Pocket Pedometer with Health Management Software

Wow, even pedometers are super high-tech these days! This particular model, the Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer, gets a high review rating on Amazon, with an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 700 reviews. It holds a week's results at a time, but it also comes with PC software for Windows 2000 or XP, so you can download your results and track your progress over the long term. Theoretically, you can even put this in your purse or bag instead of clipping it to your belt, although I would think you'd miss a lot of your daily step counts by doing it that way.

As usual, it's a bit difficult to tell whether you're getting a good deal from Amazon's prices or not. Amazon says the list price is $59.99, but they're selling this item for $29.50. (Since that's over $25, free standard shipping is automatic.) Of course, if you don't want to spend this much or go this high-tech, you can always find much less expensive pedometers without the software. I have to admit, though, that I find these bells and whistles kind of attractive, especially when the product has such positive reviews. I would also note that the Amazon product page has a convenient chart letting you compare the features of several different kinds of Omron pedometers in case there are certain features you've decided you do or don't need.

Because I'm assuming the software comes on a CD to load on your computer, it's not clear to me how big the overall package is and whether it will fit into a stocking. But you could take the pedometer out and wrap it separately for the stocking if you wanted to.

What: Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Advanced Omron Health Management Software
Where: Amazon.com or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $29.50 (plus shipping)