Ein2 » Omron http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2 Ein Zwei: Even More Ein! Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:38:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 [Pedometer Panic 2] http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2/2004/05/26/pedometer-panic-2/ http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2/2004/05/26/pedometer-panic-2/#comments Wed, 26 May 2004 22:40:27 +0000 Eingang http://einiverse.eingang.org/blogs/ein2/2004/05/26/pedometer-panic-2/ European version of the Omron HJ 112I did some intensive investigation on the Omrons, including phoning back to North America. Apparently, they produce different versions of the same model for different markets. Canada, for example, has a metric version. Europe, too, has a metric version. The Omron HJ-112 (or see this description) I so lusted after is not available yet in Canada and won’t be available for an additional two months.
When I was in Canada earlier this year, Kellogg’s, the makers of Special K cereal, had just started a promotion whereby you could collect tokens and send away for a Special K pedometer and start your own personal 10,000 steps campaign. It was accompanied by all manner of media promotion with television ads and newspaper articles about the 10,000 steps campaign. The same promotion has now hit the United Kingdom and even McDonald’s (USA) is getting into the act. Is a free pedometer enough to get fitness afficiandos into McDonald’s? Apparently so, at least for some people.
Anyway, I digress slightly. With some more phoning around, I discovered that the Omron HJ-112 model is available in the UK and is more Ein-compatible in appearance, with its translucent aqua case (see story image). I managed to track down a distributor here in the UK. While they predominantly supply medical professionals, they will take personal orders as well. All of the recently flurry of media attention has meant that people have been going out and snapping up pedometers left, right, and centre and they didn’t actually have any cheaper pedometers left, but still had a few of the HJ 112. So, for only £27.03 (incl VAT), I will shortly be the proud owner of my very own Omron HJ-112.
Note to self: secure this one to self more firmly!

]]> http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2/2004/05/26/pedometer-panic-2/feed/ 0 [Pedometer Panic] http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2/2004/05/25/pedometer-panic/ http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2/2004/05/25/pedometer-panic/#comments Tue, 25 May 2004 20:55:40 +0000 Eingang http://einiverse.eingang.org/blogs/ein2/2004/05/25/pedometer-panic/ Sportline 360 personal pedometerI had a great walk yesterday from Brighton’s West Pier to the Hove Lagoon and back. Actually, it was longer than I expected. About halfway back, I stopped to check my pedometer to see how I was doing for time but the pedometer was gone. I had last consulted it at the Hove Lagoon, two kilometers back. I doubled back, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.
I’m not surprised I lost my Sportline 360 pedometer, because I’d almost lost it several times earlier and I’d managed to knock it off my body onto the ground on several occasions too. I think the clip it’s supplied with is a little lacking. Barring that, though, I rather liked the unit.

Pros:

  • It could remember distances over the last seven days.
  • You could use it for walking or jogging/running by programming in a stride length for each activity and then it would auto-detect what you were doing.
  • It had a rough calorie counter based on your distance travelled and your weight.
  • It also gave a rough estimate of number of steps per minute and timed your accumulated activity since the last reset of the counters.
  • Very small and looked rather like a pager so was rather discrete looking.
  • Cover protected the buttons neatly and kept moisture out of the buttons.
  • No need to manually start/stop activities. It auto-detected movement and was reasonably (but not completely quiet) quiet and accurate.
  • Really nice multi-line display.

Cons:

  • The supplied clip doesn’t work well on thin fabric. It’s just plastic and doesn’t have jaws. It’s more of a slide on and pray it stays mechanism.
  • There is no way to adjust the sensitivity. If it’s not accurate where you placed it, you needed to try placing it somewhere else on your body — trial and error.
  • While it kept distance totals over 7 days, since I was counting steps more than distance, I would have liked to have seen the step total for each day. Granted, I could calculate it by taking the distance and dividing by my stride length, so this isn’t a huge issue.
  • The pedometer can work in either miles/pounds or in kilometers/kgs, but you can’t switch on the fly between them. So if you leave it in km for yourself and then want to tell someone else the distance travelled, there’s no way to get that. Changing units requires resetting the entire unit. Not that big of a deal.

So now I’m wondering what I should do. I did rather like it. Should I replace it and look for some way to attach a better clip to it? Or should I look for a different kind of device? I wouldn’t mind something like a SportBrain but I’d like one that connected to *my* computer rather than requiring a yearly (or quarterly/monthly) telephone subscription to a service based in the US.

European version of the Omron HJ 112

Another possibility is the Omron HJ-105. This sounds very similar to my former SportLine 360, but it has an actual spring clip with metal which might work better. This other Omron, the Omron HJ-112 (or see this description), sounds pretty good too. It apparently doesn’t necessarily need to be attached to your pants but can go in a pocket or on a purse and it has a clip and a strap. I couldn’t see any way for the two Omron units to use them in Metric though. I’ve dropped a note to their customer support team and their Canadian contact.

Any other suggestions, ideas or comments?

]]> http://einiverse.eingang.org/ein2/2004/05/25/pedometer-panic/feed/ 0