Jawbone

Jawbone Up to Fitbit

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I’ve been using a jawbone up as my activity tracker since they became a product. I love that they were small bands that I could wear in addition to my watch that did pretty much all I needed them to. I was frustrated that the first generation recalled however pleased that that the company Jawbone was smart enough to give me a full refund. I was excited when the second generation came out and waited weeks for one to come in stock to purchase. Later I was frustrated at how often my second-generation band would break however pretty pleased that the company would continue to give me new ones. After upwards of five bands however that got old pretty quick. I have blogged in the past around my challenges with my jawbones. (http://scottodyssey.com/?s=jawbone+up&submit=Start+searching).

Even with all my problems with the UP I continue to choose it over the Fitbit Flex  as far back as late 2013. After the second generation UP, i purchased the UP24 (possibly 2 of them) I then bought an UP2 when the 24 finally died. My first UP2 started to lose its battery charge earlier this year. It also lost top paint covering on the metal that rests against my watch. It didn’t look good but it worked until the battery started dying. I then bought another one with a more rubbery strap. This weekend that latest UP2’s rubber strap ripped. I was able to wear it for a little while longer however became so frustrating to wear and looked really stupid I decided I needed to buy something else.

The challenge for me was I did not want to buy and other band from Jawbone after going through at least 10 of them in three or four years. Granted I didn’t end up paying for many of those since they were warranty replacements I did have to  pay for more than one or two of them.

For me technology purchases usually work out the best when they are well thought out. I know myself and I have specific requirements. Because of that I tried to remember why I selected the jawbone over the fit that when I owned both at the same time. I do remember that the jawbone felt like a more accurate step count. The silent alarming also felt like it was better however I know that fitbit has improved on that since I last owned one. Separate from my previous owning a Fitbit I do not like that Apple and fitbit do not work very well together. Specifically Fitbit does not talk to apples Health application. After some brief research I did find out that there is an app that will sync that data between the two devices. I also found out that both myFitnessPal, and Withings can talk to Fitbit with no problem. That will allow me to continue to use my Withings scale and myFitnesspal with a Fitbit. With all that information in mind I went out to the store to check out the new Fitbit Alta compared to the Fitbit Flex. Both appeared to be the same size however the Alta had a small display. I wasn’t fully clear if the altar had significantly improved sensors for the extra price it cost. Since I wasn’t sure I erred on the side of caution and splurged the extra money for the Alta.

Set up of the device was pretty trivial. Syncing between all the apps that I use was equally simple to do. The device feels pretty sturdy on my wrist. I’m curious how long the battery life will last. I confirmed for me the displays useless since I turned off all notifications such as text messages and phone calls. I also turned off the auto on function or whatever they call it that turns the clock on when I lift my wrist up. I have a watch I don’t need this band to act like one. I just needed to track my activity and silently alarm me to be more active. So far it’s been pretty successful at doing that.

A minor side benefit to switching to Fitbit over jawbone is apparently several people I know have Fitbit’s and I’m already in competition with several of them to keep my step count up. Several people at work have talked about doing something similar with Virgin Pluse activity trackers that our health insurance company is offering for free. I don’t like the idea providing medical and activity details to my insurance company so I opted out. This gives me the gamification of working out that I want but doesn’t share the data as much.

I’m hopeful that this was a sound purchase and it will last more than a few months.

Ordered a Jawbone UP24

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I keep waffling on what fitness device I am using.  After lots of replacement units of the Jawbone UP I got a Fitbit Flex in September. I used both devices for most of October to see how they compared.  Then I dropped the UP in favor of the Flex.  Part of the reason I did that was that the UP was too big on my wrist after my weight loss in recent months.  The Flex didn’t have the inactivity monitor that I liked with the UP.  it also seems to record about 2,000 more steps a day for me than the up does.

Just as I was getting used to using the Flex Jawbone comes out with the UP24.  It offered me the bluetooth sync that the Flex has and all the features that the original UP had.  I took the risk and ordered one in Medium hoping it fits and i can go back to using the UP.  I will write more once I get it and see how it works.

My 2nd (or 3rd, depending on how you look at it) Jawbone UP

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Last week I got a new Jawbone UP.  So far I have been very pleased with it.  MC saw it and I was suprised that she was interested in one too.  She wants to work out more and it seemed like a good tool to motivate her.  After trying to see what colors I could get her I ended up back at the Apple store picking up another black band for her.  Only difference between hers and mine is hers is a smaller size.

We now are “compeeting” with each other and seeing our results.  I hope for both of us this gets us to be more active.  If anything it makes me smile every time I see the cute picture MC took for her profile picture.

Netbook Update

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I have had my HP Mini 1000 for about a month and a half now and so far I haven’t had the urge to get rid of it. On the surface that doesn’t sound like a stellar endorsement, but from me it is. The netbook hasn’t changed my life or anything close to it. I am not really even using it for the main reason I got it. I ended up returning the wireless USB card so I don’t lug the netbook around with me everywhere allong with my work computer. What I do use the netbook for is light typing around the house, or when I don’t want or need to carry a regular laptop around I throw it in my bag. It was cheap enough so I don’t regret keeping it and using it like this. It is a nice to have and when I need it I am very grateful I have it.

The screen size prevents me from using it much more than I currently do. That is partly due to the screen being small, and my eyes being not so perfect. The keyboard still kicks ass, and the wifi and bluetooth actually work without any major complications. That is not something I could say for previous bluetooth experiences with Windows XP.

I just recently paired my Jawbone 2 bluetooth headset with the Mini 1000 to use Skype 4.0 on it. I never really used the Jawbone even-though as bluetooth headsets go it was expensive. It is also the best rated bluetooth headset I could find, but I never fit in my ear. I just read a kick ass review by someone at Cnet. The fix was so simple it was almost funny. They suggested putting a Jabra ear gel on the earpiece. I had one from an old Jabra headset and the instructions worked flawlessly. The headset now fits snug on my ear. I will use it with the Mini 1000 for a bit so I can make Skype calls on it. I want to try that out vs my Mac the next time I work from home. I am curious about the call quality differences between the latest Mac version of Skype and the new 4.0 version for Windows.