend it. It would be really cool if it could store you past readings on the scale for a quick comparison, but that is something that you can easy track on your own. It's a good tool to track your overall health, but always remember that every piece of technology has glitches so never change your eating/exercise regime if your composition numbers fluctuate a little. If you are very concerned about your body composition or overall health, you should see your doctor.
Customer Review: I bought it because of good reviews - can now confirm them
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the Amazon reviews for this product and I'm now able to confirm them. This scale is fantastic, though, honestly, if you are struggling with your weight, the numbers it will give you will not flatter your self-esteem. But that's the whole point, no?
I have 20 lbs of unnecessary weight and I weigh myself every morning. I noticed that weekly or bi-weekly or monthly weigh-ins were just a way for me to deceive myself - I thought I was doing well and made progress, but it turns out I was staying at the same weight. SO I bought this scale in order to track what is really happening with my body day in and day out, so I know what my "normal" baseline is. The readings are very accurate and they provide me the motivation i need to stay with the program. Watching the body fat percentage drop is particularly satisfying. I am on the upper end of "healthy" and "normal", and I want to be more in the middle. This scale allows you to track that extremely accurately.
The other fun and scary thing about it is the "metabolic age" reading. I am 30 but came out as 40 at first. Wow. After a month of going to the gym, I am now "32". Let's hope soon enough I'll be my actual age or younger. If this sounds gimmicky to you, don't worry, I don't take this too seriously. The number is silly, of course, but it does remind you that your weight and your fat/muscle ratio are not what they should be for your age/gender/frame.