Comments for Health Care Price and Review

Comment on Sleeptracker Wake Up Monitor by Widget Meister

Widget Meister — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:29:56 +0000

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

Great idea, this newer version is louder and improved, really helps.., October 23, 2006

This review is from: Sleeptracker Wake Up Monitor (Watch)

I got one of these watches when they first came out, they have improved the cosmetics and it's a lot louder than my old one. It does record your active periods through the night not just motion. It logs them and you can scroll through them the next day and also computes an average. Of course it can't help you if you drink to much coffee or never get enough sleep, but when you need to wake up at a certain time it will look for a mentally active period near to your set time. If it finds one it will got off early and if not it will go off at your default time. Even if it's helpful just some of the time that's a big deal to me and recommend it to anyone.

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Comment on Sleeptracker Wake Up Monitor by Widget Meister

Widget Meister — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:36:23 +0000

64 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

Interesting new kind of device that may help everyone in the long run., September 14, 2005

Widget Meister -

The most amazing thing about this watch is that it actually seems to work. I received the newer model which doesn't have any button issue or such and is mechanically very well built. The overall design is not vary stylish, but I don't think that's the point. It looks fine so you might wear it all day or just at night. When I use the watch it may wake me up to 30 minutes earlier than the normal alarm is set, occasionally if sleeping very soundly it just goes off at the set time, which means it never found a better time to wake me up within the window I set. It also logs any major movements I have at night so I look forward to checking the next day especially if I feel extra good or bad or once my dog woke me up and I could see that point too. I never seem to get enough sleep so waking up at a good point in the morning is important to me and this watch tells me exactly when. I'm very happy with it.

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Comment on Sleeptracker Wake Up Monitor by B. Abramov "tango engineer"

B. Abramov "tango engineer" — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:58:57 +0000

156 of 158 people found the following review helpful:

It works, but it's not durable., July 25, 2005

B. Abramov "tango engineer" (Los Angeles, CA) -

When I first got this watch in 2005, I was very excited to try it out. I thought it was some sort of a magical electronic tap-into-your-brain kind of thing. Turns out it's not, but it is a useful and functional gadget.
The watch uses a built-in motion sensor to sense light sleep stages. Turns out most people can only move during light sleep; people who move during deep sleep end up acting out their dreams, or sleepwalking. This watch is not for them.
The watch beeps its rather quiet alarm when it senses a light sleep stage a few minutes before your set alarm time. Since you're almost awake, the alarm is easy to hear, unless you sleep with your hand under a pillow or under a thick blanket, or if you went to bed late and end up sleeping deep later into the morning. It wakes me up only about 70% of the time - I always set my regular radio alarm as a backup.
The motion sensor also keeps count of the number of motion (light sleep) cycles during the night. The more cycles - the more tired you'll feel, as you won't have slept deeply enough for long enough.
I personally really do wake up feeling slightly more refreshed when woken by the watch. I also tend to get out of bed soon after the watch goes off, rather than use the snooze button. With the radio alarm, I always snooze at least once.
Unfortunately, this watch is quite the opposite of stylish. I wouldn't get caught wearing it in public, and only wear it at night.
The durability of this watch turned out poor in my experience. My watch developed a multiple stuck button problem after 3 months. Even though i'm not pushing any buttons, and all the buttons seem to be in a fully raised position, the watch keeps cycling through functions and trying to reset itself every few seconds, beeping each time. Until I figure out the warranty, the watch lives in the depths of my armoir drawer to keep it quiet.
Stay tuned for information on the warranty and manufacturer's responsiveness.

UPDATE: The warranty service was a send-in, with a $10 fee. The replacement refurbished watch arrived in about 3 weeks. The replacement also developed a stuck button problem after a few months, but this time the buttons "unstick" after a few shakes and smacks.
The currently available watch is the second generation, and may not suffer from the button issue. But that would be for someone else to write up.

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Comment on Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker by boothmeg

boothmeg — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:39:49 +0000

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

Overall satisfied, however stairs don't work **Update 11/2: customer service is severely lacking, October 19, 2011

boothmeg -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker (Health and Beauty)

I received my fitbit last Thursday and tried it on Friday after charging.

I have a bodymedia armband and I love it for the information it provides, however I wanted to try out the fitbit and see if I can get comparable data without the monthly cost or constant contact with my skin.

So far the fitbit is fairly close to the armband. Even the sleep is fairly close (the first day the actual sleep number was exactly the same between the fitbit and the bodymedia).

