Pedometer Woes

The first three posts in this series were written in January of 2012.  It is now June of 2012 and the next few posts will be playing "catch-up".  Today let's talk about how we get what we pay for!
Back in January I shopped around a little bit looking at pedometers.  I needed to purchase several, so I did consider the cost of these items.  After looking around at several different stores (WalMart, Academy, Amazon.com and Target), and doing some limited research online, I chose the New Balance pedometer and found that the best price was at Target.  I could get them for just under $10 there and I went with it.  I have liked New Balance merchandise in the past and refuse to buy sports shoes from anyone else (long story for another day).  The price was less than half of what a pedometer costs at Weight Watchers so I got them.  At least they would get us started, right?  These pedometers also did cumulative steps, distance and calories burned.  Unfortunately, they ONLY did cumulative.  They did NOT break down the cumulative on a day-by-day basis.  If you lost one days' worth of data, you lost ALL your data.  They also did not clip onto clothing very securely.  One of our members discovered that and at the same time discovered that they are NOT waterproof (don't ask, but I'm sure you can guess!).  Then we found that the NB pedometers would not record steps unless they were fastened in a rather particular way to the waistband.  If the waistband were tight or if the pedometer were not at a rather exact and particular angle to the ground, no steps would be recorded, no matter how many you took.  Finally, we discovered that they broke quite easily and that if the battery died it could not be replaced without breaking the clip.  Would you believe that even with all this, when my first one died I bought a second one?  After the second one broke, I gave up and gave in and purchased a Weight Watchers pedometer.  That was in early April and I am still in love with this gizmo.  It is important to record your total daily distance data at least once a week.  It only holds 7 days worth of data and at the end of 7 days starts all over again.  But since batteries can die at any time (and do!) getting into the habit of recording that data every 2-4 days is necessary (and it can't hurt to record it daily!).  I am still on the same WW pedometer, the battery seems fine, the clip is sturdy (and comes with a small tether if you want to be extra certain not to lose it), it is not picky about how it is positioned on the waistband, and the battery is easily replaced.  It is more expensive at $25.99 (that's at Amazon.com and I think it costs the same thing at a WW meeting).  But since I have not had to replace it in almost three months and the NB had already been replaced once ~ OK, twice ~ by this time, I think I'm still ahead financially.
So that's that for pedometers.  Next up, learning to be INefficient.