Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Advanced Omron Health Management Software

I think this is an excellent pedometer -- it does the job well and accurately. It counts your steps whether it is clipped on, in your pocket or in a purse. The auto-reset to zero at midnight helps keep you honest. Like the software - a couple of clicks and your data is automatically uploaded. It shows your results on a daily, weekly, monthly,and annual basis. Omron is the only company I have seen that provides you with software.

I think the manual that comes with the device could be slightly improved but here are some tips that may help you with setting it up and using it for the first time:

(1) With the back cover off, make note of the serial number. It is engraved into the case in tiny letters near the bottom. It is a six character mix of letters and numbers. You'll need this for registration later.

(2) Before starting to configure your pedometer, you will need to calculate the length of your stride. Pick a starting point and walk 10 regular steps. Measure the distance in inches and divide by 10. Make a note of the result to use later.

(3) In the software, I suggest setting modest "daily goals" to start. Adjust your goals up or down anytime through the software's Options menu as you get use to the pedometer.

(4) The "Set" button on the front is smaller than the others and is intended to be used occasionally to reset the time, your weight, etc. as needed - it does not reset or delete your step data. As a good practice, upload your pedometer data regularly as a backup. In the unlikely event that the "Set" button is accidently pressed , just press "Set" another 4 or 5 times and you'll come back to your normal "step" screen.

(5) Step count - this pedometer shows total steps (both aerobic and regular steps)in the "step" count screen. To see only the aerobic steps accomplished for the day, go to the next screen. It keeps a separate count for aerobic steps (60 steps or more per minute continuously for 10 minutes or longer).

(6) While you can view the last 7 days of step data on the device itself, it actually holds up to 42 days in memory. All data is viewable once uploaded to your pc.

Hope this helps... I highly recommend this device.

I have not used pedometers much, but really like this unit for a number of reasons. First, it is quite compact and can comfortably fit in a pocket and not feel bulky (you can wear with a clip too or hang it from a cord off a belt). Second, it really seems to accurately count steps. I tried it a few times by counting 50 or 100 steps with the unit in my pocket and it seems to be right on target as a step counter. To measure distance, I walked a 100 feet a couple of times to set my stride. With the stride in place, the distance measure seems pretty accurate. I walked a known distance (about a mile and a half) and then looked at both the step count and distance. The distance was a little short, which meant I needed to make a slight adjustment to the value of the stride. I made the same walk again and got the calculated distance was exactly on target.

Conclusion: This is an accurate pedometer in terms of counting steps and estimating distance.

I also really like the software. You simply attach the pedometer to your computer (I have a a PC with XP) and the data then download. You can look at your total number of steps by day (or hour within the day), the number of steps at an aerobic rate (defined as part of walking ten minutes or more at a stretch), and distance walked. There are also estimates of calories burned and grams of fat lost, based on you weight and age -- I have no idea if these are accurate. As a nice feature, you can look at all statistics by day, week, or month.

The software is very easy to use and as bonus also interfaces with some of Omron's blood pressure unit.

I have really enjoyed using this pedometer in that I can slip it into my pocket in the morning (and am glad it doesn't take up much room) and then look at my step count for the day. I have given myself a daily target (10000 steps) and am now finding myself doing more things to get in extra steps each day -- parking further from my destination, walking a bit further to pick up for lunch, or just treating myself to a 10-15 minute walk during my workday. These things add up and now I have a sense of what all I need to do during the day to reach my step goal.

You pay a bit extra (not that much) for a pedometer with many features, including the software. I suppose you could save a few dollars by not getting a version with the software, but for me, being able to easily track progress is one of the best things about this pedometer (can also print out reports, output data to a spreadsheet if you want). It seems to be worth a bit more to have this sort of tracking (though I do wish they had sotware for Macintosh computers!).


Highly recommended!

What an impressive little device this is. The device is highly accurate on the waistband. The purse option hasn't really worked too well for us, but it does come close. The coolest part of this thing is the ability to download the information to your PC and track your progress and goals. When we first got it, we thought 10,000 steps was a breeze. We were way WRONG! 10,000 steps is a lot of walking. I mean a lot. We were coming up more than half short of the recommended 10,000 and didn't even realize it.

It's very sleek in it's design. The overall look is that of an egg cut in half. It does not have a proprietary USB link, if you have a device with a smaller USB end rather than the standard (MP3 players and GPS devices sometimes use the smaller one) you can use an existing one, just in case you lose the one that is supplied.