The fitbit does read a little low on the calories and steps in comparison to the bodmedia, however that's better than reading too high. At least I work harder and hopefully burn more calories, but it's close enough where I get useful and effective information.

Here are some comparisons:
Date (steps)----Fitbit--BodyMedia
10/14/2011------9457----10609
10/15/2011------6678----7523
10/16/2011------10673---12024
10/17/2011------16804---14179
10/18/2011------5724----6159

Date (calories)-Fitbit--BodyMedia
10/14/2011------1845----2285
10/15/2011------1828----2303
10/16/2011------2113----2567
10/17/2011------1933----2588
10/18/2011------1642----1958

Date (sleep)----Fitbit-------BodyMedia
10/14/2011------5hrs 4min----5hrs 4min
10/15/2011------3hrs 56min---6hrs 14min (may be how I started counter on fitbit)
10/16/2011------5hrs 8min----5hrs 37min
10/17/2011------4hrs 59min---5hrs 21min
10/18/2011------4hrs 57min---4hrs 48min

So the data is not right on, but not that far off. Especially considering this is much lower in cost (initial purchase price and no monthly fee) and doesn't have to read your actual body measurements/parameters.

It is nice that the Fitbit is so small and unnoticeable. It doesn't get in my way and it doesn't bulge like the armband does. I've had my bodymedia armband for a few years now and up until recently I didn't seem to have an issue. However, lately the armband leave my skin irritated.

Another positive about the fitbit is that the display lets you see the steps, calories, activity (love the flower) without having the synch it to a PC. I love seeing my data live, throughout the day. I can adjust my activities if I see I'm low.

My only problem is that my stairs are not working. Hence, the 3 stars.

No matter how many stairs I take, the stairs continually show "0." Not very motivating to see that message. I have four floors at work that I take and one floor in my house (to get from the main level to my bedroom). So I'm curious to see how many stairs I take and see how much that influences whether I take them more often.

I sent an email and Friday and heard back on Monday with a question for my fitbit email information (I had sent them an email from a separate email). I hadn't heard back and sent them another email to see if they received it okay. They did write back today, but with the response that this is a known issue...

This is the part that disappoints me, if it's a known issue shouldn't it have been resolved before sending the units out???

I don't believe it affects everyone as I've seen posts on the fitbit community site where people discuss how many stairs they log (It sounds like a neat feature and most people seem happy with it, when it works).

So right now I'm just waiting to hear back on why my stairs aren't logging and when (or if) it can be fixed.

11/2/2011:
An update to rating due to disappointing customer service. Still have an issue with the stair logging. When I wrote this issue on their help and support forum, they gave an email to contact saying to get a replacement.

When I wrote the support email they said it's a known issue (after ~a week) and that the expected fix availability is unknown. Frustrated with the inconsistent responses from different departments within the company and that they still post on their help and community forum to write their support email for a replacement (which didn't happen after writing their support email).

If you read their community forum for help and support, a number of users have issues with their stair logging. Just a note: they do say their stair logging does not work on stair machines or machines. It has an altimeter that reads altitude change so it will only log when you CLIMB an actual staircase. It will not log when you descend an actual staircase.

I was trying to be patient, but after 19 days I'm a little fed up with their customer service. I was hoping to try this out and get some for family and recommend to friends, but not sure now.

When you buy something based on features, you expect those to work or some sort of resolution. It's almost been 3 weeks and still no resolution.

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Comment on SleepTracker Pro Elite Male Version Sleep Monitor by Mekabra "Jeweler"

Mekabra "Jeweler" — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:05:03 +0000

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

Great product - really works!, March 8, 2010

Mekabra "Jeweler" (Wauconda, IL United States) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: SleepTracker Pro Elite Male Version Sleep Monitor (Health and Beauty)

I bought this watch so that I could sleep within my sleep cycles, which on average is 90 minutes. 90 minutes contains all of the stages of sleep and at the end of a cycle you are sleeping at your lightest. If you can wake up at that time you will feel more rested. If you wake up at other points of the sleep cycle you will feel tired and sleepy all day long, even if you sleep for an extended period. What this means is that it is best to sleep in cycles that are multiples of 90 minutes - 1 1/2, 3, 4 1/2, 6, 7 1/2 hours. Using this watch I have been able to successfully sleep for less time and still feel rested. I always thought I needed 7 - 8 hours of sleep. Now I am rested with 6 hours nightly. I have even tried to sleep 4 1/2 hours with a power nap in the afternoon. That seems to work, but it is difficult to do.

