Activity Trackers / Monitors

[Phoenix]

Anybody into these things lately? They seem to be all the rage here in the DC area. A friend of mine actually just a few days ago gave me a Nike FuelBand that he wasn't using any longer and I just put it on for the first time today to start checking it out.

I love to walk all around the DC area (I work very close to the Washington Monument, National Mall is a stone's throw away, etc.) and wanted to see how I'm doing in terms of steps / mileage etc. My first test of it was my trip from work to the Metro's Union Station (Joshua Bell put on a free mini concert there today!!!) and back... 3,100 steps

So far, this Nike seems okay but I know there are several others out there, like FitBit.

Anyways, just wondering if anyone else has started using one of these. Looks like a decent way to set some kind of goal and trying to reach it with this monitor in place...

 

[Future]

I've heard good things about the fuelband...and there is a lot you can do with those kinds of things if you link them to your smartphone or comp. I'm not particularly in them, but as far as gadgets go, they're more useful than most.

 

[kapolani]

I thought I wanted one of those.

But, it was too limited for what I wanted done.

It only counts steps etc.

When I run I wanted to get rate/distance/time. I also wanted to keep a log of my runs.

So, I realized that there was an app on my phone that already did all that!

RunKeeper. I can log all my runs. I can see elevation and splits.

 

[Phoenix]

I thought I wanted one of those.

But, it was too limited for what I wanted done.

It only counts steps etc.

When I run I wanted to get rate/distance/time. I also wanted to keep a log of my runs.

So, I realized that there was an app on my phone that already did all that!

RunKeeper. I can log all my runs. I can see elevation and splits.

Oh wow that is pretty cool too. I don't run though

But this FuelBand does seem pretty cool. I like the LED display, and how I can tab between all the different counts that it keeps. I did download the software for this little thingy and it seems pretty cool too, and after syncing the devices I can also track all my walks, steps per day, etc. etc...

 

[Jammer]

I don't have any gadgets, but I do have a couple of apps I use on my phone. One is Kinetic and the other is Pacer. The Kinetic app tracks my distance and where I've walked/run/bike etc. It even shows a satellite map of where you've been during your workout. It also shows the speed and altitude. I'm not sure how accurate the altitude is because I live on the coast of SC so the highest I get is around 25' above sea level so it's pretty flat around here. When I travel I use the hotel's treadmill so I can't compare it to other locations. The Pacer app tracks the number of steps you walk in a day. I like it because it shows how much (or little) I walk during the day while I'm in the office. It also tracks the steps I do when I do my walks. It also tracks my weight and I can send the data to my computer in Excel spreadsheet formats.

 

[Phoenix]

So if anyone is wondering, from the Smithsonian Castle, across the mall, then left past Natural History Museum, American History Museum, then up to the Washington Monument, walk around it, then continue on to the World War II Memorial, then keep walking towards the Lincoln Memorial to see the new "face" being inscribed in the land (from many, one, or something like that...will be viewable from Monument and from satellites in orbit), then up to the "World War Memorial" (for WW 1), then over to the King "I Have A Dream" Memorial, then all the way back to the Castle and across the street to work, was about, oh, let's see...7,900 steps or so

I so love playing tourist here at lunchtime...


Edit. Oh lookie, I found a picture of the "face" thing, along the Reflecting Pool on the left side...

 

[Phoenix]

Fun fact:

If you stand in the center of the green lawn below the Washington Monument, in other words in the middle of the grass that is cut off at the bottom of the photo above (the photo was of course taken from the top of the Monument...if you walk straight out towards the WWII memorial above and stop halfway in the grass, that is where I'm talking about)....

Stop. You can see the WWII Memorial & the Lincoln Memorial as shown above. Turn to the right, perfect view of the White House. Turn right again, perfect view of the Washington Monument. Turn right again, perfect view of the Jefferson Memorial. It's just a nice spot.

 

[Corso]

I have the Misfit pebble and I like it.

It does a pretty good job of differentiating whether I'm walking, or running, but I live up in the mountains and it's extremely hilly so it thinks I'm just walking sometimes and scores accordingly (you have a daily goal that is given via a score), but that walking will have been up some serious hills and so my score may be lower than what it really should be when you consider my heart rate.

Overall- I like it as I always want to get to my daily score (2500).
It monitors my sleep and tells me when I'm just resting and when I'm actually having deep sleep (how it does that, I have no idea).

I know it's not perfect, but the price wasn't bad (got it on Amazon) and it's doing what I wanted it to do- push me to make sure I'm getting to my health goals.

Just my two pennies.

 

[Corso]

Fun fact:

If you stand in the center of the green lawn below the Washington Monument, in other words in the middle of the grass that is cut off at the bottom of the photo above (the photo was of course taken from the top of the Monument...if you walk straight out towards the WWII memorial above and stop halfway in the grass, that is where I'm talking about)....

Stop. You can see the WWII Memorial & the Lincoln Memorial as shown above. Turn to the right, perfect view of the White House. Turn right again, perfect view of the Washington Monument. Turn right again, perfect view of the Jefferson Memorial. It's just a nice spot.

That area is so well planned out- it doesn't surprise me one bit.
One day I would like to go visit and see these wonderfully important historical sights for myself, but alas-

There is no rest for the weary.

 

[Phoenix]

That area is so well planned out- it doesn't surprise me one bit.
One day I would like to go visit and see these wonderfully important historical sights for myself, but alas-

There is no rest for the weary.

Yeah it really is well thought out. I just boggle every day playing tourist.

Also in that photo above, on the far right, that lake looking thing? Constitution Gardens, and that little "island" on the very far right (there is a wood bridge connecting to it from the shore), there is a semi-circle of stones dedicated to each of the original thirteen colonies and every man who signed the Declaration of Independence. It's pretty overlooked. I walk around it all the time and always am amazed at how utterly ignored it is. But looks like there is about to be some improvements that will increase attention to it I guess.


http://dc.about.com/od/dcparks/ss/Constitution-Gardens-Washington-DC.htm

 

[Fletch]

I've heard good things about the fuelband...and there is a lot you can do with those kinds of things if you link them to your smartphone or comp. I'm not particularly in them, but as far as gadgets go, they're more useful than most.

Big brother can keep tabs on ya better this way.

 

[kapolani]

Big brother can keep tabs on ya better this way.

Meh.

I've given up on that long ago.

If you are really worried about that I would stop posting on internet forums if I were you.

No email, no web, nothing.