It's really sweet that it resets itself at midnight every day and stores your previous data for you to download at your convenience.

Love it.

On July 9th of 2008 I purchased this unit primarily due to such outstanding reviews I found on Amazon. For the first month I was as happy as all the five star reviewers. I really loved the unit. Last week the unit stopped exporting my walking details to the software (which is the feature that I liked most).

After calling Omron, they recommended that I take the sofware off my computer and attempt to put it back on. And that if that didn't work, the problem most likely came from a default in the unit.

Putting on the new software didn't fix the issue, so I called Omron back and told them that I must have a faulty unit. They told me that I had to send back the unit to their repair department and include a $5.00 money order for the expense of sending me back a new unit.

So they are asking me to pay for both shipping, to and fro, to replace a unit I purchased one month ago. That is an insult to injury. Not only do they not acknowledge the down time of not having the unit, the inconvenience and time spent mailing the unit and going to the bank to get a money order, but they charge me $10.00 for postage.

That is bad customer service in my book!

I used this pedometer for two and a half weeks without any problem. For me the selling point was the USB connection. I was able to download to my computer and keep track of my activity level.

Couple days ago I plug my pedometer into my computer to download the data and received "The (sic) data transfer failed, please try again" and from then on it refuses to upload data. I tried rebooting, reinstalling the software, reset the pedometer, and even did a clean install on my notebook and it would not work.

I called Omron today and the lady wants me to send it back to them PLUS five dollar for the return shipping!! It seemed ridiculous that I should pay for shipping both ways for a product that lasted a couple of weeks!

I will not be sending my pedometer back since the shipping both ways will cost around half of it's value. Rest assured with that kind of return policy I will not buy another Omron product again.

I have had this unit for three weeks and LOVE it! I have used the Omron HJ-112 (the basic Omron pedometer) for over a year and asked for this one for my birthday. The pedometer is pretty much the same great pedometer as the HJ-112. The color is different, but the function and basic size are the same. It is the software that makes this a "must have" - even if you are happy with your current pedometer. The software was easy to download - just pop the disk in your drive and follow the instructions. Enter your goals (daily steps, aerobic steps, distances, etc.) and then start walking and get ready to download your info. To download info from your unit, attach the cord provided from your unit to your computer and a prompt appears on your screen. It downloads the information (up to a week of stats) and insert them into a chart. I like that the information is shown as numbers, bar graphs, and colors. It gives easy feedback regarding your progress. NOTE: When I received the unit, it was miscounting steps and the customer service rep on the phone was AWFUL! She didn't know the product and offered unhelpful advice. I emailed the company, they sent me a new battery, and it has been great ever since! It doesn't change my rating, but I expected the service to be as good a the product

The HJ-720ITC worked great for a week. Now I can't download the data to my computer. I loaded the software on three computers and none of them interface with this pedometer. Great idea if it would have worked.

Within two months the data transfer failed. No fixing it. This is a common problem. If you take a look around, you will see I was not the only one.

I received this pedometer as a gift and was looking forward to having an accurate well made pedometer and the software to track my progress. I use a pedometer to count my steps daily and try to reach a minimum of 10k per day. I've been doing this for many years and was tired of pedometers that wouldn't hold up for more than a 3 months. I was very disappointed to find that this pedometer was the most inaccurate pedometer I had ever owned. If I stepped off 100 steps I would get anywhere from 64 to 108 steps on the pedometer. For a couple weeks I tried to make it work, thinking that it must of been my fault for it being so far off. No matter how I wore the pedometer or how careful I tried to keep it positioned the count was still way off. I also found in the manual that the pedometer won't count steps accurately if you wear sandals, if you shuffle your feet, if you don't walk at a constant pace or if you use stairs. That means if your trying to walk 10k steps a day this pedometer won't be accurate. If you like to use a pedometer while hiking this one won't be accurate. It could be possible this was just a bad pedometer and a replacement would work just fine, but with the restrictions in the manual I believe that all of them are defective. To add insult to injury, the pedometer was purchased through Amazon and Amazon won't give me my money back. They have a 30 day limit even if it doesn't work. Next time I'll go to Costco, pay the shipping(the price was the same) and at least I'll be able to return something that doesn't work.

I was so excited to start using this product. I wore it everyday and had a fun time using the software to record my info. After 2 months the data transfer failed and I can't find any solution for this. I saw at least one other review that had the same complaint and according to this person, this is a common problem. I feel ripped off!