Setting the watch is easy. You set the alarm and the time when you are going to bed. A window of time can be set in which the watch will wake you if it detects movement before the alarm goes off. The default is 20 minutes. It keeps track of movement throughout the night to monitor the sleep cycle. The alarm can be set to vibrate, buzz or both. To keep track of your sleep you can download software from the manufacturer's website. The watch comes with a USB connector through which data is downloaded to your PC. The software allows you to input the quality of sleep and has a place for notes so that you can keep track of details.

On a customer service note - The watch I bought through Amazon seemed to be defective. The alarm did not always sound. At first I thought I was just sleeping through the alarm, but several times I woke up just before the alarm. I deliberately did not move, and the alarm did not sound. I contacted Sleeptracker. They told me to send back the watch (just the watch) and they would ship out a new one, usually within 48 hours. They did just that and the replacement works perfectly. The manufacturer will only make such an exchange if the watch was purchased from an approved vendor, like Amazon.com. I highly recommend this product.

Added December 17th 2010:
About a month ago the Sleeptracker stopped working. The I assumed it was the battery and contacted the manufacturer because I thought I had read somewhere that the battery should last about a year. I sent an email asking about this and received a reply from the CEO and inventor himself, Lee Loree. He asked how I used the watch and to told him that I use the alarm and vibrator to wake up. He explained that because I use the vibrator mode the battery is used up more quickly. He offered to send me some new batteries, for free, which he did. I have to say, I really like the product and I really like the customer service.

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Comment on Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker by Gaz Rendar

Gaz Rendar — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:47:03 +0000

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

The centerpiece of your fitness gadgets, October 18, 2011

Gaz Rendar (Chicago, IL USA) -

This review is from: Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker (Health and Beauty)

I've been a Fitbit user for 2 years now and have convinced several people to buy Fitbits and join my social fitness group. The new Fitbit Ultra is a small upgrade over the old Fitbit, and as such, doesn't warrant replacing your old Fitbit with the Ultra version. However, the Ultra is still a 5-star product when used properly. Even if you already have a heart rate monitor and a GPS unit, the Fitbit can become the center of your active world.

I'll start by saying that no one "needs" a Fitbit. It is a luxury item. If you're active, and goto the gym on a regular basis, and do a decent job watching what you eat, this device might not seem useful. I've also had plenty of people defiantly tell me that they just need a cheap pedometer that costs 1/10th the price of a Fitbit plus a journal and they can get the same functionality. To a degree, these statements are all true. The power of the Fitbit resides in its simplicity and social networking, but it's very hard to fully appreciate without using the device for two weeks. Once you understand what the Fitbit provides, though, you can never go back.

INSTALLATION
There are minimal instructions included with the Fitbit. Luckily the install is rather simple. Goto the Fitbit website, create a user name and login for yourself, download and install the driver, plug in the USB charging stand and you should be ready. You'll have to place your Fitbit onto the charger when prompted in order to obtain a pin number that identifies your Fitbit with your user name, but the entire process only takes about 5 minutes.

HARDWARE
The Fitbit Ultra looks and feels the same as the original `bit (you can get the plum accent color, though). There is only 1 button on the device and a small OLED screen. The screen has a sharp, attractive blue hue and is bright enough to read in all conditions except broad daylight. The button is nothing fancy, but has a solid enough click for my taste. I guess you can say that the Fitbit has a hinge, but it only opens a few degrees, which is sufficient to clip the device directly onto a bra strap or that little coin pocket on a pair a of jeans. A belt clip attachment is included to situate the Fitbit on belts of most thicknesses. There is also a USB charging stand that doubles as the wireless data base and a soft wrist strap for wearing your tracker while you sleep. The Fitbit is durable, but the one thing it cannot handle is water. Obviously, you can't swim with it, but I've had friends of mine wear their `bits in their bra strap underneath a shirt and fleece on a cool fall day, work up a sweat, and have their Fitbits die due to the highly humid environment within their shirt. Its fine during a gym workout, just be careful if you're keeping it contained in a non-breathable location while sweating.

