Body Media Armband

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2

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  • riverbuff2
    riverbuff2 Posts: 6
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    But you all think it is actually worth the $149 and then $84 a year or are there other HRM's that do pretty much the same. The 2 thunkgs I don't care for is the monthly fee and the armband, I wished it was a wristband/watch type.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    I want to share the information page since that is a thing I was very curious about.

    bmfs_zps5c1c742a.jpg
    showing how each down arrow can expand to give more detailed information about that category
    bmf-1_zpsbdda213c.jpg
    showing how it estimates how much you will burn all day according to your past info and how much you have done so far that day

    Edit: of course Flickr is giving me issues. a moment...
    Edit 2: yay photobucket! Right click 'view picture/image' to see the full size. It is bedtime and I'm not going to try and mess with it right now. :)
  • CandyAppleCockers
    CandyAppleCockers Posts: 74 Member
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    Oh interesting. I have kept my subscription on but would go a few weeks only wearing it a few hours a day. When I finally plugged it in to charge it gave me the data for those hours I had it on. It also 'guessed' at what I would have burned had I not been wearing it. Maybe it has changed since the 2 summers ago when you had this happen? I'm not sure.

    I did not specify in my other post that I was assuming if you turned off subscription, wore it, then bought subscription again you could look at your data.

    That's interesting too ;) If you were only wearing it a few hours at a time I think you aren't using up the memory then. If it holds lets say 7 full 24 hour days, then I'd think it would hold a month of a handful of hours a day as it would be roughly the same amount of space. I could be wrong too, lol.

    If you didn't wear it 24/7 you might be able to turn the subscription on and off and get the data then as the memory wouldn't be full potentially.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    But you all think it is actually worth the $149 and then $84 a year or are there other HRM's that do pretty much the same. The 2 thunkgs I don't care for is the monthly fee and the armband, I wished it was a wristband/watch type.

    I own a Polar FT7 and loved it. It does extremely well with cardio workouts. I bought BMF because I wanted a better idea of how much I burned overall each day, which it is perfect for. I do not use my HRM at all anymore because my workouts are weightlifting based, showing incorrect burns on HRMs. The price must have gone up since I bought it because I do not recall spending $150. I think mine was $97 and I'm certain I had a gift card (amazon). I'm uncertain what amount the gift card was, but I was remembering something like $25. That is a big price, but they have OUTSTANDING customer service. I had an issue where my USB cable wasn't recognized anymore, mailed in the armband, and they mailed me an entire new box, no charge (other than mailing the band to them).
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    Oh interesting. I have kept my subscription on but would go a few weeks only wearing it a few hours a day. When I finally plugged it in to charge it gave me the data for those hours I had it on. It also 'guessed' at what I would have burned had I not been wearing it. Maybe it has changed since the 2 summers ago when you had this happen? I'm not sure.

    I did not specify in my other post that I was assuming if you turned off subscription, wore it, then bought subscription again you could look at your data.

    That's interesting too ;) If you were only wearing it a few hours at a time I think you aren't using up the memory then. If it holds lets say 7 full 24 hour days, then I'd think it would hold a month of a handful of hours a day as it would be roughly the same amount of space. I could be wrong too, lol.

    If you didn't wear it 24/7 you might be able to turn the subscription on and off and get the data then as the memory wouldn't be full potentially.

    That makes so much sense.
  • riverbuff2
    riverbuff2 Posts: 6
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    Ok Sarah, Thank You. I'm convinced now. I will order mine in the morning before I head to the gym. Thank you! It's after midnight here so I'm headed to bed. Good night everybody.
  • tmt2003
    tmt2003 Posts: 176 Member
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    But you all think it is actually worth the $149 and then $84 a year or are there other HRM's that do pretty much the same. The 2 thunkgs I don't care for is the monthly fee and the armband, I wished it was a wristband/watch type.

    If you read the reviews on amazon there are lots of good and bad ones. Mine would be a bad one. I used it for 2.5 weeks. Loved it when it worked right, unfortunately for me that was only bout half the time I had it. I bought the link so I could view my numbers via my iPhone app. It would often loose connection to my blue tooth and have to be reset on my computer. It had issues uploading online too. There were several times I wore it all day only to find when I tried to sync to view the data, none had been collected all day. Now I'm no techie, so maybe some of this is operator error, but still...

    So it's packed ups and going back. For the times it worked it was cool to see my actual calories burned a day and it essentially reinforced that I am on the right track. But at the end of the day, no I did not feel the headaches were worth the $119 + monthly subscription fee...

    I am glad I tried it though, I'd been wanting one for a long time and got it put of my system, lol.

