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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
90 of 95 found the following review helpful:
 Consistent & Reliable Apr 17, 2009
By Jeff Kraus
I was excited to get this scale. It's my first scale that does more than tell you how much you weigh. I don't really have a way to tell how accurate the weight reading is. But I do know that it's consistent. I've tried all sorts of different tests: Weighing myself multiple times, recalibrating the scale each time, weighing myself with shoes, then without shoes, then weighing the shoes to see if me + shoes = me wearing shoes, etc. etc. The numbers always seem to come out the way they should.
The same goes for the other readings - I have no way of knowing how accurate they are. But across a few days, resting metabolism varies by no more than 10-15 calories, skeletal muscle and body fat stay within 1%, visceral fat is always the same number, and BMI only varies slightly with day-to-day weight changes.
It's been a little under three weeks so far with the scale, so I haven't really had it long enough to see a significant trend forming based on my recent exercise regimen. But being able to see all of those values really keeps your behavior in check. Every time you see one of the values change for the better, it helps to renew your resolve. I've got a lot of room to improve, and I think this scale is really going to help me maintain my focus.
In my opinion, it's worth more than what I paid for it. I only wish (manufacturers, take note!) that there was more you could do with the memory function. It keeps 90 days worth of data for each user profile, but you can only view today, yesterday, last week, last month, and 90 days ago. I'd like to see a little USB port in there where you could put a memory stick and it would download a CSV or other delimited text file containing your history. It would be a simple matter to import the file into a spreadsheet application to view charts and graphs of your progress.
36 of 40 found the following review helpful:
Body Composition testing -Reliable and easy Nov 02, 2010
By Brent M. Maxwell
"Dr.Max"
I purchased this for my to use with patients in my wellness clinic. It arrived promptly 2 days after ordering it. After reading the instructions, it was pretty easy to use. Now I have to teach my staff how to use it on my patients. It is a very powerful wellness assessment tool to give people a more comprehensive picture of their health profile (before they develop disease and need to get a series of expensive medical tests). The Basal Metabolic Rate, The Visceral Fat , and the "Real Age" readings are invaluable. It helps map the direction person needs to make when being proactive in managing their health, not disease.
WARNING: Suited for the average population. It will NOT give accurate reading for bodybuilders, wrestlers, or athletes with a high BMI.
37 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 Read if you have medical implants . . . . . Dec 24, 2010
By Kathleen H. Bentley
Having lost 136 pounds and still some to go, I was looking for another tool to help me measure my progress. The Omron 514 read like a dream --- so I ordered it! When it arrived, I opened the box and got the manual and commenced to read. On the second page, it stated that persons with a medical implant, such as a pacemaker, shoud NOT use this. It makes sense that an electrical impulse could upset a pacemaker, but what about artificial knees like I have. I went to the Omron website, nothing, not even the warning. I sent Omron an email asking about artificial knees; of course, emails are slow to be answered and I wanted an answer. So I called Omron, anything metal will disrupt the electrical impulse and cause the readings to be inaccurate. I am returning this machine; I have no idea how well it might work for others, but those of us who are mechanically enhanced cannot use this item.
Since this warning could have an impact on one's buy/not buy decision, the warning should be on Amazon's and Omron's websites. The Omron 514 is completely worthless to me and others like me. However, Amazon has issued my return slip and shipping label with no questions - definitely a plus!
23 of 26 found the following review helpful:
Good, but not worth the extra $$ Jan 25, 2010
By Joseph
"jck09"
I bought this to replace my old Tanita body-fat scale. In my opinion, this scale is fine, but unless you are really into some of its special features, it's not worth the 2-3 times more money you will pay to get this instead of a more basic scale.
Features and comments
- Measures weight to nearest 0.2 lb (or 0.1 kg), estimates body fat to nearest 0.1%. This is good precision for a scale - my old scale measured to the nearest 0.5 lb and 0.5% body fat. Based on a 30 day comparison against my old scale, the weight measurement is very similar to the old scale.
Body fat, however, swings up and down much more heavily on the Omron. The overall average is similar, but any given day's measurement is likely to be farther off the average. (I haven't been able to find a consumer reports or similar comparison of accuracy, but I would love to see one.)
I had thought that the addition of the handles would produce more accuracy in the body fat measurement, but from what I have read, the feet-only scales are just about as accurate. (According to Omron's literature, the handles are good for end-of-day measurement, when gravity may have drawn more water to your legs).
- Also calculates body mass index and estimates visceral fat level, skeletal muscle %, resting metabolism, and body age. Frankly, though, I can take or leave these measurements. BMI is easily calculated from weight and doesn't add much, and all of the rest of the measurements (including body fat %) are estimates based on the electrical conductivity of your body. Based on that, the scale estimates how much of your body is fat and how much is not, giving you body fat %. If the other numbers do anything for you, that's great, but for me, they're (1) basically another way of stating body fat % and (2) too many numbers to keep track of over time.
- Can store profiles for up to 4 people. This is a pretty nice feature if 3 or 4 people will be using the scale. If not, look into the scales that only store profiles for 1 or 2 people, as needed - you will save some money.
- Remembers weigh-in data for each person at 1, 7, 30, and 90 days. For some reason, although the scale stores the most recent 97 days, it will only display the 4 dates listed, plus the longest date within the 97 day memory.
Basically, this scale does what it advertises, but most people probably won't get much out of the hand grips, or out of the additional calculations. Unless you're sure you want it, I would recommend a simpler, feet only scale that sticks to weight and body fat %.
22 of 25 found the following review helpful:
 Inaccurate Body Fat Measurement Apr 14, 2011
By P. Tong
I've been using this scale for a few months now and according to this scale it showed that my body fat was always fluctuating from 25%-27% body fat. (I've been believing it ever since). Just earlier today, I tried another body fat scale measurement product from Omron which displayed me at 14% body fat, which I'm quite sure is more accurate since I have a build of a decent athlete. I thought the purchase of this product would be quite convenient since it would display my weight + body fat all in one product, but now that I figured that the body fat measurement is off, I'm quite upset about this purchase. In conclusion, DON'T RELY ON THIS FOR BODY PERCENT FAT AT ALL.
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