PERFORMANCE
At its core, yes, the Fitbit is an expensive pedometer--but a highly accurate one. I've counted 150 steps in my head many times and it was spot-on. I've used a PreCor elliptical that told me I went 2873 steps and the Fitbit told me I went 2870. That's quality. Distance accuracy can get close to 5% error, but only if you calibrate your walking and running stride lengths in your profile settings (calibrate by measuring off 50 feet, walk the 50 feet and count the # of steps, divide the 600 inches by your number of walking steps. Repeat 2 more times and take the average. Do the same for running). Otherwise your distance can be off by 20%. The Ultra's main difference from the previous model is that it keeps track of flights of stairs. In a 3 step ranch house, walking up and down the 3 steps 8 times in a 5 minute period didn't seem to register as a flight or two. However, when I've gone up 5 consecutive flights all at once it does seem to be pretty accurate. As long as you keep the Fitbit clipped to your waist/pocket areas or bra strap, it seems to be good. The Ultra also has a stopwatch function, but looking down to my waist, hitting the button and trying to see the timer wasn't really practical during a run. Just wear a watch instead. Finally, the sleep tracking works well, but I find it to be a bit of an annoyance. If you want to wear the soft wrist strap and keep track of your sleep efficiency, it will definitely help you. But after 2 weeks I found that I was such a sound sleeper that I didn't want to deal with the 2 minutes of set up time to find the wrist strap and put it on. Instead, I now just start the sleep timer when I crawl in bed and put the Fitbit on my nightstand. When I wake up, I hit stop. This way it still gives me a very good idea of how many hours I'm sleeping per night. It's helped me realize that if I average under 6.25-6.5 hours of sleep per day for a week, I feel awful, but if I'm over that mark, I perform better during the day.

WEBSITE
Simply sitting near the wireless base while your computer is on will upload the... Read more

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Comment on Imodium Multi-Symptom Relief of Diarrhea, 18-Count Caplets (Pack of 3) by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:26:48 +0000

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Imodium, August 14, 2011

Sheldon R. Roth "Noodles DVD Maven" (Arizona) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Imodium Multi-Symptom Relief of Diarrhea, 18-Count Caplets (Pack of 3) (Health and Beauty)

This product certainly resolves any other product that's on the market. Amazon is extremely competitive and when your a Prime Member shipping is free.

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Comment on SleepTracker Pro Elite Male Version Sleep Monitor by Robert S. Tobias

Robert S. Tobias — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:11:39 +0000

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Someone finally made a device that can wake me up in the morning!, April 6, 2011

Robert S. Tobias (Arlington, VA USA) -

This review is from: SleepTracker Pro Elite Male Version Sleep Monitor (Health and Beauty)

Customer Video Review Length:: 1:43 Mins

Bottom line: When I let the watch figure out when to wake me up I waking up a lot easier, more quickly, and feel more rested.

Background: As you sleep you constantly go back and forth from being "almost awake" to being "deeply asleep". If your awakened when you're deeply asleep you wake up groggy and if you're awakened when you're already almost awake then you wind up feeling much more refreshed.

Details:

With this watch you set the time you want to get up and a time window before then during which it should look for an "almost awake" point when it sounds the alarm. (Actually, you get a choice of an audible alarm, a vibrating alarm, or both). Also important is the watch is light and comfortable. I don't feel it on my wrist and it doesn't bother me while I'm sleeping.

With just that, the Sleeptracker is a great step forward in alarm clock technology but it doesn't address the "tracker" part. In addition to providing an effective way to wake up it also measures how well you've slept. That's done by recording the time between each "almost awake" point and also averaging them for the entire night. More time spent in "deeper sleep" usually means better sleep. You can review this information in the morning using the watch display.

But, it doesn't stop there. There's also a program you can load on your PC and a cable for transferring the daily sleep data into a database. (The software installs and runs without any problems on my 64-bit Win 7 system.) With the program you can review sleep data over time and even attach notes to each night's sleep regarding your pre-sleep activities to investigate correlations between them and sleep quality. For example, you can see if having those three drinks and/or the Monte Cristo sandwich right before bed in any way affected your sleeping patterns. It's kind of like getting one of those expensive sleep studies without the inconvenience or expense. If you like, you can even export the data to Excel for additional analysis.

Or, you can leave that technical stuff to the rocket surgeons and just let the watch wake you up.

BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews, accompanied by detailed videos, can take the place of first-hand experiences that are often lacking in online shopping. I've always appreciated the help I've received from other reviewers and try to return the favor as best as I can. I hope you found this review helpful and the video at least entertaining. If there was anything you thought was lacking or unclear leave a comment and I'll do what I can to fix it.

