Review on Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer: Enhanced Fitness Tracking with Health Management Software by Angie Strongheart

PROS: Accurate, can be adjusted according to your step. Maintains both "aerobic" and intermittent walking volume. Connection to a computer via a USB 2.0 cable (included). Works in your pocket, backpack, purse, etc. Includes Windows-enabled software. : USB connection sometimes doesn't work Clumsy UI for software Doesn't distinguish between walking on level ground and climbing mountains No option to turn off for other activities like cycling Software doesn't support Mac Linux etc. Poor definition/implementation Aerobics "I wear this device all the time me to record my daily activities. When I see that I haven't been active enough, I know it's time to start running again. Measuring my activity is an incentive for me to keep going. The batteries last several months. You might want to order several CR2032 button batteries at a time (cheap on Revain) to keep it going. All you need to replace the battery is a small Phillips screwdriver. Setup is easy, although the buttons are a little fiddly - never mind, you won't be doing this often. You can set the current time, step length and your body weight. The last two are used to calculate the (approximate) calories burned. Step is used to calculate the distance you have walked based on the number of steps recorded. If you don't know your stride length, use the default stride length and then go to Google Maps to find a route with the given length - suggest a quarter mile. or more. Record the number of steps before and after walking, then divide the distance by the steps to get the stride length (length of one step) and set it. You may be wondering how the device detects when you are doing aerobic exercise. Well actually it isn't as there is no heart rate sensor. Instead, if you walked continuously for 10 minutes or more, it is assumed to be an aerobic exercise, otherwise not. This allows you to walk at a very slow pace without putting a strain on your heart or lungs and consider it aerobic. It's not perfect, but it's an indication of how much effort went into walking on any given day. The number of calories burned is also an estimate based on your body weight, stride length, aerobic and non-aerobic exercise. The software is clunky. It has two separate screens. The first is user management. It seems silly to create a recordset for myself when I'm the only user of the software. The graphical screen is the only one I really want to use. Sometimes I have a problem when I click download and it says it's downloading but the progress bar doesn't change from 0%. The manual just says you have to use the cable that comes with it. As I have several cables with the same connectors, it's hard to tell which one came with this box - it doesn't have an "Omron" marking on it. But any USB 2.0 cable with the same connectors will usually work, except when it doesn't. If using the correct cable doesn't work, try uninstalling and reinstalling the software. Most of the time this solves my problems. Despite these small problems, I really like the device and its ability to store data on a computer, which motivates me to walk more. .