    Teresa
  • Sorova
    Sorova Posts: 101 Member
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    But you all think it is actually worth the $149 and then $84 a year or are there other HRM's that do pretty much the same. The 2 thunkgs I don't care for is the monthly fee and the armband, I wished it was a wristband/watch type.

    It doesn't do the same thing as a HRM, though. A HRM monitors your heart rate. If you're doing steady-state cardio (such as walking or running or biking), your heart rate can potentially be a good way of extrapolating your calories burned *if* the HRM is correctly configured with your VO2MAX and other stats. But a HRM doesn't directly measure calories burned. Believe me, with all the demand for calorie monitors, HRM manufacturers would start calling their products "Calorie Burned Monitors" if they thought they could pull it off without getting sued for false advertising. In any situation where your heart rate is going up or down due to other factors (e.g. it's warm in the room where you work, or you're stressed out, etc.) the calorie estimate on a HRM will be massively inaccurate; if you're moving around doing low intensity tasks that don't raise your heart rate but still burn calories, a HRM has no way of measuring that.

    Of course, a BodyMedia armband doesn't directly measure calories either. But it measures four factors (motion, skin temperature, heat flux, galvanic skin response) which makes it more accurate than a HRM which measures only one thing (heart rate). Also, it measures routine low intensity activity (washing dishes, doing laundry, using a computer) in a way that HRMs simply cannot.

    I did a lot of research into the available devices before ordering (BodyMedia, FitBit, FuelBand, etc.) and the BodyMedia one is the only one that had an independent study done by a university on its accuracy. It was found to be over 90% accurate. So still not perfect, but better than a HRM. There are definitely flaws - I wish the band was invisible because I hate strangers asking me about it, and I know the Link model doesn't reliably sync with some people's smart phones. But if you don't care about real-time data on your smartphone, and don't mind wearing the band, I think it's the best commercially available calorie monitor consumers can get at the moment.

    [Edited to fix a typo.]
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    I wish we could get it in the UK. In UK it is registered to KIFIT. This is much more expensive, doesn't link to MFP, dearer subscription and you can't get the core or Link.
  • Dsnyfrk921
    Dsnyfrk921 Posts: 64 Member
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    Thanks for everyone's replies. I'm so excited to get it. Like I said, I'm used to wearing the armband since I've had the bodybugg for several years now. I'm really excited to see it sync. I think I'm supposed to get it on Wednesday. It can't get here fast enough for me. lol :)

    If anyone would like to add me as a friend, I'd love it. I love to motivate and encourage people. Send me a request. We can cheer each other on. :)
  • mgreenham
    mgreenham Posts: 40 Member
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    Had it for 2 months. I wear mine 24/7. There are 2 versions. the basic (My wife has) is smaller and must be connected to the computer and a SUBSCRIPTION of about $7/mo. The "enhanced" version (read more $$$) has bluetooth connectivity. It works best with the Iphone, but will work on Android devices, which is what I have. The screen shots someone already posted above.

    I love it, It takes the guesswork out of your workouts. It measures the actual energy you burn, rather than use a calorie number from the MFP or other website.

    The data syncs seamlessly with MFP so at the end of the day you see what you took in and what you ACTUALLY BURNED.

    Check Ebay. I got my wifes after she saw how well it worked for me, and got it for $50.
  • Ianultrarunner
    Ianultrarunner Posts: 184 Member
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    "If you read the reviews on amazon there are lots of good and bad ones. Mine would be a bad one. I used it for 2.5 weeks. Loved it when it worked right, unfortunately for me that was only bout half the time I had it. I bought the link so I could view my numbers via my iPhone app. It would often loose connection to my blue tooth and have to be reset on my computer. It had issues uploading online too. There were several times I wore it all day only to find when I tried to sync to view the data, none had been collected all day. Now I'm no techie, so maybe some of this is operator error, but still...

    So it's packed ups and going back. For the times it worked it was cool to see my actual calories burned a day and it essentially reinforced that I am on the right track. But at the end of the day, no I did not feel the headaches were worth the $119 + monthly subscription fee...

    I am glad I tried it though, I'd been wanting one for a long time and got it put of my system, lol.

    Teresa"

    This was basically my experience too.
    The Fitbit One is actually much better value and more consistent.
    Also Fitbit's CS is head and shoulders above BodyMedia's who I found to be condescending.
  • fitcolette
    fitcolette Posts: 67
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    I just got mine today, but not sure how to sync it to MFP...anyone know how to do this??
    Edit: NVM I figured it out :)
  • loranch
    loranch Posts: 94 Member
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    "If you read the reviews on amazon there are lots of good and bad ones. Mine would be a bad one. I used it for 2.5 weeks. Loved it when it worked right, unfortunately for me that was only bout half the time I had it. I bought the link so I could view my numbers via my iPhone app. It would often loose connection to my blue tooth and have to be reset on my computer. It had issues uploading online too. There were several times I wore it all day only to find when I tried to sync to view the data, none had been collected all day. Now I'm no techie, so maybe some of this is operator error, but still...