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Comment on Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker by Liora Hess

Liora Hess — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:10:52 +0000

131 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

Life-changing gadget, October 9, 2011

Liora Hess (Atlanta, GA USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker (Health and Beauty)

I purchased the original Fitbit (now referred to as the Fitbit Classic) only to have the company roll out the Fitbit Ultra a couple of days later. The overlap between the two devices has given me a great opportunity to experience both and know what's different about this one.

How both Fitbits Work: You have a few choices on where to wear the Fitbit (typically waist, pocket, chest pocket or bra), and you keep that Fitbit on you for 24 hours. There's another piece that can be attached to the Fitbit if you have thicker clothing on in order not to spread the Fitbit apart too far and damage it. Every time you're within 15-ft range of your WiFi base station plugged into your computer, the Fitbit attempts to upload your data. After an upload it then doesn't try again for another 15 minutes. You can force an update by placing your Fitbit actually on the base. This is also the way you charge the Fitbit.

Speaking of the charge, it is fast and lasts days, maybe even weeks. Many choose to charge the Fitbit in the base while they're in the shower. Since I work at the computer, I just take it off once a day or so and rest it in the base until I'm ready to get up and go do something.

I should also mention installing and pairing the device is hassle-free. The instructions are clear. You download the software from their web site. Pairing the device with the software on your computer is a piece of cake. It's also easy enough to do if you have a replacement Fitbit you're installing. Just right-click on Account Setup in the system tray, and the Fitbit guides you through the quick process.

What will the Fitbit Ultra do? The Fitbit Ultra is a very accurate step counter. It also shows calories burned and distance walked. There's a cute (not too girly, guys) flower that you make "grow" the more activity you do. And it tracks your sleep. You have a little Velcro wrist band (perfect size for women and men) with a pocket. At night, you slip the Fitbit into the pocket and press and hold the button, which puts the Fitbit in sleep mode. You have a choice between normal and sensitive setting, adjustable from the web site.

The sleep was something I thought would be kind of gimmicky and not really that important to me. Boy was I wrong. I really enjoy seeing how many times I wake up during the night and if there's that typical 90-minute cycle of sleep reflected or if I barely moved at all. On the web site, this information is reflected as a sleep efficiency percentage. Now, it's not extremely accurate, because Fitbit doesn't know the difference between your lying there still and your being asleep. However, you'll probably realize soon that if you're lying there, reading a book, just move your hand every one in a while. Later, in the morning, you can adjust your sleep times through the web site to cut off any unnecessary activity at the beginning.

What is Fitbit Not Good at? It's very step-oriented, so that means it's not going to accurately record your use of an elliptical machine, Pilates, weight lifting, rowing machine, swimming (don't get it wet!) or anything else that doesn't result in a typical stepping motion. However, you can manually record these activities on the web site, and it will overwrite the data for that period of time.

New to this version:
---It will also count stairs climbed (hills count) and translate those into floors. It's just one more way to challenge yourself. On the web site you can earn badges for how many stairs and floors you've climbed. The site also gives you interesting little messages about what that climbing equals, such as "you've just climbed the world's tallest snowman," and if you're the curious type, you can click the message to learn more.
---You've got a clock! Since I almost always have a phone on me, I underestimated how much I was going to enjoy this feature. It's so much easier and to just press a button at your waist and look down to see the time.
---There's a stopwatch. Training for a race? Just trying to beat your previous times? You can use the stopwatch to record an activity.
---Righty and lefty friendly. I'm right-handed, but I like to wear the Fitbit at the left side of my waist. The words were backwards, but I learned that through the web site I could change the direction of the words.
---Give it a name. You have 8 characters to input a name or other info. That's not enough for a full phone number with area code. However, you if you search the Internet for "short email address," there are a number of email address services that would fit that 8-character allotment and allow you to forward any email to your regular email address. This might come in handy if you (heaven forbid) were to lose your Fitbit.
---Friendly little chatter. So you're sitting on the sofa and you realize you should really get up and move your body. You stand up, and a blinked message catches... Read more

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Comment on Alcohawk Slim Digital Alcohol Breath Tester by Michael Roth

Michael Roth — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:39:47 +0000

62 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

Great Tester, August 30, 2007

Michael Roth (New York) -

This review is from: Alcohawk Slim Digital Alcohol Breath Tester (Health and Beauty)

The device is great. It calibrates automatically once you turn it on, and gives you a quick and accurate reading. This product is great ESPECIALLY when considering the cost. I was hesitant to buy it because of the other review, but am glad I did because its much cheaper than the other devices and works flawlessly so far.

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Comments (4)