Samuel Chell says:

Review by Samuel Chell for Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
Rating:
Since getting attached to pedometers a couple of years ago, I’ve gone through at least a dozen–Digiwalkers, Oregon Scientifics, Omrons. Sometimes the clips would break (Digiwalkers have no spring clip), or the cover would snap off, or they would prove highly inaccurate, or they would be bulky, or they would be too “versatile” and intricate to be practical for someone who was simply looking to get in 10,000 steps for the day. For this reason, I recommended the Sportline 330 as a comparatively rugged, accurate, and inexpensive step counter that, if need be, could be replaced with minimal financial damage.

But recently I saw this “high end” Omron at Walgreen’s and thought I’d give it a spin. Its primary allure: it claims to be so sensitive that you don’t need to wear it on a belt or some other outer wear. Just drop it in your shirt pocket or purse and forget about it.

Guess what? The Omron people aren’t pulling your leg. This is indeed a very sensitive little machine that does what it says it will do, in addition to being fast, easy, convenient, and extremely durable. I decided to test it by walking 30-40 minutes with the Omron in my shirt pocket and the Sportline clipped to my belt. At the end of my walk the Omron and Sportline were within 80 steps of each other. Moreover, it was the Omron that gave me the extra steps (a bonus if you consider the amount of time it takes–practically 2 hours–to log the full 10,000 steps).

The only advanced feature I occasionally use is the memory bank. The device automatically resets to 0 steps while saving the previous day’s count in memory (for up to a week). Although I set the clock, I rarely use the other extra features–calorie counter, aerobic read-out, or even distance covered. I don’t even bother with things like entering stride length and attaching clips or necklaces. This particular Omron model rises above the field because of one thing: quality. It’s accurate, it’s easy and fast, and it’s dependable if not indestructible (I’ve sat on it, inadvertently sent it through the wash, dropped it into a bath-tub). It keeps going, as long as you do. If you have a shirt pocket and know how to read from one to 10,000, you’re on your way.

You can never have too many good pedometers, but this Omron makes it unlikely you’ll need another one any time soon. There’s no question in my mind that this is best of breed, the one that Tiger Woods would use even if he had to pay for it and realized no rewards other than the practical and motivational benefits of the device itself. At its current price, it’s probably the best buy on Amazon.

Manish Laxmikant says:

Review by Manish Laxmikant for Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
Rating:
Update 2: I just replaced the battery (CR2032) so I guess it lasts about six months. This pedometer is probably one that I have used the longest. After losing nearly 20 lb the first time I tried to clock 100,000 steps a week, I’m embarking on another 20+lb loss target.

Update: I’ve been using this regularly, and found that I can stick it in a change pocket where it does a great job of accurately reporting my steps. I’ve left the clip, holder, and cord behind, so it’s a lot smaller now. I use the GMaps pedometer for distances and calories, but this is great to get accurate steps.

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I hate to take away a star considering there are a lot of things to like about this pedometer. I’ve used many, and I’m hoping this one is the last I have to get. Or at least if I get another one, it may be this one. Still, the folks at Omron might want to learn something for the next revision.

What I like:

- I don’t have to keep it clipped to my belt. It stays in my pocket all day, as do other objects like my wallet, keys, phone, etc. And it counts away fine.

- Although the buttons look like they could get pressed in a pocket by other pocketizens, like keys, change, fingers looking for stuff, they don’t. Especially Reset, which I feared would get hit somehow. But yet, over a week into the product, I haven’t seen a reset happening to my step total.

- I’m beginning to like that it resets itself to 0 every night, and also keeps a history of the past week. I can easily track what I did in the week and see what kind of activity gives me more steps. I don’t like to chase step counts like some people, but I like to do things that up the count. After all, we’re building a lifestyle here, not trying to win a count game.

- You may see lower counts, but that’s because of no false hits. This device works like skip protection on a CD player. It doesn’t start visibly counting even after you’ve started walking. This seems to be a defect at first, but this is what I assume is happening: The pedometer senses motion and starts recording it, and takes a few seconds to decide whether this is real walking or merely an occasional jolt. If the movement is a jolt or tap, or just a solitary step or two, the count is discarded before ever showing in the display. If the movement continues and has the characteristics of walking, the recorded steps are then added to the counter. So no bogus steps.

- Accuracy: I’ve walked 50, 100, 500 steps that I manually counted (sorry can’t keep count more than 500) and the pedometer was off by a maximum of two steps for the 500 step walk. Otherwise it was off by 1 or exact. I’ve never had a pedometer that stays so true.

What I don’t like:

- Limitations: Why would all users be less than 300 lb? Are people over 300 lb incapable of walking? The setup doesn’t let the user go more than 300 lb, so the calorie counts are likely to be lower to start with. Then there’s the following point.

- Assumptions: Every step is the same length. This is fine for people going walking as a regular exercise, but that gets old fast. At different times of day, different levels of energy, and different situations and terrains, steps are not uniform. So the mileage and probably the calorie count is probably off by a lot. I walked a known mile and yet the pedometer counted 0.7 miles because my step length was off. And the step length was determined by the manual’s directions. In fairness, all pedometers that calculate calories burned and distance walked will have this problem

- Size – it’s bulky, like a handheld stopwatch. I don’t see why it couldn’t have been smaller

- Visibility. It’s hard to read from your pocket. The downside of the pocketability. It might have benefited from some thing like a light (maybe I haven’t found it)

- Shape. It’s too much like a key fob and I often pull the wrong thing out of my pocket.

Lenny Zeiger says:

Review by Lenny Zeiger for Gillette M3Power Replacement Cartridges, 8-Count Package
Rating:
I was so excited about the prices compared to the $23-$24 I pay for them in NYC. When they arrived, I shrugged off the German packaging. But when I used them, I knew I was had. These razors are very tough. They hurt and did a poor job. I went through several razors in the first pack, then opened the two other packs, hoping that maybe it was just one pack. But no, it was the whole lot. They all were terrible. I finally tossed them and went to my local pharmacy and bought another pack. My face feels so much better. If you think you found a good deal, Don’t do it!

J. Jorgenson says:

Review by J. Jorgenson for Gillette M3Power Replacement Cartridges, 8-Count Package
Rating:
I have an incredibly hard time shaving with just any blade. I will cut myself into a million pieces with the cheap disposable blades, and even previous versions of the mach 3 blade still left my skin irritated. Now that the m3 power has come out, the shave is so much less irritating and, when combined with m3 power shave gel, it performs even better! The green lubrication strip is amazing! The blades just glide right over the skin with the new addition, however I typically find that the lubrication only lasts me 2 shaves, and then it starts to nick up my skin. The blades break down to about $1.00 a piece, which turns out to be $0.50 per shave for me (for the blade product alone, not incuding shave cream, new batteries, etc.), which is a bit high. The blade is great but the price is a lot. If you are willing to spend the extra money for a great shave, I have not found a better razor.

UPDATED: The Gillette Fusion Power blades are even better than this product. At the time when I wrote this review, Fusion had not even been released. After using Fusion Power, I cannot return to this product any longer. Fusion provides an even LESS irritating shave to my skin that the M3 Power did, and seems to trim quicker and slide smoothly across my face with the proper shaving cream. I love the addition of the single precision blade on the backside of the razor blade, this provides me with a quick easy way to trim my sideburns evenly.

M. Kachru says:

Review by M. Kachru for Gillette M3Power Replacement Cartridges, 8-Count Package
Rating:
These blades were blunt out of the box and the lubricant strip had no lubricant. They went right back to Amazon for a full refund.