You sure about that? I remember reading articles on the pokewalker,which is essentially the same thing, was a beter pedometers than actual pedometers. I'm convinced its actually using the same casings as well. They look nearly identical, I don't see why they would downgrade the tech.
http://kotaku.com/5792648/pokewalker-more-accurate-than-other-pedometers-in-university-study
I'm curious on your sources/evidence.
The sources are my personal experience with the device, and the posts from sites like GameFAQs when the meter first came out. If you are asking for a specific article, I don't know of any that review it on it's own merits, just a quick blurb on the game's review. As far as the article you shared, I'd be interested in what the other pedometers tested were. And yeah, I still found the pokewalker rather inaccurate, only it gave me credit for a lot more steps than I took as opposed to the Wii Fit Meter which mostly seems to shortchange me. I should probably note that I usually kept it in my pocket though, while I keep the WiiU Fit Meter on my belt.
As far as the WiiU pedometer goes, let's start with the distance traveled. I walk/jog a trail near my home at least 3-4 times a week. The trail is EXACTLY 3 miles, which totals EXACTLY 6 miles when you count the return trip. I have measured it myself with other pedometers and even my smartphone's GIS (admittedly not very accurate but still) and never got a measurement outside the range of 5.95-6.05. Now, factoring the distance to/from the nearest parking lot, I'm going about 6.5 miles a day.
To this day, the WiiU pedometer has NEVER given me a measurement close to that, and is usually off by as much as 10%. That's pretty damn inaccurate. Now I've never actually tried to count the steps, so in the meters defense those may or may not be right, but that's irrelevant to me anyways. I've tried this over smaller trails and gotten similar results, there's usually a difference as much as +/- 10%. It's not the most inaccurate device I've ever used (though it is the most inaccurate in recent memory), but it's bad. And no, I'm not taking giant colossial leaps or microscopic tiptoe steps, my stride is pretty normal, and I've never had problems calculating distance before.
The altitude measurements is where this device really falls into the PoS catagory. I've never gotten anything that I would classify as even remotely right. This meter would have me believe that I'm constantly dropping off cliffs between 200-300 ft, even when walking in the same room. I know you can 0 it out, but that hardly matters when it constantly rises/drops again. In this regard, the meter is completely broken and is completely worthless. I've never had this problem with my other devices that measured altitude so I know it can be done.
I've also noticed that this often screws up the calorie count. When I haven't even put the thing on my belt and it says I've already burned 50+ calories, that's a problem.
The thermometer is junk too. When wearing it, I've had temperature differences of 20 degrees (and not due to body heat, unless my body temperature is somehow magically lower than what's outside). When I just leave it on my desk or something it seems to do a bit better, but it still never gives me a measurement within 5 degrees of the actual temperature.
It keeps time accurately if that matters to you at all
I will also say that the way the thing constantly beeps is annoying and I can't figure out WTF they mean. It does play a little fanfare when it says I've reached my calorie goal for the day (which you can't seem to manually change BTW, another problem in my book) but it also makes little beeps or fanfare a ton before/after that and I can't figure out why. It's not milestones on steps or calories (unless these milestones are set at random numbers) but it does get a bit annoying when it happens so often.
I could go on with other complaints based more on missing features, the lack of customization, and how badly riding in a car/bus will screw your readings up (even if you lay the meter flat in a cup holder or something) but hopefully I've covered enough.
I thought at first my meter was broken, but exchanging it did nothing. A quick search on the web and on forums found multiple complaints exactly like mine, so unless the entire first shipment was bad (I was a day 1 buyer) it's not broken, it's just junk.
I've been using the pedometer for months now and it is not junk it is very good. The steps are accurate and the altitude is great too. I walk daily on a trail with many hills and it shows it correctly as well as the mileage when you sync it up with the game. The only thing that isn't accurate is the temperature since it is so close to your body it seems to measure your body heat. So far I've lost 20 lbs using the pedometer, wii fit u, and eating right. It really does help, main thing it does for me is motivate me and it's a great tool to keep track and set goals.
Funny you mention that the altitude is great, as that is calculated with the temperature (which does impact the pressure) so if you are having problems with one you should have problems with the other. And I know this argument has been done to death: Yeah, Wii Fit can help you lose weight. So can virtually anything else if you eat right and move. But Wii Fit still isn't as effective as, say, a walk in the park.
Don't get me wrong, the game can be fun (when it works; any intern in the medical field will tell you that running in place for any length of time often does more harm than good, and I've grown to despise the broken "advanced" obstacle course
). But let's not pretend it's anywhere close to a real workout. Unless you are spending hours with the game and minutes on the trail, the bulk of your progress has most likely been from the trail. The game doesn't even hide this, as even with the meter's discrepancies in distance it always says I'm buring roughly 5x the calories than I am with the same amount of time dedicated to the game itself.
If nothing else though I do like the graphs it keeps, but I do wish the game would have an option to filter or average out weights/calories/ect by weeks or months though. Anybody in the fitness world will tell you that weighing yourself on a daily basis is meaningless, you aren't supposed to weigh in more than once a week if you want any sort of accurate idea on your progress. Telling people to weigh in everyday is just a bad idea.
Profit? 2 X $10 is $20. Most people sell their semi useful possessions they don't use/want anymore. Seems sleezy to me using an item and trying to return it to the place of purchase.
My mistake, I thought you meant sell it for $20 each. As for using/returning it, that may be so, but I'm not losing any sleep over it with their profits and government nonsense. While Amazon isn't quite so bad as say Wal-Mart they seem to be getting there. If nothing else I'm tired of every collector's edition (or most anything else that isn't a game/movie/cd for that matter) being beat up to hell because Amazon can't be bothered to pack their shipments properly, and the abysmal service I get whenever I don't have an active Prime membership (such as, on pre-orders, Primers who pre-ordered right before the deadline getting their crap before mine has even left the warehouse, even when I pre-order months in advance).
And on a more personal note, I don't think I'm happy with their plans for Comixology either
Here's hoping what I've read turns out to be rumor.