    So it's packed ups and going back. For the times it worked it was cool to see my actual calories burned a day and it essentially reinforced that I am on the right track. But at the end of the day, no I did not feel the headaches were worth the $119 + monthly subscription fee...

    I am glad I tried it though, I'd been wanting one for a long time and got it put of my system, lol.

    Teresa"

    This was basically my experience too.
    The Fitbit One is actually much better value and more consistent.
    Also Fitbit's CS is head and shoulders above BodyMedia's who I found to be condescending.


    I do mostly gym workouts. Weight and cardio and was considering a fit it but are they for running walking workouts like a pedometer. Just wondering if I need to go the hrm route. Thanks loranch(Laurie)
  • lethomp
    lethomp Posts: 7 Member
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    FYI -- I've seen it mentioned somewhere before, but Costco has the BMF Link (the Bluetooth one) on sale for $119. That includes a promo code for 12 MONTHS free use of the website.

    This is where I got mine, and I love it so far. Had a Fitbit Ultra, but I think I'm going to stop using it. Only catch I had to send an email to Bodymedia telling them I coudn't find where to add the promo code to show my account as having 12 months before I'd get billed. They responded quickly and adjusted my account to show the 12 free months.
  • marylenw
    marylenw Posts: 21 Member
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    The girl I work with gave me hers (she only wore for 2 days) a couple of ,months ago but I just decided Sunday to start wearing it. I love being able to see how much I sleep and how many calories I burn when I work out. I don't mind paying the monthly cost to be able to see all of that. Did anyone sign up for the Jillian Michael's plan?
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    "If you read the reviews on amazon there are lots of good and bad ones. Mine would be a bad one. I used it for 2.5 weeks. Loved it when it worked right, unfortunately for me that was only bout half the time I had it. I bought the link so I could view my numbers via my iPhone app. It would often loose connection to my blue tooth and have to be reset on my computer. It had issues uploading online too. There were several times I wore it all day only to find when I tried to sync to view the data, none had been collected all day. Now I'm no techie, so maybe some of this is operator error, but still...

    So it's packed ups and going back. For the times it worked it was cool to see my actual calories burned a day and it essentially reinforced that I am on the right track. But at the end of the day, no I did not feel the headaches were worth the $119 + monthly subscription fee...

    I am glad I tried it though, I'd been wanting one for a long time and got it put of my system, lol.

    Teresa"

    This was basically my experience too.
    The Fitbit One is actually much better value and more consistent.
    Also Fitbit's CS is head and shoulders above BodyMedia's who I found to be condescending.


    I do mostly gym workouts. Weight and cardio and was considering a fit it but are they for running walking workouts like a pedometer. Just wondering if I need to go the hrm route. Thanks loranch(Laurie)

    I'm interested to know how accurate they are for weight training. I gather that HRM are not that good for that.
  • zlauerMom
    zlauerMom Posts: 183 Member
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    FYI -- I've seen it mentioned somewhere before, but Costco has the BMF Link (the Bluetooth one) on sale for $119. That includes a promo code for 12 MONTHS free use of the website.

    This is where I got mine, and I love it so far. Had a Fitbit Ultra, but I think I'm going to stop using it. Only catch I had to send an email to Bodymedia telling them I coudn't find where to add the promo code to show my account as having 12 months before I'd get billed. They responded quickly and adjusted my account to show the 12 free months.
    Thanks for the info.
  • riverbuff2
    riverbuff2 Posts: 6
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    Well I've had mine for a little while now and totally love it. It was a bit confusing setting it up and really p*ssed me off to find out after the fact that it was not compatible with my HTC cell phone. I wasn't going to buy another phone because mine was already new so I had to go buy and ipod. After we got that all settled, I love it. I wear mine 23/7 (hour for downloading and charging). It really opened my eyes as to what I'm really consuming and what I'm really burning.
  • Tykk
    Tykk Posts: 153 Member
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    I was just trolling through Engadget, and found that the new BodyMedia device has just been announced. It's smaller, and uses BlueTooth 4, which means it will consume a lot less power on your smartphone.

    Unfortunately, the new version won't be available until August.

    Linky: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/06/bodymedia-core-2-armband-view-patch-hands-on/

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